Understanding Interdisciplinary Studies: The Right Choice for Your College Journey?

Interdisciplinary studies offer a novel alternative for structuring your academic journey through college. But what exactly are interdisciplinary studies? Interdisciplinary studies combine coursework across two or more disciplines within an approach organized around a well-defined learning focus that straddles more than one discipline. 

Aimed at high school students making plans for college, this post explains what interdisciplinary studies are all about and explores and demystifies how these programs work — in all their variety and flexibility. We’ll also help you decide if this approach is right for you, list some of the pros and cons, and explain which students typically get the most benefits and why. So buckle in, you’re about to become an interdisciplinary studies expert!

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Interdisciplinary Studies: The Middle Way...

If you’re on the path to choosing a college major, you have lots of options in front of you.

While most students jump into college with a plan to study one specific discipline as a major and degree track, others like the idea of getting a well-rounded education above all, pursuing a liberal arts approach for example.

Many students don't think about a third option, a kind of middle way called interdisciplinary studies.

So... before you go down the more traditional pathways, it's a smart move to understand what interdisciplinary studies are in college, how these programs work, and if the approach is right for you.

In this post, we’ll explore several key facets of interdisciplinary studies — all important for your college planning and decision making, including:

• What interdisciplinary are and what this approach entails
• What kinds of actual interdisciplinary degrees you can find offered at top schools today
• How to know if interdisciplinary studies align with your own academic interests, intellectual inclinations, or career aspirations
• Why this approach offers distinctive educational benefits, compared to more traditional approaches
• What key advantages and disadvantages you should contemplate as you weigh your options

You may not be completely ready to decide today if an interdisciplinary approach is right for you, but you’re about to have a much better and broader understanding to guide your next steps!

What Are Interdisciplinary Studies?

While it’s so common for students to pick a major and get a degree aligned with a single discipline, it’s easy to completely overlook an important, intriguing alternative — taking an interdisciplinary studies approach.

Instead of using a specific subject matter to guide your course selections, such as math courses for math majors, engineering courses for engineering majors, or literature and linguistics courses for English majors, and so on... you’ll purposefully take courses in different disciplines — hence the term interdisciplinary . This approach allows you to expand, enrich, and deepen your understanding of a specific concept, problem, or theme by drawing on and applying insights, frameworks, and methodologies from a number of relevant, overlapping perspectives.

For example, let's imagine a student aspires to work in the field of art therapy — both as a therapist and researcher/writer. The student could get a degree in psychology and build a foundation that way, before going on to do professional studies or other graduate studies program.

But, the student could opt for an interdisciplinary approach instead — and craft a learning pathway that combines highly relevant courses from multiple disciplines, such as psychology, art, esthetics (a branch of philosophy), and possibly also education and art history.

Seems simple enough, but it's worth remembering that there are varying degrees of interdisciplinary study going on in traditional degree programs too, so the distinctions are not always black and white.

While a physics degree requires background knowledge in mathematics, it’s not considered interdisciplinary in academia because physics concepts are fundamentally intertwined with math formulas, in the same way reading is intrinsic to studying history.

By comparison, a student interested in studying the impact of religious beliefs and culture on social attitudes about gender is clearly on an interdisciplinary path. A specialized degree track in just one discipline alone — either theology, or sociology, or gender studies — wouldn't allow you to fully investigate this kind of topic. Likewise, a liberal arts approach requires lots of inclusive coursework, much of which would fall outside the well-defined academic inquiry focused on dissecting interconnections between religion and gender.

This is where an interdisciplinary approach is key: while it won’t provide the same level of expertise in any single discipline, it allows you to integrate courses, concepts, and knowledge across distinct but relevant disciplines.

But wait… What degree would the student earn?... In this case, maybe it would be a bachelor of arts degree in Gender and Theology Studies!  Get the idea?...

Are Interdisciplinary Studies and Liberal Arts Different?

Yes, they are different, even though both involve a study design that includes courses from multiple disciplines.

As we've mentioned, an interdisciplinary study design aligns specific and relevant courses around a well defined topic of study or inquiry, or to prepare a student for a multifaceted career role.

Liberal Arts programs are anchored in social science and humanities courses and the academic goal is to finish college versed in a broad foundation of core social and cultural concepts and understandings.

While some interdisciplinary tracks might also involve humanities and social science courses, others will mix humanities and technology, or linguistics and statistics, and so forth, depending on the area of inquiry or career profile the student is focused on.

Are Dual Degree Programs and Double Majors the Same as Interdisciplinary Studies?

Yes, and no...

If students pursue dual degrees or a double major in order to gain insights into a well defined topic of inquiry or well-defined skill set that straddles two or three different disciplines, then this is, yes, very much akin to interdisciplinary studies. This means that in some contexts the terms are nearly interchangeable.

However, many students pursue dual degrees and and double majors primarily to leave college with a broader set of qualifications, not necessarily to integrate diverse methods and perspectives for purposeful inquiry. Therefore, the course design is broad and inclusive, focused on taking enough courses in each discipline to major in or get a degree in each discipline.

Students in interdisciplinary studies may cast aside some key requirements or core courses however, because their focus is often on digging deeply into the courses that are most relevant to a specific interdisciplinary focus, be it for inquiry or for building a uniquely defined career profile, or both.

Interdisciplinary Degrees

Compared to the simple logic of a traditional degree where a student studies engineering to get an engineering degree, an interdisciplinary approach can be more slippery and confusing, at least at first...

The fact is interdisciplinary degree programs can take lots of forms.

For example, some schools allow students to create their own interdisciplinary degree programs, with the student working with an academic advisor or other relevant faculty to design the course and capstone requirements as well!

However, you can also find established interdisciplinary degree programs offered from year to year — already having an approved curriculum and credit requirements — similar to and alongside traditional degree offerings.

Finally, remember that some popular, well-established degree programs are also inherently “interdisciplinary” because they plainly involve coursework across diverse and distinct disciplines. Some examples include:

African American Studies

Media Studies

Art Therapy

Political Economy

Science Writing

Health Management

Communications

Urban Planning

Data Science

Because degrees like these are so prevalent, academia tends to lump them in with traditional degrees, despite their interdisciplinary features. In other words, when people think of interdisciplinary degree tracks it is often programs that are a bit more edgy and trendy that come to mind, such as Religion and Ecology (a degree track at Yale), or Modern Culture and Media (at Brown).

Crafting Your Own Interdisciplinary Degree Track

As we’ve mentioned, many schools even offer you the freedom to propose and craft your own personalized interdisciplinary degree track. (Isn't that cool?)

This is where things can get really creative... But how does this work?...

These individualized interdisciplinary study programs typically involve an academic contract or proposal that takes shape after you’re admitted and enrolled.

It's important to realize that you yourself will make the proposal, albeit with the support of a designated academic advisor and following an established university process. 

This often involves three principal steps:

1. Defining your area of inquiry or interest
2. Crafting a proposal that outlines the academic topics you’ll focus on, the learning objectives, and the relevant and required courses and capstone activity agreed upon, and so forth
3. Submitting the proposal and getting final approval from the designated university officer or advisor, and possibly from designated faculty in the disciplines included in your proposal.

Your Turn... How Creative Is Your Interdisciplinary Imagination?

This is a very flexible and creative approach, as you can now see! What would your interdisciplinary major be if you were going to create a proposal like this?

Here are some possibilities to give you an idea how creative and flexible this approach can be:

Music & Neuroscience

Sports Psychology

Religion and Nationalism

Private Media and Free Speech

Gender Studies & Theology

Sacred Art & Music

Can You Do Interdisciplinary Studies in Graduate School?

Yes. Many graduate students pursue interdisciplinary studies in graduate school, and many graduate schools — including the very best ones at Ivy League schools and other very selective programs — support robust interdisciplinary degree programs. This is true for both academic and professional programs at both the master's degree and doctoral degree levels.

What Interdisciplinary Studies Mean for Your Career Preparation

An interdisciplinary approach is not adapted to preparing you for a career in the same way that specializing in a single discipline does, but it can have its own merits career wise.

Multi-Modal Thinking

Students who take an interdisciplinary approach can develop more fluid and flexible ways of thinking, analysis, and problem solving.

Mastering & Navigating Complexity

And, just as specialization can translate into opportunities professionally, interdisciplinary studies can enhance critical thinking, creativity, and adaptability — skills that can also prepare you for complex roles and challenges and help you succeed in navigating issues, research designs, organizations, or systems fraught with multifaceted complexity.

A More Holistic Knowledge Base

Interdisciplinary studies offer a valuable alternative for students envisioning a career role that doesn't align well with a more specialized degree program, offering a more holistic approach instead.

For example, to be an effective change leader in a struggling urban school district you'd need to be able to contend with lots of interconnected and nuanced social and managerial dynamics! A degree in public administration alone might not fit that bill, as you can imagine. Instead you might want to take leadership and management courses, while also getting some grounding in cultural studies, sociology, and organizational psychology.

Examples of Interdisciplinary Studies

Now you have a better general understanding of what interdisciplinary studies entail, but what better way to grasp the idea more fully than to look at some real examples.

The following list will help you see just how academically diverse interdisciplinary study programs can be  — and we hope it inspires you to discover what might be an interdisciplinary impulse of your own you haven't fully explored!

The examples below see a wide range of existing degree tracks offered at top schools. Note: some of the programs listed below are designated by the host school as dual degree or joint degree programs.

Are Interdisciplinary Studies Right for You?

If you’ve gotten this far and the question Are interdisciplinary studies right for me? is tugging at you, here are two very simple but powerful ways to gain some better self knowledge on this point...

1. Course Catalogue Insights

What you’ll need

• a course catalogue from a large university
• a pen and paper or a laptop or IPad

What to do

• Make a note-taking table with two columns. Imagine you can take only 12 courses (can be lower and/or upper division courses) during your undergraduate career. Browse the course catalogue and make a list of the top 12 courses you’d wish to take based on your top academic goals and interests, among all the courses offered.
• In the second column list an additional 6 courses, ones you’d also like to take if you could fit them in.
• Next, for each course on your table, write in short hand what department or discipline it belongs to.

What to ask yourself

Review your list: ask yourself the following questions…

• Are my top choices clustered in the same department or discipline?
• Do a few of my top choices cross over into different disciplines?
• If lots of my top choices are in different disciplines, are there two or three disciplines that stand out?

Assessing your inclinations

Which broad grouping do you think you’re leaning toward:

1. Specialization (most or all courses in one discipline)?
2. Interdisciplinary approach (several pivotal courses crossover into two or three disciplines)?
3. Liberal Arts education (courses are spread over a broad cross-section of topics spanning social science and humanities disciplines primarily)?

2. Career Dynamics

Another way to test if an interdisciplinary approach might be right for you, is through the lens of your career goals.

Let’s say you want to be a statistician. Most of the classes you’d need to succeed would fall under one discipline, mathematics, indicating little motivation to take an interdisciplinary approach.

However, if you wanted to be an epidemiologist, then you could follow a mathematics pathway and wait to learn more about medicine and epidemiology in graduate school.

Or, you could create an interdisciplinary approach, studying key concepts from two or three distinct disciplines — across mathematics along with life sciences or public health.

Let’s say you want to be an environmental policy research analyst. You’d probably see your course requirements crisscrossing two or three distinct disciplines:

• environmental science (life sciences)
• political science or economics (social sciences)
• statistics (mathematics)

The Educational Benefits of Interdisciplinary Studies

There are many potential educational benefits of interdisciplinary studies. Two that are most distinctive in my opinion include personalization, and tackling complexity.

Personalization

One key educational benefit of interdisciplinary studies is the ability to break free of traditional academic silos — disciplines and departments — to pursue an education that’s better aligned with specific individual interests or career goals.

Tackling Complexity

From globalization to global organizations and global communications, to the ethical challenges in a world of accelerating technological innovation and disruptions — just to pick a few examples! — we live and work in a world fraught with layers of interconnected complexity and rapid-fire change.

A rigorous, purposeful, and well designed interdisciplinary studies program can equip you to think across intersecting disciplines and apply different modes of thinking and problem solving for navigating complex issues or exercising leadership in complex settings or organizations.

Other Educational Benefits

Critical Thinking

• Apply methods and concepts from different disciplines
• Create research questions that draw on insights from different disciplines
• Integrate concepts, theories, and data from diverse disciplines to create a more holistic understanding of complex issues, problems, systems, or processes
• Be more adaptive at identifying limitations and bias inherent within individual disciplines

Communication Skills

• Understand how researchers express, formulate, and frame key concepts and questions in different disciplines
• Tailor communication and presentation skills to distinct audiences and contexts

Application of Knowledge / Problem Solving

• Develop more holistic and effective solutions to complex problems
• Interact and collaborate effectively with other professionals across disciplines

Advantages & Disadvantages of Interdisciplinary Studies

Now that we’ve explored many facets of interdisciplinary studies, we want to give you a quick, ready-made decision-making matrix to help you weigh the pros and cons of an interdisciplinary studies approach.

Final Thoughts

Interdisciplinary studies offer a unique and enriching educational path — and a middle way —for students eager to explore the intersections of various fields. When aligned with a student’s passion for a specific focus of inquiry, or a particular career goal, or as a foundation for tackling complex, multifaceted issues and systems, this approach can be quite powerful.

Therefore, any decision about choosing an interdisciplinary track should be approached with clarity of purpose and meaningful consideration, including seeking feedback from experienced academic advisors and college counselors.

It also means being sure to explore and assess your own goals, interests, and aspirations thoroughly.

If you want a trustworthy guide for your decision making and you’re not already in the Crimson network, then reach out to us today.

It’s easy.

Just schedule a free feedback session. We can’t wait to hear about your journey, offer some valuable tips, and help you feel confident you’re set to aim as high as possible! (It’s what we're here for.)

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