Interdisciplinary Studies
The Department of Interdisciplinary Studies offers a range of courses as well as three interdisciplinary degree programs that explore critical, contemporary issues in culture and society--issues that often cut across disciplinary boundaries. Our faculty are actively involved in scholarship and applied research in the fields of animal studies, gender and sexuality studies, globalization and development, global pop cultures, media & cultural studies, and science and technology studies. We offer degrees in the interdisciplinary fields of Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies and Global Studies. Students can also design their own interdisciplinary degree through the department's two "DIY" Interdisciplinary Studies degree programs (B.A. and B.S.). Students in these four interdisciplinary degree programs take courses offered within the department by our core faculty, as well as classes taught by affiliate faculty from across the university.
The Department is also home to Watauga Residential College, a unique living learning community that offers an alternative general education program through integrative and experiential learning. Classes are discussion-based seminars that provide an unusual opportunity for students to become engaged in learning at a deep level through class discussions and research projects.
The Department supports these academic programs with innovative curricula, student research opportunities, community engagement, and involvement with service learning, internships, study abroad, and other curricular and co-curricular learning activities. The Department also promotes creative and imaginative engagement in cross-disciplinary investigation of complex systems and problems.
We strive to be a statewide and national leader in interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary scholarship and teaching, simultaneously promoting the distinctiveness of each of our programs and creating opportunities for collaboration and cooperation among them.