In the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences .
The primary purpose of the Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS) major is to provide students with an opportunity to develop an individualized set of courses focused on diverse subject areas around interests that are not well addressed by other majors in the college. A student may not be admitted into the major when entering the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences or through the internal transfer process. The change to the major evolves after a student finds their interests diverging from their current major and when a clear idea of new educational objective emerges.
As is the case for other majors, there need to be educational learning outcomes and a set of courses that will meet these academic goals. Unlike other majors where these goals and courses are established by faculty, students are responsible for developing their goals and courses with the guidance of an academic advisor. Generally, students should be drawing courses from across multiple disciplines. It is also expected that the courses taken will move from general introductory courses to advanced courses with greater focus and depth.
There must be an academic advisor identified by the student willing to help with the proposed program. All CALS faculty can serve as advisors for this major. Additional information, including the Learning Outcomes and FAQ’s for the IDS major, can be found on the CALS website.
Declaring the Major:
Students interested in declaring IDS, will need to submit the Interdisciplinary Studies Declaration of Intent form found in DUST. Students will need to provide a brief description of their academic area of focus, four to six learning objectives they want to gain from the IDS major based on their academic goals which are in addition to the overall learning outcomes of the major, and their academic plan which would include courses already taken that are applicable to major requirements.
Major Learning Outcomes
- Demonstrate the ability to use information, concepts, analytical approaches, and critical thinking skills involved in one or more disciplines through a set of increasingly specialized courses.
- Ability to use information acquisition skills (i.e. library, databases, internet, surveys, interviews) required by the disciplines developed for the major.
- Developing quantitative skills appropriate for the disciplines.
- Effectively use professional skills:
- Taking responsibility (self-motivation, ethical behavior, managing time)
- Write and speak clearly (legibly) and persuasively with individuals and groups
- Working effectively with others (building good relationships, effective leadership and team member, influencing others, managing others)
- Asking and answering the right questions (apply knowledge, evaluate actions and policies, paying attention to details)
- Solving problems (identify problems, develop solutions, launch solutions)
Requirements for the Major:
To meet major requirements students must take:
In addition, students must fulfill the CALS Distribution Requirements that provide students with academic breadth in the following areas:
- Physical and Life Sciences
- Social Sciences and Humanities, in preparation for ethical decision-making
- Written and Oral Expression, to ensure clear and confident articulation of ideas
CALS distribution can be attributed to the IDS major requirements; however, students should strive to expand on their chosen coursework toward the IDS major to encompass all their intended learning outcomes.
Additional information:
- All coursework for this major is in person, in Ithaca, unless otherwise noted.
- No prerequisite courses are necessary before declaring the IDS major.
- Letter or S/U grade options will meet major requirements.
- Courses can be below 3 credits hours if approved by the advisor.
- Unstructured coursework can fulfill course requirements. Students should work with their advisor on any limitations to the number of unstructured classes that will be attributed to major coursework.
- Students declaring IDS may not double major; however, they may declare more than one minor.