Bachelor of Science in Integrative Studies

Pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Interdisciplinary Studies (formerly BS in Integrative Studies) allows students to work with faculty and advisers to design a program of study that meets their academic and career goals. Through the program of study, students acquire relevant disciplinary knowledge and learn approaches to integrating disciplinary perspectives in order to more effectively address contemporary political, social, scientific, and humanitarian questions.

Why ISD?

  • Interdisciplinary Studies (ISD) provides students with the freedom to design a program of study that integrates two or more thematic or disciplinary areas which reflect their academic passions and concerns. Students who want to pursue an academically rigorous course of study and accept personal responsibility for their intellectual development will thrive in ISD. To create an ISD program of study is, in a real sense, to cut your own path to knowledge.

  • The result of independence and inquiry is often innovation—the act of making something new. ISD majors are encouraged to push themselves toward creative ways of thinking and expressing themselves that will be beneficial throughout their college careers and as they transition to life after graduation.

  • Inquiry begins with curiosity—to ponder the nature of things as they are, and as they might be. The striking thing about much of higher education today is the emphasis upon information without the cultivation of curiosity or inquiry. ISD majors are not content with mere facts. They want to understand the significance of those facts in the context of a bigger picture. ISD students have a genuine desire to ask questions and to find answers that others may overlook. Cultivating an attitude of inquiry is crucial to the ISD major.

  • From designing a program of study, to choosing thematically congruous courses, to completing a major research project—ISD majors must have a sense of the why behind the what. In other words, they must have the inclination to investigate how various aspects of knowledge from across disciplines actually relate. Whether from the arts, social sciences, humanities, or natural sciences, the interrelation of various facets of learning is of utmost importance to ISD majors.

Forms

For more information on specific classes, see our B.S in Interdisciplinary Studies information in the KSU Undergraduate Catalog.

©