The Individualized Study (IS) option within the Interdisciplinary Studies major is designed for highly-motivated students who want to create their own course of study. IS students work closely with one or more faculty mentors in IAS or other programs at UWB as they shape a degree suited to their intellectual and professional interests and ambitions.
Housed in the Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences (IAS) program, IS allows students to create degree options in subjects ranging from science communication and environmental education to gender studies and digital arts. The resulting student-driven curriculum includes formal and informal meetings between students and their faculty mentors, along with a portfolio-based process of self-reflection on their learning as it evolves.
Graduating IS students develop careers and pursue graduate education in a wide variety of fields, depending on their chosen area of study. As important, they gain experience and document success in one of the crucial predictors of success in any of those fields: the ability to undertake a self-directed project in collaboration with others, to reflect critically on its development in process, and to complete it in a timely fashion.
IAS Individualized Study (IS) Degree Option Handout (PDF)
Students interested in pursuing the Individualized Study option work with a faculty member to develop a substantive proposal. This proposal is then reviewed by a faculty oversight committee. Once approved, requirements vary from proposal to proposal. Minimally, they need to include the following:
A minimum of forty credits of coursework in the approved course of study, including three two-credit Portfolio Reflection courses (one in the first quarter of individualized study; one at the midpoint; and one in the final quarter).
I'm excited about the Individualized Study option because it opens a space in our curriculum where students will make connections across our courses and programs that we have not yet anticipated. Working closely with their faculty mentors, IS students will design options that are suited to their emerging intellectual interests and professional ambitions. Along the way, they will teach us much about where the new frontiers of learning and knowledge lie.Bruce Burgett IAS Professor and Interim Director
Note: Within the credits taken in the IAS curriculum, students must complete 10 credits each in Visual, Literary and Performing Arts (VLPA); Individuals & Societies (I&S); and Natural World (NW).
