Requirement:   (5 credit hours)

• A total of five credit hours from the university approved GEP Interdisciplinary Perspectives course list.

Double-counting:

• A course taken to satisfy a Major requirement may also satisfy this requirement if the course is on the approved GEP Interdisciplinary Perspectives course list.
•  A course that satisfies the Interdisciplinary Perspectives requirement may also satisfy the Global Knowledge or U.S. Diversity co-requisite if the course also exists on either university approved GEP co-requisite course list.

Rationale:

Interdisciplinary study provides students with the opportunity to synthesize knowledge and skills, to make connections between fields of study, to consider more than one disciplinary approach or methodology, and to bring to bear the insights from two or more disciplines in examining and/or responding to complex problems.

Category Objectives:

Each course in Interdisciplinary Perspectives category will provide instruction and guidance that help students to:

1. Distinguish between the distinct approaches of two or more disciplines; and
2. Identify and apply authentic connections between two or more disciplines; and
3. Explore and synthesize the approaches or views of the two or more disciplines.

Interdisciplinary Course Criteria

Topic Coverage

An interdisciplinary course may be based around a broad topic, such as an idea, theme, problem, region, institution, era or issue. The complexity of such topics may mean that they can be more adequately addressed using an interdisciplinary approach rather than through a single disciplinary point of view.  Instructors should help students to integrate the multiple points of view into a cohesive understanding. The multiple disciplines may come from any college or from across colleges.

Rigor

The courses must include sustained, rigorous and substantive instruction that focuses on the content and approaches of two or more disciplines.

Methods of Delivery are flexible and must include one of the following approaches:

• Teams of faculty or experts from different disciplines. In team-based courses all faculty are responsible for the course and contribute to components of the class.
• Two linked courses which must address one or more specific themes, topics, issues, cultures or problems.  To satisfy the requirement by this means, the two instructors must sustain collaboration and demonstrate that the two courses are interrelated (for instance, by demonstrating that the content coverage is coordinated over the semester, or by demonstrating that the syllabi and reading lists clearly reflect the interdisciplinary nature of the courses).  Students would have to complete both courses in a single semester to satisfy this requirement.
• Individual faculty members teaching a single course. The instructor need not be an expert in mulitple disciplines; the purpose of these courses is not to train students in mulitple disciplines. The role of the instructor is to guide students in seeing the value in using mulitiple disciplinary perspectives in addressing specific themes, topics, issues, cultures or problems through an informed and rigorous exploration of these perspectives. (Revised Spring 2010).

Participation

All colleges and departments are encouraged to participate in the development of appropriate courses for the Interdisciplinary Perspectives list and submit new or revised courses to CUE for approval.