2024-2025 Catalog 
    
    Dec 03, 2024  
2024-2025 Catalog

Interdisciplinary Studies, BA


An interdisciplinary degree offers students a way to merge multiple interests to create a unique degree. This degree could address a need that cannot be met by existing structures or provide an opportunity for students to pursue compelling interdisciplinary directions in their own research and teaching.

An Interdisciplinary Studies degree is best suited for:

  1. Students who have a specific personal or professional interest that cannot be met within the traditional degree structure or
  2. Students with disparate credit hours trying to find a way to complete their degree.

Features

  • Students and faculty can design majors around interdisciplinary topics of professional and personal interest.
  • Students, guided by advisors, take initiative in directing their own education.
  • Students learn how to analyze and apply knowledge gained from multiple disciplines.

Interdisciplinary Studies Major Options

The following options, or tracks, may be added to the Interdisciplinary Studies major. Options may have different course, grade, GPA, or hour requirements.  See below for more information.

  • Individually Structured Interdisciplinary Studies
  • Cognitive Archaeology
  • Cybersecurity

Individually Structured Option


Students can develop their own Interdisciplinary Studies degree plan (INST course plan) for approval. The plan must include all of the elements listed below:

  1. Present a clear and persuasive case for the interdisciplinary nature of the problem or question.
  2. Draw from at least two departments in LAS or from at least one department in LAS and one department in another college.
  3. Incorporate at least 36 credits, 27 of which must be from courses at the 3000 level or higher.
  4. Require a creative project, community outreach, social action project, internship, or education abroad or nationally. 
  5. Require a summit experience that demonstrates the fusion and integration of these fields studied.

The courses you choose to include should reflect your career goals and interests as well as the marketability of your skill set. We want to make sure there are employment opportunities that involve the unique combination of knowledge and skills you will gain from this customized degree. 

Questions: please contact: Janice Thorpe, 719-255-4126, jthorpe@uccs.edu  

Course Requirements


  • Complete 30 credit hours of approved courses from the Individually Structured Interdisciplinary Studies plan.

Internship or Exchange


  • Complete the Intership or Exchange course as approved in the Individually Structured plan.

Summit Course


  • Complete the Summit course as approved in the Individually Structured plan.

Cognitive Archaeology Option


Cognitive archaeology is a multidisciplinary field that draws primarily upon concepts and theories from psychology and anthropology to reach a broader understanding of archaeological artifacts and the minds of their makers. This discipline also applies concepts and theories from other fields such as the neurosciences, neuropsychology, linguistics, evolutionary theory, behavioral genetics, and philosophy. Cognitive archaeology considers the origins and adaptive evolutionary purposes of cognitive processes and capabilities, including concept formation, spatial cognition, social cognition, language, symbolic structures, working memory, and many others.

General Information

The Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Interdisciplinary Studies - Cognitive Archaelogy requires the following:

  • A minimum of 45 credit hours of major course work. At least 25 of those hours must be upper division (courses numbered 3000 or higher).
  • A grade of C- or better in courses applied to the major.
  • A minimum 2.0 GPA must be maintained in all major course work.
  • No more than 60 credit hours of major course work may apply to the bachelor’s degree.

Additional course work is required to complete the Interdisciplinary Studies - Cognitive Archaelogy, BA degree. Please see the advising guide on the Academic Advising website for more information.

If you would like to explore this degree plan further, please contact Fred Coolidge fcoolidg@uccs.edu or Thomas Wynn twynn@uccs.edu

Cybersecurity Option


General Information

The Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Interdisciplinary Studies - Cybersecurity requires the following:

  • A minimum of 36 credit hours of major course work. At least 24 of those hours must be upper division (courses numbered 3000 or higher).
  • A grade of C- or better in courses applied to the major.
  • A minimum 2.0 GPA must be maintained in all major course work.
  • No more than 60 credit hours of major course work may apply to the bachelor’s degree.

Additional course work is required to complete the Interdisciplinary Studies - Cybersecurity, BA degree. Please see the advising guide on the Academic Advising website for more information.

Concentration Areas


      Technical Communication and Information Design (TCID)

     Complete all of the following courses.

     Complete two of the following courses:

     TCID User Experience (UX) 

     Complete all of the following courses.

     Complete two of the following courses: