Director's Welcome

Welcome to Interdisciplinary Studies! This program offers students the opportunity to move up or out in a career by tailoring an online, 30-hour course of study from three different disciplines in a thoughtful way. Students come to us with variety of interests and needs, and recent studies show that employers want people who have disciplinary knowledge, good speaking and writing skills, the ability to work well with others, and excellent problem-solving skills. Our mission is to prepare students for the world of work or continued education by training students to solve academic and practical problems through meaningful connections between disciplines, innovative approaches to subject matter, and reliance upon experiential learning and global awareness that lead to opportunities for strong research and creative endeavors. Students in the program work with faculty and staff to articulate career goals, identify curricular and co-curricular ways to attain those goals, and create individualized courses of study that will help them complete their education and move upward or outward in their life and career goals. In addition to the flexibility of designing a course of study from available concentrations offered in partnership with other departments on campus, our program equips students for graduate work and the job hunt. Our Introduction to Interdisciplinary Studies course is writing intensive, helping students to feel confident about their research and writing skills for graduate school; our Capstone/Internship courses provide students the opportunity to create a meaningful research or internship project, and networking connections, that will help them market themselves and demonstrate problem solving, knowledge, team play, and excellent communication to an employer. I once read a Dear Abby letter from a retired marine who expressed that he had always wanted to be a lawyer, but worried that he would be fifty-three by the time he graduated from law school. Her reply: “You will be 53 either way. Would you like to have a law degree or not?” This Master’s program is not easy, but it provides options. It provides knowledge and experience. Although I am new to SUU, I have been impressed by the quality and creativity of the capstone presentations I have attended. Students finish with knowledge and a project that are meaningful and tailored to their needs and interests. Come join us.