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Departments & Programs

Interdisciplinary Studies
Bachelor of Science Degree Requirements

For details on school specific policies, see the School of Science requirements under ‘‘Undergraduate Programs” in this bulletin. Please note that at least 32 credit hours of course work must be at the 300 level or higher.

First-Year Experience Course  Beginning freshmen and transfer students with fewer than 19 credit hours are required to take SCI-I120 Windows on Science (1 cr.), or an equivalent first-year experience course.

Area I English Composition and Communication Competency (9 cr.)

English Composition (6 cr.)
  • ENG-W131 Elementary Composition I
  • Second Composition Course that has ENG-W131 as a prerequisite, e.g. ENG-W270, ENG-W231, ENG-W320, ENG-W350, TCM 22000, or TCM 32000
Speech Communication (3 cr.)
  • COMM-R110 Fundamentals of Speech Communication

Area II World Language Competency

No world language proficiency is required for the Bachelor of Science degree. However, if knowledge of a world language is pertinent to the interdisciplinary major, a student may choose to pursue one.

Area IIIA Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, and Cultural Understanding Competencies (12 cr.)

The information about the IIIA requirements in the School of Science part of this bulletin lists courses that may be used to satisfy the requirements below. Students should consult the program advisor before registering for these courses.

  • List H course: Choose one course (3 cr.) from this list. The list of course choices is located under the School of Science requirements “Undergraduate Programs” in this bulletin.
  • List S course: Choose one course (3 cr.) from this list. The list of course choices is located under the School of Science requirements “Undergraduate Programs” in this bulletin.
  • One additional course from either List H or List S
  • List C course: Choose one course (3 cr.) from this list. The list of course choices is located under the School of Science requirements “Undergraduate Programs” in this bulletin.

For the most current list of courses in the areas of Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences and Cultural Understanding, please refer to the IUPUI General Education Curriculum.

Area IIIC Life and Physical Sciences Competency

See the School of Science requirements under “Undergraduate Programs” in this bulletin. Four courses outside the major from the life and physical sciences, one of which must include a corresponding laboratory. Laboratory courses without a lecture component may be taken for credit, but do not count toward the four-course requirement. No grade below C- will be accepted in any of these courses. Consult the program advisor concerning the acceptability of courses.

Area IIID Analytical Reasoning Competency (9 cr.)

  • Two courses beyond algebra and trigonometry. (6 cr.)
  • One computer programming course. (3 cr.)

No grade below C- will be accepted in any of these courses.

Note: Computer Science CSCI-N100 level courses and CIT 10600 do not count for credit toward any degree in the School of Science. Also, CSCI-N241 and CSCI-N299 do not count in Area IIID but may count as a general elective.

Area IV Interdisciplinary Major Concentration (40-45 cr.)

Minimum requirements include 40 credit hours of core interdisciplinary major courses.

All courses applicable to the major must have a minimum grade of C.

Curriculum

The curriculum for each interdisciplinary studies student will vary so as to meet the particular academic objective of the student. The interdisciplinary studies major areas of study will consist of a coherent set of courses that define a clearly recognizable focus of study for which faculty can provide oversight and ensure intellectual integrity and rigor. A faculty committee will approve all interdisciplinary study major areas, and each student in the program will work closely with a program advisor and faculty mentors.

The interdisciplinary major area will be comprised of 40-45 credit hours of regular courses from at least two disciplines and culminate with a senior capstone project or internship.