Major in Interdisciplinary Studies

The Interdisciplinary Studies major offers students an opportunity to tailor their own multidisciplinary areas of concentration to pursue courses with greater freedom of choice than in the listed majors. A major that is truly interdisciplinary is one that represents an integration of traditional disciplines, a melding of fields that cannot be accomplished by the usual structure of a major/minor or a double major/minor.

An interdisciplinary major is not a fallback or a substitute for those who cannot decide on a major, nor is it necessarily a way of creating a major that at present does not exist at Tufts. Rather, it is a serious undertaking for the student who is committed to blending disciplines in a way that is demonstrably relevant to an identifiable area of intellectual inquiry.

Requiring a high degree of independent initiative and self-discipline, the Interdisciplinary Studies major involves a selection of courses from the social sciences, arts, humanities, natural sciences, quantitative and engineering areas, with at least two of these six areas being represented, plus a senior-year thesis project chosen to integrate the student’s program. The thesis topic should not be one that could be done within a regular departmental program, but instead represents a separate field of study with an identifiable methodology appropriate to the topic.

Candidates who are applying for an Interdisciplinary major should have a minimum GPA of 3.4. If accepted, students may not double count more than six credits from their Interdisciplinary Studies major towards another major or minor.

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