Interdisciplinary Studies
Self-Designed Programs
Students admitted to the Interdisciplinary Studies program should define their goals in graduate study, drawing up a brief statement of purpose that will be useful in counseling and enrollment. New students are encouraged to peruse the catalog and create a list of courses that appear suitable for their goals (because not all courses will be available at any given time). The Interdisciplinary Studies program has been developed to allow students to self-design a program of study specifically tailored to their own needs, individual interests or career goals. There are no required courses, no core or tool requirements, and no majors or minors, although the guiding assumption is that there will be some coherent common principle that structures the program. Students can select from the entire graduate catalog as well as the Law School and Health Sciences Center, with very few restrictions (usually excluding the required "core" courses of a small number of existing majors in "traditional" departmental programs). The Master of Arts or Master of Science degree program in Interdisciplinary Studies gives students the freedom to design a degree that will meet their individual needs in conjunction with an advisor in the Graduate School. Most students pursue the 36-hour, non-thesis plan, but a thesis may be appropriate in occasional circumstances. This individualized program allows tailoring the plan of studies to meet narrowly focused needs, such as the requirements for a specific job or position upgrade. Students have also utilized the flexibility of the Interdisciplinary Studies option to obtain a graduate degree to prepare themselves for examinations and licensing or certification in certain areas where TTU does not currently offer a graduate degree (such as specialized areas of social work). By combining choices from several different departments and colleges, the student can arrive at program uniqueness far beyond the capacity of traditional departments. Students can draw from the offerings in more than one hundred masters programs university-wide, as well as having access to graduate work in the Health Sciences Center and the School of Law.