Before accessing the directory for the first time, we suggest that you read the introduction in its entirety simply by scrolling through the page. However, later you may want to use the links to “jump” to a section of your choice.

Preface to the 2nd Edition

The 2nd Edition of Intentionally Interdisciplinary, published in the fall of 2011, is proud to build upon the three years of experience and feedback that both the author and AIS as an organization have learned about the state of interdisciplinary studies at the Master’s level since the publication of the 1st edition in the fall of 2008. Over this period we have established a streamlined application process for programs that wish to be added to the directory, and this has resulted in the addition of dozens of new and revised program entries. Throughout the summer of 2011, AIS Office Manager Phyllis Cox and the author did a complete overhaul of the directory to check for broken web links, contact new faculty and program directors, alter contact information and identify any change in a program’s affiliation within their home institutions. As a result the directory not only brings information up to date on programs included in the first edition, it also adds a variety of a new online programs. We at AIS would like to welcome you to the directory and are confident that whether you are an administrator, faculty member, and/or a current or prospective graduate student, that this directory will help you to identify and locate with ease the kind of graduate interdisciplinary programs that you are looking for.

Guidelines

Our objective is to maintain a directory that provides not only up-to-date but comprehensive coverage of Master’s level interdisciplinary education, but programs will continue to change and new programs will get started. We invite any new program that feels it meets the criteria for inclusion, but was not included in the directory, to submit a request for inclusion at AIS at [email protected]. Likewise, we ask included programs to notify AIS of any changes that require adjusting their entry

In order to facilitate quick access for a wide array of users, this directory can be searched in two different ways. First, following in the footsteps of Alan F. Edwards Jr.’s undergraduate directory (also sponsored by AIS), this directory has been organized alphabetically by state to help students looking for programs in a certain area and for scholars who are interested in comparing programs regionally. Second, the directory can be searched by three overarching program classifications: “Masters of Interdisciplinary Studies (MAIS),” “Master of Liberal Studies/Liberal Arts (MALS),” and “All Other Interdisciplinary Programs.” Lastly, the directory can be searched regionally by state. It is also suggested that users of this directory familiarize themselves with the “Program Path” (see below) method of classification, as this is an informal but useful new method of finding programs that are similar in structure.

You are strongly encouraged to review the Scope, Criteria and Format sections of this introduction before moving on to the Directory. These sections will provide you with the information necessary to most effectively navigate the Directory and the programs that are included and excluded from its pages.

The Scope of this Directory

The initial research for this directory was done in the summer of 2007 through the summer of 2008. During this time over 400 hours of research and compilation were put into this project, and over 300 different programs were researched and assessed for compatibility with the criteria for inclusion in the Directory (see below). In the end, the first edition of the directory included nearly 200 different programs spread across forty-four different states. The second edition has over 200 programs, which is the result of both the addition of new programs and the disappearance and/or failure to maintain the criteria of “interdisciplinary education” for some programs that were featured in the first edition.

This directory differs in one major way from the AIS online Doctoral Program in that it is not limited solely to “programs housed within Colleges of Arts and/or Sciences,” but rather includes interdisciplinary Master’s degrees in all fields as long as they meet the stated criteria for inclusion.

The Criteria for Inclusion in the Directory

I have sought out programs that are intentionally interdisciplinary. There are three factors that have come to define what is meant by “intentional” in this directory. First, this means that the program acknowledges its own interdisciplinarity openly. Programs that did not claim to be interdisciplinary in nature, regardless of my opinion of their structure, were not included or investigated in the process of compiling this directory. Secondly, I have sought out evidence of integration as an embodiment of the level of the program’s intentionality. My research has illuminated that Master’s level interdisciplinary programs, as would logically be expected, fall somewhere in between the entry level of integration found in undergraduate programs (see Alan F. Edwards, Jr.’s Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Programs: A Directory, Second Edition) and advanced and explicit level of integration found in PhD programs (see Rick Szostak’s Doctoral Program Directory at http://www.units.muohio.edu/aisorg/Resources/doctoral_programs.shtml ). This directory has thus sought out programs that seek to integrate insights from disciplinary perspectives, as well as drawing intentionally upon more than one perspective. In some programs this level of integration is significant, while in other programs this is not necessarily the case. The level of integration found in each program is most clearly articulated in the third and final factor of this directory’s intentionality, the Program Path system of classification (see ‘Format’ below for more detailed information).

Following in the footsteps of the PhD directory, this directory includes only programs that have a website or a web link to information about the program. This particular factor was not merely an element of the criteria for inclusion, but was in fact the method of research itself. A number of Internet search engines were used to initiate the compilation process, and out of this grew, quite literally, a web of interdisciplinary connections (see “Search Criteria” below). Many programs linked to other programs, organizations, or interdisciplinary faculty that helped to grow and expand this web. The end result of this method of research is that this selective directory can nevertheless be said to be a comprehensive directory of intentionally structured Master’s level interdisciplinary programs that are listed on the Internet.

The Format of the Survey Used in the Directory

The survey used in this directory has five sections:

1. Basic Information
2. Program Path
3. Program Structure
4. Program Statistics
5. Contact Information

Most of the information contained in this survey is straightforward. The template that was used as the starting point for creating the survey was Alan F. Edwards, Jr.’s, Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Programs: A Directory, Second Edition, published under the guidance of then Association for Integrative Studies (AIS). The criteria used in Edwards’s directory are the following:

• University Name
• Program Name
• Type
• Size
• Courses
• Administration
• Narrative
• Contact

All of these criteria, except for “Size” and “Administration,” were used in this graduate directory, although the names of some of these criteria have been changed (example: “Narrative” is “Description” in this directory).

In addition to these basic criteria, the ‘Program Path’ section was created to tailor this directory specifically to graduate interdisciplinary Master’s programs, and are explained in more detail below. (See below, in ‘Background on the New Elements in this Directory’ for a short narrative on how this new section was created.)

Section 1: Basic Information

The basic information for each interdisciplinary program is the only section of the survey that is not specifically labeled (i.e., there is not a heading of “Basic Information” on the survey itself). The basic information is quite straightforward and includes the following:

• UNIVERSITY NAME & (State)
  At the top of each page is the name of the university, in bold CAPITALS, followed by the name of the State, in parentheses.
  Example: STANFORD UNIVERSITY (California)
• Program Name & (Program Acronym)
  The name of the interdisciplinary program offered at the school in bold, followed by the acronym for the program name (some programs do not use an acronym).
  Example: Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (MAIS)

Section 2: The Program Path

The Program Path section of this directory is a new form of classification that grew organically out of the process of researching and compiling this directory and is composed of two parts: the ‘Interdisciplinary Type’ (IDS Type), and the ‘Program Type.’ These Program Path classifications were developed with two underlying goals in mind. The Program Path was envisioned from a uniquely student perspective as a way of extracting the most important aspects of each program for the prospective student, while at the same time striving to offer valuable comparative and classification information for the interdisciplinary scholar. The Program Path also serves as the method for clarifying how the survey itself defines the intentionality of each program (see ‘Criteria’ above).

Interdisciplinary Type (IDS Type): An overarching classification that deals with a student’s access to graduate level courses at the university.

• Unrestricted IDS: Unrestricted IDS programs are programs where the student has access to 100% of the graduate level courses offered at a given university. The inspiration for labeling this “Unrestricted” IDS is based on the premise that somewhere there is a student who can see the connection between a course on aeronautical engineering and a course on Victorian literature. It is only in an Unrestricted IDS program that this student would have full and unfettered access to both of these courses. Unrestricted IDS programs acknowledge that there are no limits to the possibilities of interdisciplinarity, and as such they do not attempt to limit, in any way, the access of students to realizing their interdisciplinary vision. It is important to note that the Unrestricted IDS designation is not a commentary on the prerequisites or required faculty approval that a given course may have, it merely acknowledges that with the necessary clearance a student has access to the complete offerings of the universities’ graduate course offerings.
• Departmentally Restricted IDS: Departmentally Restricted IDS programs are programs that limit a student’s access to graduate coursework to certain departments at the university. This is not to say that students in a Departmentally Restricted IDS program might not have access to literally thousands of classes at the university, but nevertheless they would be restricted from at least a handful of the offered courses. It is also important to note that a Departmentally Restricted IDS designation is in no way a comment on the quality of the program itself. There are dozens of very high quality interdisciplinary programs of this sort that offer many opportunities to construct an interdisciplinary Master’s degree of the highest caliber. As a general observation, a majority of the Departmentally Restricted IDS programs appear to be contained in graduate schools of Arts and Sciences. At some schools this can be over twenty departments with tens to hundreds of course offerings in each department. My research also points to the possibility that the “Departmentally Restricted IDS” designation may in fact be more of a comment on the university as a whole being in a stage of “testing the waters” of interdisciplinarity, and thus not yet being comfortable with the prospect of a program that completely breaks down the boundaries of single-discipline inquiry. From this viewpoint, it seems likely that in the coming years many of these programs may prove their merit to their respective university administrations and expand to become unrestricted—and hence—Unrestricted IDS programs.

Program Type: A classification that specifically addresses whether students are open, limited, or blocked from arranging their schedule of courses throughout the duration of the program. In this way, the Program Type offers a commentary on what kind of interdisciplinary journey the program itself offers.

• Fixed IDS Program: Fixed Interdisciplinarity (IDS) is a program in which all (or virtually all) of the coursework in the program is predetermined and the students are not given any leeway in choosing their courses. This kind of program is the least common, which is likely due to the multifaceted and individually unique nature of interdisciplinarity in general. This being said, there are a few examples of universities that have quality Fixed programs in this directory.
• Foundational IDS Program: Foundational Interdisciplinarity (IDS) is a program that requires students to take one or more classes at the beginning of their study in order to build an interdisciplinary foundation of inquiry and understanding on which to build their unique version of the program. This kind of program is the most common, and the foundational courses included in this kind of program are often called Gateway courses or Proseminars. In general, a Foundational IDS program is beneficial in that it provides a student who is unfamiliar with interdisciplinary study an overview of the methods, terminology and attributes of interdisciplinarity. A genuinely Foundational IDS program works to integrate the knowledge of multiple disciplines by teaching about interdisciplinarity itself. That being said, the author acknowledges the possibility that programs included in this directory may have advertised themselves as Foundational programs on their website, but are in actuality only introducing students to the theme of their program in their foundational courses. For this reason it is suggested that this directory be used as a starting point, and that prospective students or interested educators contact the program directly to discern for themselves whether or not the program sufficiently prepares students to integrate knowledge from the disciplines.
• Floating IDS Program: Floating Interdisciplinarity (IDS) is a program that has no set course requirement and thus allows students to pick all of their own coursework. This does not mean that students are completely free to take whatever they want without restriction, because every program has certain program requirements, such as a required consultation with an advisor in choosing a plan of study and/or a certain number of credits required in concentrations of the student’s choice. Nevertheless, once all of the program requirements in a Floating IDS program are met, students are free to take any courses they meet the prerequisites for and there are no set “required” courses. The major difference between a Foundational and Floating IDS program is the absence of any required introductory interdisciplinary courses in the Floating program. The Floating IDS programs represent the middleman in this directory, as they are more prevalent than Fixed IDS programs but less common than Foundational IDS programs.

Description: The Description is an explanation of the IDS program from the university itself. Commonly this information was taken from the program’s website or informational brochure. The source of the program description is included at the end of the text.

• Example: Stanford University Master of Liberal Arts
  • Description: Return to Chaucer’s England. Explore emerging issues in bioethics. Contemplate the cross-cultural role of the public intellectual. Investigate the politics of diversity and unity in the United States. Whatever your interests, Stanford University’s Master of Liberal Arts offers an extraordinary opportunity to earn your master’s degree at one of the world’s great centers of learning. Designed with working adults in mind, this part-time graduate degree program holds classes in the evenings and offers a flexible academic schedule. (From website.)

*An important note on the relation of IDS Type and Program Type: It is important to note the Program Path possibilities that result from including both classifications in the survey of each university’s program. Due to the fact that there are two (2) options under the “IDS Type” classification and three (3) options under the “Program Type” classification, what emerges is that there are six (6) possible Program Paths that any one university’s interdisciplinary program can fall under. For example, The Ohio State University’s “Master of Arts in Comparative Studies” is an Unrestricted/Foundational IDS program while nearby Ohio University’s “M.A. or M.S. in Individual Interdisciplinary Program” is a Fully IDS/Floating IDS program. There are two points to clarify about this structure of the Program Path:

• First, the “IDS Type” and “Program Type” are completely independent, meaning that information about one of these categories does not necessarily give you any information about the other category.
• Second, each of the six different Program Paths is in essence its own kind of interdisciplinary study, with its own unique attributes and restrictions. Thus, programs that have the same Program Path (e.g. Departmentally Restricted IDS /Foundational IDS) are of a similar interdisciplinary nature. This can aid prospective students and interested scholars alike in their inquiry, as programs with the same Program Path classification will likely have many common attributes with other programs of the same classification. It is not the place of this particular piece to discuss the attributes, strengths, and weaknesses of each Program Path, although the author acknowledges that such a discussion would provide a great deal of valuable information and deeper understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of academic programs.

Section 3: Program Structure

The Program Structure is the section of the survey that gives information about applying to and being a student in the program itself. The information contained in this section is specifically organized to allow the reader, both the prospective graduate student and the academic, an opportunity to see inside each program and to facilitate an easy quantitative comparison of one program to another.

If the Program Path section can be said to be the intentionally interdisciplinary section of the survey, then the Program Structure section is the nuts and bolts of the programs themselves.

• Admission Requirements: The Admission Requirements are exactly that, things that applicants are required to do for admission into the program. Let us quickly look into the most common requirements.
  • Application: The application is the paperwork required for applying to the program. There are a few programs that have online-only applications, but most programs provide links to download and print a hard copy of the application to be mailed to the university upon completion of the admission requirements.
  • Official Undergraduate Transcripts: Most universities require official sealed copies of transcripts from all previous academic institutions attended. A few programs allow unofficial copies. In reference to Grade Point Average (GPA) specifically, I have decided not to include in the survey any information about required GPA’s because most programs that have required GPA’s also offer the opportunity for students to be granted “conditional acceptance” for a semester or a year in order to prove their qualifications for graduate study, assuming all the other elements of their application are of sufficient quality. Please visit the program’s website for up-to-date information on GPA requirements.
  • Resumé: This requirement is referred to as either a resumé or CV (curriculum vitae). A graduate admission resume should include a complete listing of the applicant’s educational, work related, and practical experience.
  • Statement of Purpose: This requirement is variously referred to as a statement of purpose, statement of intent, or proposed program goals. This requirement is common for master’s level interdisciplinary programs. Applicants must provide a brief summary of why they are interested in interdisciplinary study, what disciplines they want to pursue, and how they plan to integrate this work in an academically relevant way. If the program has a page or word count/page count requirement for the statement of purpose, that is included in parentheses (e.g. “2-3 pages”)
  • Plan of Study: The Plan of Study is an outline of the classes that a student plans to take, listed term by term, for the entirety of the program. There are a small handful of programs that require prospective students to complete this during the application process (i.e., before having been accepted to the program itself). Each of the programs have a specific way they want the Plan of Study to be laid out, so consulting the website or contacting the department directly is essential for completing this requirement in the correct manner. Most programs require the Plan of Study be completed after the student has been accepted into the program, usually within the first year of attendance. Every program that requires a Plan of Study offers faculty advisors for assisting in this process.
  • Writing Sample: Schools that require a Writing Sample are looking for a paper that illustrates the applicant’s potential for graduate level work. The submission of a quality paper completed in an upper division undergraduate course is the most common suggestion for fulfilling this requirement. A few programs ask for an essay on a question they provide and in these cases one must consult the website for the most current requirements. When the program provides information about this element, it is included in parentheses.
  • Example: (5-10 pages) OR (Essay based on question)
  • GRE: The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is required by some programs and optional for others. 
  • Letters of Recommendation: A majority of the programs require one to three letters of recommendation from previous professors or other persons who are familiar with the applicant’s ability to engage in graduate level study. Many programs have forms for letters of recommendation that are available for download on the program website. The most common form of submission is for the professor to complete the letter, seal it, and send it directly to university without showing it to the applicant. Unsealed letters are traditionally frowned upon, and in most instances, not allowed.
  • Interview: Some schools require an interview as a way of discussing with prospective students their plans and intentions for graduate level interdisciplinary study. The interview is an opportunity for students to ask questions about the program and to determine if the program offers the courses necessary to successfully pursue their interdisciplinary plans. The interview also allows the faculty member the opportunity to determine if the student’s plans are in line with the school’s IDS program. The interviews are preferably conducted in person with the Program Director or other IDS faculty member, but phone interviews are normally available for students who do not live in the area.
• Prerequisites: A prerequisite differs from an admission requirement in that it is not something the applicant must do or submit, but something that they must have in order to apply for the program, such as a certain kind of undergraduate degree. The most obvious prerequisite for graduate study is a Bachelor’s degree, but because every program in this directory requires that the applicant have this degree (at a minimum), this particular prerequisite is not included in the survey itself. Having excluded the Bachelor’s degree, there are very few programs with prerequisites and thus this element is included only for programs that have other kinds of prerequisites.

  Example: College-level algebra/3 credits of statistics or calculus

• Credit Hours: The minimum number of credits required for completing the degree.

  Example: 48 credits

• Required Coursework: Coursework that is required for completion of the degree. Examples of this are core courses and required IDS electives. This relates to the Program Path in that all (or virtually all) courses in a “Fixed” program are required, some courses in a “Foundational” program are required, and no courses in a “Floating” program are required. Exit courses and work are not included under this heading, as they have their own heading below. The format for this element and the next two elements is: number of credits, number and type of courses

  Example: 6 credits, Two Core courses

• Individually Selected Coursework: Individually selected coursework is coursework that is chosen by students to fulfill their interdisciplinary goals in various disciplinary departments. Simply put, these courses are electives. Most programs have guidelines for how this coursework must be organized (such as into “areas of concentration”), but nevertheless, individual students choose their own courses once the guidelines are met.

  Example: 18 credits, Six Electives

• Exit Courses & Work: Exit courses and work covers all coursework, final projects, and papers required for completion of the degree. Technically speaking, this element is “required,” but has been separated from the “Required Coursework” section for the purpose of clarity. Most graduate programs require certain courses in preparation for and/or to provide time for the completion of a thesis or final project, and this element is where that information is included.

  Example: 3 credits, Capstone Thesis Project

• Available Departments: The Available Departments element is directly related to the “IDS Type.” In this element, “True IDS” programs are labeled as “Open” because every department is open to a student in this type of program. On the other hand, every department or school available to a student in a “Departmentally Restricted” program is listed in this element.

  Example: “Open” OR “All departments in the School or Arts and Sciences”

Section 4: Program Statistics

The Program Statistics is the section of the survey that provides information about the program’s faculty, the types of possible enrollment for students, and the longevity of the program itself.

• Faculty Info: The Faculty Info element provides information about the number of faculty members in the program, and the number of faculty members associated with the program. If no information was provided this section will state, “No IDS faculty information available.”

  Example: 4 department faculty members, 34 associate faculty members

• Student Info: The Student Info element provides information on whether the program accepts resident students only or has the capacity to admit distance-learning students and, where applicable, it designates whether the program caters to or is designed specifically for part-time students.

  Example: Resident students only, Program designed for part-time students.

• Program History: The Program History element provides information on when the program was established at the university. If no information was provided this section will state, “No information available.”

  Example: Program established in 1989

Section 5: Contact Information

The Contact Information section provides four ways of getting in touch with the program directly.

• Address: The mailing address of the IDS department is provided if possible. Otherwise the next best thing, such as the mailing address of the graduate school at the university.
• Phone Numbers: The phone number(s) of the IDS department.
• Email: The email address(es) for the IDS department. Every attempt was made to use a departmental email address and not the email address of a faculty member in the department because of the fact that faculty members transfer and the goal of this directory is to give the user the most reliable and long lasting contact information possible.
• Website: The link for the IDS department’s website. Users of this directory are encouraged to check the website first as information may have changed or been updated since the time this directory was compiled.

Background on the New Elements in this Directory

Looking back over the time I spent developing and testing the survey that I used to compile this directory of interdisciplinary graduate programs, I can now see that there were two distinct parts of this process. The first and most obvious part was the inclusion of the necessary information that any survey must have to be useful to its target audience. The second part of developing the survey was the creation of new categories of classification specifically suited for arranging the unique structure of Master’s level interdisciplinary programs, which I call the ‘Program Path.’

It seems pertinent to explain briefly how the ‘Program Path’ classification arose. In the Spring of 2007, when the idea for a master’s level interdisciplinary studies program directory first came into being, I had a number of conversations with the Chair of Naropa University’s Interdisciplinary Studies Program, Alan Hartway. In these discussions we talked not only about the necessary information for a directory of master’s level interdisciplinary programs, but we also began to dialogue about the sense that there were different kinds of interdisciplinary programs, which after a number of discussions we defined as three distinct categories, with the work-in-progress titles of ‘Tract,’ ‘Gateway/Capstone,’ and ‘Open.’ This classification evolved into what has become the ‘Program Type,’ section of the survey. In the final version, the component parts of the ‘Program Type’ are called Fixed, Foundational, and Floating.

When I began my research these three classifications were the main criteria I was using to differentiate programs, but after completing approximately fifty program surveys, I noticed that each program had not only a Program Type, but also the distinction of having open or restricted access to registration in the university’s graduate courses. This distinction, which encompasses the Program Type, is referred to in the survey as the ‘Interdisciplinary Type’ (IDS Type).

Search Criteria for this Directory

Based upon the finite graduate assistantship that funded this research, the terms “interdisciplinary” and “liberal studies” comprised the bulk of my directed inquiry for this directory. Nevertheless, in the process of preparing to research and compile this directory, Julie Thompson Klein’s Crossing Boundaries: Knowledge, Disciplinarities, and Interdisciplinarities helped me to understand the expanse and breadth of terms that relate to interdisciplinarity. I began to take notes of the synonyms, subfields, and keywords that related to interdisciplinarity, and these terms formed the foundation upon which I conducted my Internet research. From the first day of my research, I continually referenced this list in order to expand the reach of the directory as far as the criteria for inclusion would allow.

Interdisciplinary Synonyms

• Matrix Structure (Klein, 23)
• Trading Zones (Klein, 22)
  • Pidgin zones
  • Creole zones
• Holism (Klein, 13)
• Transdisciplinary (Klein, 11)
• Mode 2 learning (Klein, 24)
• Humanities centers (Klein, 30)
• Advanced Studies (Klein, 31)
• Multidisciplinary (Klein, 33)
  • General and liberal education
  • Specific field of knowledge
• Capstone seminars (Klein, 33)
• Interrelation (Klein, 41)
• Multivariate discipline (Klein, 41)
• Crossroads science (Klein, 41)
• Circulation (Klein, 51)
• Wittgenstein’s “Familial Resemblances” (Klein, 70)
• “New History” (Klein, 71)
• Hybrid Specialties
• Nice nonsense (Klein, 78)
• “STS” Science, Technology & Society (Klein, 99)
• Culture Studies (Klein, 125)
• Cultural Studies
• Theoretical Studies
• History of Consciousness
• Plural Studies
• Cultural Theory
• American Studies (Klein, 163-167)
• Transdisciplinarity

Interdisciplinary Subfields

• International studies (Klein, 33)
• American multicultural studies
• Gender studies
• Historical consciousness
• Ethical understanding
• Peace and Conflict studies (Klein, 34)
• Computer and Information Studies
• Cognitive science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Global Studies
• Urban studies (Klein, 37) (also p. 88-96)
• Environmental studies (also p. 96-101)
• Borderland studies
• Area studies
• Women’s studies
• Cultural studies
• Ecological concepts (Klein, 40)
• Systems theory
• Contingency models
• Geography (Klein, 40-41)
  • Origins
    • US—geology, history, anthropology
    • Germany—earth science
    • France—history
    • UK—managing empire
  • Geography Subfields (Klein, 41)
  • Regional geography
  • Biogeography
  • Geomorphology
  • Climatology
  • Environmental science
  • Cartography
• Chicano Urban History (Klein, 58)
• Plate Tectonics
• Criminology (Klein, 59)
• Social psychology (Klein, 79)
  • Psychological social psychology (80)
  • Symbolic interactionism
  • Psychological sociology
• Molecular Biology (Klein, 81)
• Biochemistry
• Border studies (Klein, 101-107)
• Area studies (Klein, 107-115)
• Women’s studies /Gender studies (Klein, 115-123)
• Culture studies (Klein, 123-132)
  • List of subfields on p.124-125)
  • Synopsis on p.130
• Literary studies (Klein, Chapter 5)
• Hermeneutics (Klein, 141)
• Phenomenology
• Structuralism (Klein, 141-142)
• Theory ((142-145)
• Semiotics
• Social History
• Feminism
• Lacanian analysis
• Poststructuralism
• Literary Period studies (Klein, 155-58)
  • Victorian
  • Eighteenth Century
• Interarts (Klein, 159)
  • Comparative Arts
  • Interdisciplinary Arts
  • Interart
  • Analogies
  • Mutual Illumination
  • Interrelationships
• American studies (Klein, 163-167)

Interdisciplinary Keywords

• Negotiation (Klein, 129)
• Intervention
• Transgression
• Bricolage
• Interplay (Klein, 147)
• Inherent ties
• Reciprocal process
• Interpenetration
• Interaction
• Symmetries
• Symbiotic
• Complementary relationships
• Extraliterary
• Integrations (Klein, 213)
  • Differentiating
  • Comparing
  • Contrasting
  • Relating
  • Clarifying
  • Reconciling
  • Synthesizing

Acronyms Used in the Directory

• AIS Association for Interdisciplinary Studies
• AGLSP Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Program
• CCT Communication, Culture and Technology
• GCS Gender/Cultural Studies
• IAS Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies
• IDS Interdisciplinary Studies (primary usage in this text)
• IGS Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies
• IIP Individual Interdisciplinary Program
• ILPS Individualized Liberal and Professional Studies (Master of Arts)
• IMAP Individualized Master of Arts Program
• INO Individual Option (Program)
• INTD Interdisciplinary Studies
• IS Integrative Studies
• ITDS Interdisciplinary Studies
• LIBA Liberal Arts
• LSM Master of Arts in Liberal Studies
• LSMA Master of Arts in Liberal Studies
• LSS Liberal Studies Track
• MA Master of Arts
• MACS Master of Arts in Cross-disciplinary Studies
• MAHS Master of Arts in Humanities and Sciences
• MAIS Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies
  also used for “Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Science”
• MALS Master of Arts in Liberal Studies
• MA/LS Master of Arts in Liberal Studies
• MA/OC Master of Arts in Organizational Change
• MAP Master of Arts Program (in Interdisciplinary Studies)
• MASC Master of Arts in Sustainable Communities
• M.E.M. Master of Environmental Management
• M.I.S. Master of Interdisciplinary Studies
• MISP Master of Interdisciplinary Studies Program
• MLA Master of Liberal Arts
• MLAS Master of Liberal Arts & Sciences
• M/LS Master of Liberal Studies
• MLS Master of Liberal Studies
• MS Master of Science
• PIC Philosophy, Interpretation, and Culture
• QMSS Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences

Master’s Interdisciplinary Program Directory

Guidelines to Add or Update Your Program’s Information

Dear Interdisciplinary Master’s Program Representative,

Thank you for your interest in submitting or updating your program’s information in the Association for Interdisciplinary Studies’ Master’s Interdisciplinary Program Directory.

Before beginning this process, please make sure that you have read the “Master’s Directory Introduction” in its entirety, as this document will help to familiarize you with the format of the directory and its criteria for inclusion. You will be submitting your information by completing the Master’s Program Directory Survey in an electronic form online.

These Survey Guidelines will help you to complete the Master’s Program Directory Survey, which will be used to list your program’s information on the AIS website. Please print a copy of this document before beginning so you can easily refer to it as you complete the form.

Here are some general guidelines to use when filling out the survey form:

• Please fill in or check only the information that applies to your program.
• The final survey that you submit should not exceed 1 page in length, so structure your responses to the “Description” and other information accordingly.
• If you do not have information for any section of the “Program Statistics” or “Contact Information,” please enter “No information available.” All other sections of the survey need to be filled out completely.
• When in doubt about a certain survey component, please err on the side of keeping it simple.

Basic Information

• University name
• Degree Title: The title of the degree
• Program acronym: If your program has an acronym, please include the acronym on the same line as the degree title.

Program Path

• IDS Type: After familiarizing yourself with the IDS Types in the Master’s Directory Introduction, select “Unrestricted IDS” OR “Departmentally Restricted IDS.” 
• Program Type: After familiarizing yourself with Program Type, select “Fixed” OR “Foundational” OR “Floating” followed immediately by “IDS Program.”
• Description: Please use the description on your program’s homepage. At the end of your description, please cite the description in the following format: (From: website) OR (From: Program PDF) etc.

Program Structure

• Admission Requirements: Check all the admission requirements that apply to your program. Include numerical information for requirements, as indicated. DO NOT include ANY written descriptions.
• Credit Hours: The total credits required to complete the degree (e.g. “36 credits’).
• Required Coursework: The total required credits in the degree (e.g. “12 credits”)
  • NOTE: While most exit coursework, such as Capstone Seminars and Thesis Research courses, are required, these courses have been separated from the “Required Coursework” in order to more clearly establish what will be required for students in the program to complete the degree. Please distinguish what required coursework in your program is exit coursework, and include it in the “Exit Courses & Work” below. All other required coursework belongs in this section.
• Individually Selected Coursework: The total individually selected credits in the degree (e.g. “18 credits”)
  • NOTE: Many programs have degree elements such as “concentrations” or “tracks.” The “Individually Selected Coursework” section of this survey is NOT the place to explain this aspect of your program, but rather to answer for prospective students and interested scholars “How many credits of the total degree are students allowed to select on their own, assuming that they meet all the prerequisites required for registration?” In general, these are labeled “Electives.”
• Exit Courses & Work: The total credits of exit coursework required for the degree (e.g. “6 credits”). Include the number AND kind of courses AND any required final projects or papers (e.g. “One Advanced Research Course, One Capstone Seminar, and Masters Thesis”).
• Established Department(s) of Focus: This element of the survey is directly related to the “IDS Type” in the “Program Path” section above. If your program is “Unrestricted IDS,” check “Open.” If your program’s “IDS Type is “Departmentally Restricted IDS,” this is the section where you can list all the departments in which students are allowed to take courses. It may also be appropriate and expedient to write something like “Any Course in the College of Arts and Sciences,” if this is the case.

Program Statistics

• Faculty: The number of department faculty, the number of associate faculty, OR no IDS specific faculty information available.
• Students: This section lets students know what kind of students the program accepts in terms of residential requirements and full- or part-time status. Please select all phrases that are appropriate for your program from the following: “Resident students only” OR “Low-Residency students allowed” AND “Part-time students allowed.”
• Program History: Year that the program was established.

Contact Information

• Address: The program’s office address.
• Phone Numbers: Program office phone number. Because of the continually shifting nature of department faculty, we encourage your program to list a set phone number for the program, instead of a faculty member’s phone number. If you would like to include both, please put the office number first. 
• Email: Program email address. For the same reason as above, if your program would like to include a faculty email address, please put the general program email address first.
• Website: Copy and paste the web address of your program’s homepage here.