Many students will declare their majors within the next month. Declaring can be a stressful but productive experience. It forces self-reflection, hopefully prompting an inventory of one’s interests, talents and post-graduate goals. Many students will choose traditional majors in subjects such as chemistry or English, but the University offers a number of excellent interdisciplinary majors, and undergraduates overlook them to their own disadvantage. It surprises me how little attention these programs receive, for the best of them meet every item on my imaginary perfect-major checklist: they provide a competitive edge in a hostile job market, an engaging educational experience and an opportunity to transform one’s thinking.
In the past decade, universities have seen an enormous growth of “interdisciplinary majors:” concentrations of study that focus on certain topics by drawing from two or more academic disciplines. The University has embraced the interdisciplinary ethos, offering majors such as cognitive science, political and social thought, human biology and East Asian studies. Such majors work to dissolve the traditional barrier between theory and practice, encouraging students to tackle questions using the wisdom of multiple fields.
The value of interdisciplinary majors can be difficult to explain, and students and parents are often skeptical. Is it a real degree? Will it translate to a job? Though a hostile job climate might justify such concerns, interdisciplinary majors prepare students to tackle the challenges of an increasingly interconnected world.
In a Feb. 21 presentation to undeclared students, officials from University Career Services discussed the employment obtained by University alumni who majored in cognitive science.
“Programs such as cognitive science build skills from multiple disciplines, and employers appreciate this,” said Sarah Isham, director of career services for the College. The cognitive science major requires courses from neuroscience, philosophy, computer science, psychology and linguistics to shape the study of one topic: the human mind and how it processes knowledge. By drawing from multiple perspectives to study a single idea or question, cognitive science students engage in a holistic, problem-based education. Such skills go beyond the dogmatic exercises of traditional disciplines and teach students to be resourceful in approaching problems.
Some cite the narrowed approach of study as a criticism of interdisciplinary programs. Such thinking springs from the misguided idea that the subject matter of a major, rather than the skills it cultivates, must match to a potential job. Interdisciplinary majors build a variety of skills by exposing students to a varied curriculum. For example, cognitive science and human biology courses equip students with the writing skills of a humanities major and also the methodical, conceptual thinking of a biology major.
When I mention interdisciplinary majors to friends, they often cite the double major as an obvious alternative. But besides the problem that double majors require more time and credits, they largely require students to make cross-disciplinary connections without the guidance or encouragement of faculty. An interdisciplinary major educates the mind in a way that a double major cannot. Interdisciplinary programs support creativity and guided flexibility between disciplines. In cognitive science, for example, undergraduates can explore connections between neurobiology and philosophy by using cutting-edge neuroscience to inform our conceptions of what constitutes knowledge. Such approaches foster creativity and a mentality for approaching problems from a range of vantage points.
Interdisciplinary thinking flourishes outside universities in many fields, including public service, law and business. Linking academic disciplines not only strengthens the mind and provides a competitive edge in the job market; it also prepares students to engage with the complex problems of our time. The environmental issues we face, for example, cannot be solved without addressing our economic system. Reforming medicine requires addressing social problems such as poverty. Such issues inevitably take on political dimensions as well. Investing in interdisciplinary thinking anticipates the future of problem solving. So as you browse the recesses of virginia.edu, daydreaming about the different majors you might declare, consider going interdisciplinary.
George Knaysi is a Viewpoint writer for The Cavalier Daily.
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