Interdisciplinary Programs - Georgetown College

Director: Hubert J. Cloke, Senior Associate Dean, Georgetown College

Georgetown College, the oldest of the undergraduate schools of Georgetown University and home to the arts and sciences, remains the heart of the University, with its strong liberal arts tradition and commitment to integrating the Jesuit ideals of education, service, and action. Increasingly, an interdisciplinary approach to this mission enables students to make new connections and think creatively across traditional boundaries.

Interwoven throughout Georgetown's department-based curriculum are interdisciplinary programs that take advantage of the breadth as well as depth of intellectual resources on the Georgetown campus. These popular programs are based on themes that cross departmental boundaries and reflect the emergence of significant new perspectives on human knowledge. They are the result of collaborative efforts by faculty from diverse disciplines to create programs addressing complex questions coherently from a common but multidimensional standpoint. 

Georgetown students are encouraged to explore these resources and to consider obtaining a major, minor, or certificate in one of these interdisciplinary areas. Following you will find brief descriptions of these programs. 

Georgetown College offers students the opportunity to pursue interdisciplinary studies by designing individual majors or selecting majors in existing interdisciplinary programs. Majors are designed in consultation with Senior Associate Dean Hubert J. Cloke in the College Dean's Office (303 Intercultural Center). Not all interdisciplinary programs have been designated as majors. In these programs, students can choose to minor in the area.

African American Studies

The African American Studies Program offers students the opportunity to study the historical, cultural, political, economic, literary and social contributions and developments of African Americans in the United States. The pilot program seeks to prepare students for entry into an increasingly diverse American work force and society where diversity is a valuable resource. The Interdisciplinary Studies Program-sponsored minor in African American Studies is interdisciplinary because the various experiences of African Americans are impossible to compartmentalize within a single discipline.

American Studies

The American Studies program at Georgetown seeks to analyze the origin, ideals and historical development of American civilization. The approach is interdisciplinary, utilizing the resources of history, literature, political science, economics, sociology, philosophy, theology, and the fine arts. The American Studies major seeks, through interaction of these disciplines, to develop an integrated and intensive understanding of the social and aesthetic aspects of the American experience. The goal of the program is the integration of knowledge that enables students to grasp the cultural patterns of American society while pursing their own special interests concerning that culture. 

This demanding program is intended to challenge the best of students. The number of students in the major is deliberately kept low to foster a favorable working relationship between students and professors and to provide opportunities for creative diversity among the students. 

American Studies majors are required to complete 14 courses in the program. All students take the four-semester sequence of American Civilization and the senior thesis seminar. Each student is also expected to complete a major concentration comprised of eight upper-division electives. The concentration is developed by each student in consultation with the faculty and should represent an interdisciplinary approach to an area of primary interest to the student. Each student is required to submit  a proposal detailing his or her course of study for the junior and senior years. The course of study is subject to the approval of the program's faculty committee. Interested students should contact Professor Diana Owen, the American Studies Program Director or visit the American Studies web site.

Catholic Studies

The Catholic Studies concentration requires one or more introductory courses in Catholic Studies combined with elective courses from various academic departments that reflect on one aspect or another of the Catholic experience. 

The Catholic Church is both a tightly organized institution and a diverse body of believers who through the centuries have become deeply involved in their own cultures. Typically, they have tried to connect their faith with their life and work and so have had an immense impact over the past two millennia on world civilizations. 

At the same time, the Catholic Church as an institution with doctrines and religious rites has developed a variety of approaches to God, the tangible world, and the nature of human existence and experience. 

The story of the church and its members, and the story of their interactions with history, the arts and sciences, human thinking and belief are the subjects of Catholic Studies. Catholic Studies at Georgetown is inclusive: it welcomes students and professors from widely divergent intellectual and religious backgrounds. Its goal is not to proselytize or to justify but to study, explore, and understand. 

Students interested in learning more about an interdisciplinary concentration in Catholic Studies are invited to visit the Catholic Studies web site.

Cognitive Science

Cognitive Science is the study of the mind, i.e., of how knowledge is acquired and used. Cognitive scientists use theories and methods drawn from many disciplines including cognitive psychology, neuroscience, philosophy of mind, linguistics, computer science, artificial intelligence, physics, mathematics, biology, and anthropology.  They ask questions such as: How do people acquire language? What are the neural bases of perceiving, learning and remembering? What is the nature of knowledge? Can machines think? How do experts differ from novices? Are there innate ideas? How did human intelligence evolve?

The Interdisciplinary Program in Cognitive Science at Georgetown offers a minor in Cognitive Science, and courses open to all students.  We focus on research and, especially, on encouraging students to learn about and work on faculty and graduate student research projects. For example, we offer a spring core course (ICOS-202) in which students spend time in several faculty laboratories, during which they read about, discuss, and experience first-hand the research projects underway at Georgetown. In addition, Cognitive Science minors may choose to conduct a senior thesis in Cognitive Science (though a thesis is not a requirement of the minor). Our program involves faculty from several main campus departments (including Biology, Computer Science, Linguistics, Mathematics, Philosophy, Physics, and Psychology) and from the Medical Center (including Neurology, Neuroscience, Physiology, and the Georgetown Institute for Cognitive and Computational Sciences). Therefore, we help students to take advantage of the exciting research being conducted on both campuses.  Both of our core courses (ICOS-201, 202) are team taught by faculty from both campuses. This offers the chance to experience an unusually large range of perspectives and disciplines, all in a single course.  For this reason, our core courses can help students to choose a major during their first years at Georgetown or to widen their horizons in their later years.

The minor in Cognitive Science requires that you have a major (planned or declared) in one of the following participating disciplines: Biology, Computer Science, Linguistics (including specialists in linguistics from the foreign language departments), Mathematics, Philosophy, Physics, or Psychology.  Students undertaking other majors may seek permission to take the minor by contacting the Director of the Program. To complete the minor, you must earn a minimum of 18 credits distributed as follows:  two core Cognitive Science courses (Introduction to Cognitive Science and Research Modules in Cognitive Science), plus 12 credits consisting of four designated distribution courses in at least two of the participating disciplines outside of your major. We also offer a senior thesis option for interested students. (Visit the Cognitive Science web site)

Comparative Literature

The Comparative Literature Program is designed to study literature across cultural contexts. Through comparisons of a variety of cultural and textual traditions, the program allows students to explore interdisciplinary links among distinct languages, texts, and their human contexts. Ultimately, the program seeks to promote an understanding of literature, culture, and texts in their global dimensions.

The Comparative Literature may be pursued as a primary major for students in the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, and as a secondary major for all students of Georgetown College. In consultation with the program director, students devise a wide-ranging but cohesive course of study centered on primary disciplines and literary and cultural theory. The program culminates in the writing of a senior thesis. Students wishing to participate in the program must have proficiency in one foreign language and a reading knowledge of a second foreign language. 

Students interested in learning more about the Comparative Literature program may visit the Comparative Literature web site.

Environmental Studies

Environmental Studies provides a framework for the study of fundamental mechanisms of ecosystems and human interaction with the Earth.  Environmental Studies as a field encompasses the social sciences, the natural sciences, and the humanities, as they relate to environmental questions. Disciplines encompassing these questions include history, ethics, economics, business, law, anthropology, sociology, demography, politics and policy, literature, the arts, theology, women's and gender studies, education, toxicology, atmospheric sciences, engineering, ethnobiology, geography, ecology, geology, pollution chemistry, architecture and others.

One goal of Environmental studies is to educate students so that they will be prepared to address the serious environmental problems they will face in their lifetimes.  Questions of overpopulation, food resources, global climate change, deforestation, soil degradation, pollution, ozone depletion, and losses of biodiversity comprise an everyday mosaic of concerns that challenge policy makers, public health workers, voters, communities, businesses and spiritual leaders throughout the U.S. and the world. Learning to make educated judgments about environmental issues requires careful, objective analysis incorporating knowledge from many fields.  Effective social responses to the challenges of environmental change require scientific understanding (model and analysis), technological expertise and innovation, creative thinking and problem solving, an understanding of economics and the ability to critique and cooperate with the business and industry, awareness of the ethical implications of various issues, and an appreciation of the policy process.  New interdisciplinary work in fields such as information technology, biotechnology, ethics, economics, policy, social research and energy research offers opportunities to address some of the problems. 

The environmental studies minor is an interdisciplinary program designed to allow undergraduates in the College majoring in any discipline to focus on environmental issues.  Three science courses and three humanities are required plus a capstone seminar course integrating both approaches.  Students minoring in Environmental Studies would also participate in seminars given by distinguished outside speakers and faculty in the program. 

Students interested in learning more about the program should contact Professor Edward Barrows, Program Director and Professor of Biology or visit the Center for the Environment web site. 

Justice and Peace

The program on Justice and Peace takes an interdisciplinary approach dedicated to teaching and research in the field of Peace Studies. Students in Georgetown College may receive a minor in this program. 

The Program on Justice and Peace reflects Georgetown's Jesuit mission to be engaged in understanding and solving global problems. The program draws on the strength of university faculty in areas such as international relations, ethics and values, social analysis, community service, human rights, and social responsibility. Although the program's objectives include teaching about avoiding war and resolving conflicts, the fundamental goal is to understand the structural injustices that cause war and violence and how to alter them so as to realize positive justice. 

Every student must complete the "Introduction to Justice and Peace" course, at least four elective courses with one involving a community service component, and a senior seminar course, culminating the program. 

Students interested in learning more about the program should visit the Justice and Peace web site.

Liberal Arts Seminar

The Liberal Arts Seminar aims to bring a measure of integration into the general education requirements of students. The seminar's theme is the 19th century, an apt period for a multidisciplinary approach because it was an age of social, political, and economic revolutions in Europe, as well as an age that challenged traditional views of nature and the meaning of human life. 

Thirty first-year students are chosen for this program. In the first semester, the group is directed by a historian and a professor of literature; the second semester is under the direction of a philosopher and a theologian. The program involves extensive reading, creative and critical writing, independent study, group discussions. An independent project and final examination conclude each semester. 

The Liberal Arts Seminar is the equivalent of six courses (18 credits); three in the fall semester and three in the spring. The seminar fulfills the general education requirements in literature and European civilization, and one-half the requirement in theology and philosophy. In June, prior to their arrival on campus, all incoming first-year bachelor of arts students are invited to apply for membership in the Liberal Arts Seminar. 

Prospective students interested in learning more about the seminar are encouraged to visit the Liberal Arts Seminar web page.

Medieval Studies

The Medieval Studies Program at Georgetown University offers an interdisciplinary undergraduate minor and major focused on  the period from roughly the fall of Rome (5th century A.D.) to the year 1500.  The Program?s faculty and courses are drawn from 16 different disciplines within the University, with predominant emphasis on the interrelations among art, history, philosophy, and literature. Though the focus of the course offerings is predominantly on the Western Middle Ages, there is increasing representation in comparable periods in non-Western cultures.

Students in Georgetown College may complete a minor in Medieval Studies or a major by completing the Medieval Studies concentration of the Interdisciplinary Studies major.

Majors are required to take "Introduction to Medieval Studies: The Age of Dante" (MVST-201) in the spring semester of either their sophomore or junior year. In their senior year, they will take a two-semester Senior Seminar that will introduce more advanced methodologies of doing research in Medieval Studies and result in a required Senior Thesis (MVST 348 and 349).  In addition, each student must complete 8 other electives drawn from disciplines related to the program. These courses should be planned in consultation with the director of Medieval Studies.

For the Honors majors track, students must complete the requirements for the major as described in the previous paragraph. In addition, they must also achieve competence in Medieval Latin, normally demonstrated by completing or testing out of Classics 001, 002, and 101, and by taking a one-semester course in Medieval Latin texts (Classics 203). Finally, their Senior Thesis Project must earn an A- or better.

For a minor in Medieval Studies, students in the College are required to take"Introduction to Medieval Studies: The Age of Dante" (MVST 201) and five additional electives approved by the director. Latin is not a requirement for the minor.

The School of Foreign Service has recently approved a Medieval Studies Certificate. SFS students are required to take "Introduction to Medieval Studies: The Age of Dante" (MVST 201) and five additional electives approved by the director.   They must also write a thesis, in conjunction with MVST 349 Thesis Seminar, under the direction of faculty approved by the director.  For more details, visit the Medieval Studies web site.

Social and Political Thought

The Social and Political Thought Program offers a minor focusing on how modern social science has affected the study of the human experience. The issues are, above all, philosophical in character and deal with the effect that the rise of disciplines such as anthropology, economics, political science, psychology, and sociology has had on the way people today conceive of the nature and purpose of human existence. The minor is intended to allow students to engage in sustained, in-depth exploration of the theoretical issues shared by these disciplines. The program also invites students to consider the benefits and hazards of these effects, as well as contemporary and historical alternatives to these approaches. A premium is placed on discussion and creative thinking, writing and research skills, and effective public speaking. 

To qualify for the program, a student should have a grade point average of 3.4 or higher. While the program is open to students in all majors, it is expected that the student will have had some relevant course work in the social sciences prior to making an application to the program. The application is normally submitted in the fall semester of the sophomore or junior year. To complete the minor, students must successfully take an introductory seminar, four electives and a senior seminar that includes a senior thesis. 

Students interested in learning more about the program are encouraged to contact either of the program directors, Professor James Lamiell, Professor of Psychology or Dean Gerald Mara, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, or visit the Social and Political Thought web site.

Women's and Gender Studies

The Women's and Gender Studies Program strives for a broad and complex understanding of female experience in a global context. Using cross-cultural and multi-racial perspectives, the program explores women's lives, labor and arts; examines the politics of sexuality; and studies the history of gender roles, as well as representations of those roles in different media. Focusing on the intersections of class, race, gender, and sexuality, it analyzes power relations between men and women - as well as among women - in various cultures, and provides educational frameworks and strategies for social change. 

Women's and Gender Studies was founded upon the integration of intellectual inquiry and social practice. Students in the program are strongly encouraged to combine feminist theory with practical applications of their scholarship. A three-credit practicum is required, and a fourth-credit option is available for most Women's and Gender Studies courses for volunteer work in varied community organizations. 

Georgetown College offers both a major and a minor in Women's and Gender Studies. To complete a major in the Women's and Gender Studies program, a student must complete six required courses and six electives (36 credit hours). The minor requires students to complete six courses (18 credits). Students interested in learning more about the Women's and Gender Studies program are encouraged to contact the Program Coordinator, Leslie Byers; or the Program Director, Professor Pamela Fox,  or visit the Women's and Gender Studies web site. 

last updated Wednesday, September 19, 2007