Program Learning Objectives
- Identify and think critically about the assumptions, strategies, and potential biases underlying discipline-based and interdisciplinary inquiries.
- Conduct interdisciplinary research and/or engage in creative activities that incorporate and synthesize information, theory, and methodological approaches from more than one discipline in a culturally-competent way.
- Apply interdisciplinary approaches to understand, contextualize, and propose solutions to complex issues or problems, especially those relating to students’ emphasis areas.
- Communicate effectively both in writing and orally.
- Collaborate productively in pluralistic settings and with people of diverse experiences, identities, and worldviews.
- Make reasoned, ethical, and socially responsible decisions.
- Engage in self-motivated and self-directed learning, in order to become life-long learners.
- Employ the intellectual and practical skills necessary to create and engage with a more inclusive, just and equitable world.
Degree Requirements and Curriculum
In addition to the program requirements listed on this page, students must also satisfy requirements outlined in more detail in the Minimum Requirements for Graduation section of this catalog, including:
- 60 units of upper-division courses
- Graduation Writing Requirement (GWR)
- 2.0 GPA
- U.S. Cultural Pluralism (USCP)
Note: No Major or Support courses may be selected as credit/no credit.
| MAJOR COURSES | ||
| Introductory-level Interdisciplinary Course | ||
| Select from the following: 1 | 4 | |
| Race, Culture, and Politics in the United States | ||
| United States Cultures | ||
| Comparative Social Movements | ||
| Introduction to Science, Technology & Society | ||
| Multicultural Society and the Mass Media | ||
| Media, Self and Society | ||
| Religion, Dialogue, and Society | ||
| Gender and Sexuality in US Society and Politics | ||
| Gender and Sexuality in Visual and Popular Culture | ||
| ISLA 201 | Introduction to Interdisciplinary Studies | 4 |
| ISLA 255 | Introduction to Interdisciplinary Theory and Methods | 4 |
| Basic Statistics Course | ||
| Select from the following: 1,2 | 4 | |
| Introduction to Statistical Reasoning (B4) | ||
| Introduction to Statistical Concepts and Methods (B4) | ||
| Applied Statistics for the Life Sciences (B4) | ||
| Communication Course | ||
| Select from the following: 1,3 | 4 | |
| Organizational Communication | ||
| Persuasion | ||
| Media Criticism | ||
| Advanced Rhetorical Inquiry and Composing | ||
| Translingual Rhetorical Inquiry and Writing | ||
| Technical Editing | ||
| Topics in Rhetoric and Writing 4 | ||
| Intergroup Dialogues | ||
| Upper-Division ISLA Electives | ||
| Select from the following: 1,3 | 8 | |
| Science Communication | ||
| Values and Technology | ||
| Topics in Public Engagements with STEM 4 | ||
| Topics and Issues in Values, Media and Culture 4 | ||
| Feminist Studies of Popular Culture and Whiteness | ||
| Media Arts and Technologies: Storytelling | ||
| Media Arts and Technologies: Cinematic Process | ||
| The Global Environment | ||
| Internship | ||
| ISLA 355 | Interdisciplinary Research Methods | 4 |
| ISLA 440 | Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies Seminar 4,5 | 4 |
| ISLA 461 | Senior Project | 4 |
| Concentration | ||
| See list of Interdisciplinary Studies concentrations below. | 32 | |
| GENERAL EDUCATION (GE) | ||
| (See GE program requirements below.) | 68 | |
| FREE ELECTIVES | ||
| Free Electives 6 | 40 | |
8 units of free electives may need to be at the 300-400 level to ensure completion of the required minimum of 60 units of upper-division courses. | ||
| Total units | 180 | |
| 1 | Required in Major or Support; also satisfies General Education (GE) requirement. |
| 2 | Any GE Upper-Division STAT course may be substituted to fulfill this Major requirement. Non-GE courses teaching statistical or quantitative analysis methods may be substituted to satisfy this requirement but only with the consent of the ISLA Department Chair. A major support substitution should be initiated with the ISLA Department Chair for any upper-division STAT course. In those cases, students will then have to take an additional course to satisfy the GE requirement. |
| 3 | If course is taken to meet the Communication Course or Upper-Division Electives requirement, it cannot be double-counted in the Concentration. Please consult with academic advisor. |
| 4 | Topics courses may be used to satisfy a Major requirement and are repeatable in the Concentrations with a different topic. Total credit limited to 8 units. |
| 5 | ISLA 440 total credit limited to 8 units. |
| 6 | If a General Education (GE) course is used to satisfy a Major or Support requirement, additional units of Free Electives may be needed to complete the total units required for the degree. |
Concentrations
Students may select one of the following concentrations:
- Ethics, Law and Social Justice
- Global Citizenship and Social Sustainability
- Health and Society
- Science, Technology and Society
- Visual Media and Cultural Studies
General Education (GE) Requirements
- 72 units required, 4 of which are specified in Major and/or Support.
- If any of the remaining 68 units is used to satisfy a Major or Support requirement, additional units of Free Electives may be needed to complete the total units required for the degree.
- See the complete GE course listing.
- A grade of C- or better is required in one course in each of the following GE Areas: A1 (Oral Communication), A2 (Written Communication), A3 (Critical Thinking), and B4 (Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning).
| Area A | English Language Communication and Critical Thinking | |
| A1 | Oral Communication | 4 |
| A2 | Written Communication | 4 |
| A3 | Critical Thinking | 4 |
| Area B | Scientific Inquiry and Quantitative Reasoning | |
| B1 | Physical Science | 4 |
| B2 | Life Science | 4 |
| B3 | One lab taken with either a B1 or B2 course | |
| B4 | Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning (4 units in Major) 1 | 0 |
| Upper-Division B | 4 | |
| Area C | Arts and Humanities | |
| Lower-division courses in Area C must come from three different subject prefixes. | ||
| C1 | Arts: Arts, Cinema, Dance, Music, Theater | 4 |
| C2 | Humanities: Literature, Philosophy, Languages other than English | 4 |
| Lower-Division C Elective - Select a course from either C1 or C2 | 4 | |
| Upper-Division C | 4 | |
| Area D | Social Sciences - Select courses in Area D from at least two different prefixes | |
| D1 | American Institutions (Title 5, Section 40404 Requirement) | 4 |
| D2 | Lower-Division D | 4 |
| Upper-Division D | 4 | |
| Area E | Lifelong Learning and Self-Development | |
| Lower-Division E | 4 | |
| Area F | Ethnic Studies | |
| F | Ethnic Studies | 4 |
| GE Electives in Areas B, C, and D | ||
| Select courses from two different areas; may be lower-division or upper-division courses. | ||
| GE Electives | 8 | |
| Total units | 68 | |
| 1 | Required in Major or Support; also satisfies General Education (GE) requirement. |
San Luis Obispo, California 93407