Degree Programs

The School of Interdisciplinary Studies offers several undregraduate and graduate degree programs. Our flagship Comparative Studies Ph.D. program has tracks in Cultures, Languages and Literatures (humanities) and Culture, Society and Politics (social sciences). These are designed as interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary courses of study that enable doctoral students to develop expertise within traditional disciplines and across disciplinary and cultural boundaries. Primary areas of strength for the CLL program include studies of literature and migration, rhetoric and composition, U.S. multiethnic literatures, early modern literatures, gender, sexuality and embodiment in literature, modernity and postmodernity in literature, space and place in literature, and postcolonial literature and culture. Primary areas of strength for the CSP program include studies of sociocultural and medical anthropology; bioarchaeology, ethnoarchaeology, zooarchaeology and primatology (anthropology); gender, agriculture, adulthood, adolescence, childhood, race, social class and economics (sociology); comparative politics, American politics, international relations, public policy and law, post-conflict resolution, democracy and democratization, political behavior and quantitative methods (political science). The curriculum in both programs also draws from many disciplines in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters and across the broader university. With accomplished faculty and Eminent Scholars, our program is proud to offer an innovative, rigorous, transdisciplinary course of study. Each year we offer to the most qualified candidates excellent teaching and research fellowships. Our faculty, students and staff collaborate in constructing an energetic, productive and pleasurable learning community. 

The School offers two interdisciplinary Master's programs. Our new Master of Science in Data and Society explores the intersection of big data analytics with a problem-oriented aproach to understanding social phenomenon. Our well-established Center for Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies is a strong interdisciplinary program with nationally and internationally known faculty from a variety of disciplines, offering a Master of Arts degree in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. In keeping with the mission of Florida Atlantic University, our goal is to provide students with both academic and personal development, discovery, lifelong learning, and public engagement. Our program prepares students to think critically about the ways that gender and sexuality interacts with politics, culture, ideologies, social structures, and economics, historically and globally to shape the lives of women and men. Our courses explore gender and sexuality through experiences and standpoints rooted in a diversity of intersecting factors, including class, race, ethnicity, nationality, ability, religion, and age. Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at FAU developed out of the concerted activism of faculty, students, and members of the greater community and we continue to support this tradition. We encourage students to see themselves as being able to make a difference for social justice in their own lives and in the lives of others around the world.

The School of Interdisciplinary Studies offers a number of first-choice undergraduate degrees.The Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Studies: Arts and Humanities is appropriate for students who wish to design a program of study that spans a broad range of disciplines. Students take courses from the following disciplines or interdisciplinary programs: Asian Studies, Caribbean and Latin American Studies, Classical Studies, Communication and Multimedia Studies, English, Ethnic Studies, Film and Video Studies, History, Jewish Studies, Languages, Linguistics, and Comparative Literature, Music, Peace Studies, Philosophy, Theatre and Dance, Visual Arts and Art History, and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. The Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Studies: Social Science is designed for students who wish to study broadly in the social sciences rather than concentrate on a particular discipline. The knowledge and intellectual training provided is excellent preparation for careers in government, public service, or law. Students take courses from the following disciplines or interdisciplinary programs: Anthropology, Communication Studies, Environmental Studies, Ethnic Studies, History, Peace Studies, Political Science, Sociology and Women's Studies. In consultation with and with approval by their concentration area advisor, students will complete a program of study that may include courses from any of these disciplines or programs as well as appropriate courses from other social science disciplines (Economics, Geography and Psychology) across the University and/or other disciplines or programs within the College of Arts and Letters.

Students can earn a Bachelor of Arts in Jewish Studies. The program is interdisciplinary and interdepartmental with an academic foundation in Hebrew language and Jewish culture offered by core faculty members from across the college.The program promotes the academic study of Jewish culture, society and religion for all students at the University. Through the Jewish Studies Program, students may train for a career in the Jewish community or in Jewish education, learn about Jewish issues and opportunities for Jewish public service, and develop a deeper understanding of American and world Jewry, as well as enhancing a degree in the humanities or social sciences with a minor or a degree in Jewish Studies. Additionally, students can pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, a program that fosters an appreciation for the most fundamental ideas, questions, and texts that have profoundly shaped our culture. The study of philosophy also lead to the rigorous development of very practical skills, such as critical thinking, clear and precise writing, analytical skills, persuasive oral communication, and the ability to read and comprehend conceptually challenging texts. These skills will help students succeed in life and in any career that they choose to pursue after earning their Bachelor's degree.