The Major

The Major

The Interdisciplinary Project in the Humanities is a rigorous, interdisciplinary major designed for students seeking honors.

The major combines an introductory core - a concentrated study of texts central to the American and European philosophical, religious, and literary traditions - with an area of concentration - an advanced sequence of courses and research tailored to the special interests of each student in the program.

Area of Concentration
Some degree of specialization is a useful aspect of education in the humanities. With their faculty mentors, students construct a coherent, interdisciplinary sequence of courses (four or more) for advanced study. Each student's sequence, or "area of concentration," which must always include at least one course in political or cultural history, will normally be taken between the third and seventh semesters of the program.

Models of Concentration

  • The study of the cultural and political life of a nation or region over the space of a couple of centuries. By "cultural life" we mean the aggregate of literature, visual and musical culture, theater, philosophy, religion, and received ideas.
  • The study of two or more closely-related national or regional cultures over the space of a (long) century. The concentrations of students interested in Medieval or Renaissance Studies would come under this rubric or the previous one.
  • The study of an intellectual discipline or tradition: e.g., political philosophy, aesthetics, historiography, the avant garde in the twentieth-century, etc.
  • The complex study of an aesthetic mode - e.g., realism - or of a cluster of aesthetic or social practices - e.g., orchestral music, sculpture, insult, print. Although this sort of interest might best be served in a traditional department, the novelty and interdisciplinarity of approach or the extra-departmental nature of the object of scrutiny might make the IPH its proper home.

Junior Comprehensive Exam
Program participants are encouraged to take a comprehensive exam during the spring of the junior year. The exam will enable students to demonstrate their knowledge of the core Text & Tradition course (or, their combination of T & T and FOCUS courses) as well as their developing expertise in the area of their concentration. Placed near the end of the third year of study, the comprehensive exam encourages students to integrate their coursework at a critical period in their University careers - just before they embark on the exhilarating research and writing involved in the senior thesis. Because of its historical, cultural, and methodological breadth, the junior exam reflects our commitment to making the program's particular courses and independent studies add up to much more than the sum of the parts.

Program Honors
The IPH is an ideal program for students seeking academic honors. Level of Latin honors - cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude - is determined by 1) the candidate's overall GPA, 2) level of performance on the Junior comprehensive exam and 3) the quality of the senior thesis. NOTE: All students seeking honors must sit for the junior exam. Students who do not receive an honors-level mark for the exam may elect to retake the exam in the senior year.