Introduction

Please click here to see Individually Designed Major department information.

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Interdisciplinary Studies Option provides students with the opportunity to design an individualized major that meets their unique needs and interests, and which results in a B.A. This flexible program allows students to follow academic pursuits that transcend traditional department or college boundaries, combining coursework from two, three, or even more academic units to explore a particular theme. Interdisciplinary Studies tends to be more focused than traditional majors and should not be considered a default major for students uncertain about their course of study.

These degree requirements are subject to periodic revision by the academic department, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences reserves the right to make exceptions and substitutions as judged necessary in individual cases. Therefore, the College strongly urges students to consult regularly with their major advisor and CLAS advisor to confirm the best plans of study before finalizing them.

Program Delivery

• This is an on-campus program.

Declaring This Major

• Click here to go to information about declaring a major.
• In order to declare the Interdisciplinary Studies Option, students are required to submit a course contract. Interdisciplinary Studies students must also submit a proposal form which describes the major they propose to design. Copies of completed Interdisciplinary Studies course contracts must be filed with the Individually Designed Major Faculty Advisor and with your CLAS Academic Advisor.
  • The Interdisciplinary Studies course contract must include:
    • A list of the courses in your chosen clusters as well as potential alternate courses. You should work closely with the Individually Designed Major Faculty Advisor and faculty advisors in your chosen clusters to create your course contract.
    • Signatures from your Individually Designed Major Faculty Advisor, from any Faculty Advisors from minors used in your contract, and from your CLAS Academic Advisor.
  • The Interdisciplinary Studies proposal form must include:
    • a name for the theme of your major.
    • a 400-word description of the major you propose to construct.
    • a description of the major theme which explains the disciplinary or interdisciplinary clusters you will be including in your course of study, how they relate to each other, and how they form a coherent body of knowledge.
    • approval from your Individually Designed Major Faculty Advisor. 

General Requirements

To earn a degree, students must satisfy all requirements in each of the areas below, in addition to their individual major requirements.

• CU Denver General Graduation Requirements
• CU Denver Core Requirements
• College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Graduation Requirements
• Click here for information about Academic Policies

Program Requirements

The Interdisciplinary Studies program plan requires course work over two or three disciplinary or interdisciplinary clusters. The Interdisciplinary Studies program plan must comply with the following policies:

1. Students must complete a minimum of 42 credits from approved coursework.
2. Students must complete a minimum of 18 upper division (3000 level and above) credit hours with a minimum of nine upper division level credit hours in Clusters I and II.
3. Students must earn a minimum grade of C- (1.7) in all courses that apply to the major and must achieve a minimum cumulative major GPA of 2.0. Courses taken using P+/P/F or S/U grading cannot apply to major requirements.
4. A minimum of nine credits in Clusters I and II, in addition to IDMA 3100 Learning Across Disciplines and IDMA 4900 Interdisciplinary Studies Capstone (24 total credit hours) must be completed with CU Denver faculty.

Program Restrictions, Allowances and Recommendations

1. Once the Interdisciplinary Studies course contract is filed, any changes to coursework must be approved by the student's Individually Designed Major Faculty Advisor
2. A minimum of 30 credit hours must be completed in liberal arts and sciences course work.
3. A maximum of one disciplinary cluster may be outside CLAS.
4. One cluster can be based on a pre-formed thematic cluster with an already-approved group of classes provided by the major on the website.
5. A third optional cluster may be a mixture of course work, excluding courses from the first and second clusters.
6. An Interdisciplinary Studies title must be consistent with the academic theme and clusters in the program plan.
7. Students may petition the IDM Faculty Advisor to fulfill their introduction and capstone outside of IDMA 3100 Learning Across Disciplines and IDMA 4900 Interdisciplinary Studies Capstone .
8. The Interdisciplinary Studies proposal should be approved before students have taken one-third of the classes listed in their course contracts.

Roles and Responsibilities

Student

• Creates the Interdisciplinary Studies course contract and proposals in collaboration with the Individually Designed Major Faculty Advisor
• Meets regularly with IDM Faculty Advisor to assess progress 
• Fulfills requirements of Interdisciplinary Studies course contract

IDM Faculty advisor

• Approves Interdisciplinary Studies course contract
• Approves student proposals for Interdisciplinary Studies
• Meets with Interdisciplinary Studies advisees to monitor progress
• Maintains records of Interdisciplinary Studies applications
• Oversees advisees’ capstone projects
• Certifies graduation

CLAS Academic Advisor

• Reviews overall course contract
• Maintains records of Interdisciplinary Studies contracts

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Complete the following program requirements:		42
Complete the following required courses:		6
IDMA 3100	Learning Across Disciplines 1
IDMA 4900	Interdisciplinary Studies Capstone 2
Complete a minimum of 15 credit hours in each of two approved interdisciplinary clusters. At least one cluster must be within a single discipline. The second cluster can be drawn from the following approved interdisciplinary thematic clusters.		36
Aging and End of Life Cluster
Art and Visual Culture Cluster
Biology and Society Cluster
Cities, Spaces, and Society Cluster
Drugs and Addiction Cluster
Food and Nutrition Cluster
Media Cluster
Organizations and Leadership Cluster
Policy and Security Cluster
Sexuality Cluster
Violence and Conflict Cluster
Students can fulfill the remainder of their credit hours by contracting with additional disciplines or by designing their own interdisciplinary clusters by choosing courses from a variety of disciplines that suit their academic goals.
Up to 15 credit hours of an Interdisciplinary Studies course contract can come from outside of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

¹

Should be taken early in the academic career (i.e. sophomore year.)

²

Should be taken toward the end of the academic career (i.e. senior year.)

Age and End of Life Cluster

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
ANTH 3666	Anthropology of Death
IWKS 4520	Design for Healthful Human Longevity
PHIL 3550	Philosophy of Death and Dying
PSYC 2205	Lifespan Developmental Psychology for Health Majors
PSYC 3822	Aging, Brain and Behavior
RLST 4460	Death and Concepts of Afterlife
SOCY 3570	Death & Dying: Social & Medical Perspectives
SOCY 4290	Aging, Society and Social Policy
SOCY 4650	Sociology of Adulthood and Aging

 Art and Visual Culture Cluster

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
COMM 4621	Visual Communication
ENGL 2250	Introduction to Film
ENGL 3070	Studies in Film History
ENGL 3075	Film Genres
ENGL 3080	Global Cinema
ENGL 3300	Topics in Film
ENGL 3301	Topics in Film: Lit and Film History
ENGL 3302	Topics in Film: Gender in Lit and Film
ENGL 3303	Topics in Film: Genre and Global Culture
ENGL 4420	Film Theory and Criticism
ETST 3036	American Indian Cultural Images
FITV 1001	Fundamentals of Film and Television
FITV 1200	The Culture of Television
FITV 3200	History of Cinematic Arts I
FITV 3611	Drama of Diversity
FINE 1001	Introduction to Art
FINE 1450	Visual Culture: Ways of Seeing
FINE 2600	Art History Survey I
FINE 2610	Art History Survey II
FINE 3520	Sculpture: Contemporary Artists and Concepts
FINE 3630	History of Photography
FINE 3636	Through the Lens: Photography and Diversity
FINE 3640	Topics in Art History I: Art Before Modernism
FINE 3644	Topics in Art History II: Modern and Contemporary
FINE 3775	Asian Art After 1850
FINE 4523	Topics in Art History I: Art Before Modernism
FINE 4524	Topics in Art History II: Modern and Contemporary Art
FINE 4525	Museum Studies
FINE 4600	History of Modern Design:Industrial Revolution-Present
FINE 4610	Pre-Columbian Art
FINE 4620	American Art
FINE 4630	History of Latin American Art:1520-1820
FINE 4670	Greek and Roman Art
FINE 4680	Art of the Medieval Multiverse
FINE 4700	Italian Renaissance Art
FINE 4705	Northern Renaissance Art
FINE 4710	Baroque and Rococo Art
FINE 4730	Arts of Japan
FINE 4750	Arts of China
FINE 4770	Art of India and Southeast Asia
FINE 4970	Modernist Art
FINE 4980	Gender in Contemporary Art
FINE 4990	Contemporary Art: 1960 to Present
FINE 4993	Topics Seminar in Art History I: Art before Modernism
FINE 4994	Topics Seminar in Art History II: Modern and Contemporary Art
GEOG 2080	Introduction to Mapping and Map Analysis
HIST 3070	Studies in Film History
HIST 4228	Western Art and Architecture
HIST 4231	History in Museums

Biology and Society Cluster

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
ANTH 4600	Medical Anthropology
BIOL 3104	Behavioral Genetics
PHIL 4242	Medicine, Health Care, and Justice: Bioethics
PSYC 2220	Biological Basis of Behavior
PSYC 3262	Health Psychology
PSYC 3263	Hormones and Behavior
PSYC 3724	Developmental Neuroscience
PSYC 3810	Neuropsychology
SOCY 4220	Population Change and Analysis

Cities, Spaces, and Society Cluster

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
ARCH 1110	Introduction to Architecture
ARCH 2230	Architectural History I
ARCH 3230	Architectural History II
ARCH 3693	Rome: Architecture & Urbanism
ECON 4318	Urban Economics
EDHD 1019	Introduction to Urban Education
ENVS 1342	Environment, Society and Sustainability
GEOG 1602	Urban Studies and Planning
GEOG 3401	Geography of Food and Agriculture
GEOG 4680	Urban Sustainability and Resiliency: Perspectives and Practice
GEOG 4450	Urban Food and Agriculture: Perspectives and Research
GEOG 4640	Urban Geography: Denver and the U.S.
GEOG 4085	GIS Applications for the Urban Environment
HIST 4225	Urban America
HIST 3349	Social Movements in 20th Century America
HIST 3345	Immigration and Ethnicity in American History
HIST 3482	Rome: City and Empire
LDAR 4435	Community Engaged Design Practice
LDFS 4000	Food Justice in City & Schools
MUSC 3730	Introduction to Music Cities
PSCI 3914	The Urban Citizen
PSCI 4075	Gentrification and Social Equity
PSCI 4124	Denver Politics
PUAD 4628	Social Problems and Policies in the Urban Environment
SOCY 3001	Urban Sociology
SOCY 4590	Crime, Justice, and the City
URPL 3000	Planning the Built Environment

Drugs and Addiction Cluster

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
ANTH 3045	Cannabis Culture
ANTH/PBHL 4090	Psychedelic Anthropology
ECON 3400	Economics of Sex and Drugs
PSYC 3265	Drugs, Brain and Behavior
SOCY 3040	Drugs, Alcohol & Society

Food and Nutrition Cluster

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
CHEM 2300	Nutritional Chemistry
COMM 4601	You Are What You Eat: Food as Communication
GEOG 3401	Geography of Food and Agriculture
GEOG 4450	Urban Food and Agriculture: Perspectives and Research
GEOG 4460	Sustainable Urban Agriculture Field Study I
GEOG 4470	Sustainable Urban Agriculture Field Study II
LDFS 4000	Food Justice in City & Schools

Media Cluster

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
COMM 1021	Introduction to Media Studies
COMM 2051	Introduction to Strategic Communication
COMM 3072	Media Writing Skills
COMM 3650	Media and Society
COMM 3660	Social Media for Social Change
COMM 4051	Advanced Strategic Communication
COMM 4610	Communication, Media, and Sex
COMM 4621	Visual Communication
COMM 4660	Queer Media Studies
COMM 4665	Principles of Advertising
CRJU 3251	Crime and the Media
CSCI 4920	Computer Game Design and Programming
DACD 3820	Animation 1: Introduction to Animation and Rigging
ENGL 1601	Storytelling: Literature, Film, and Television
ENGL 2250	Introduction to Film
ENGL 3075	Film Genres
ENGL 3084	Digital Writing and Storytelling
ENGL 3106	Writing for Print Media
ENGL 4190	Advanced Topics in Writing, Rhetoric, & Linguistics
ENGL 4420	Film Theory and Criticism
ENGR 3400	Technology and Culture
ENGR 3600	International Dimensions of Technology and Culture
ETST 3036	American Indian Cultural Images
ETST 3272	Global Media
FINE 3424	Interactive Media
INTE 4300	Critical Digital Literacies
INTE 4340	Learning with Digital Stories
ISMG 3000	Technology In Business
PHIL 4920	Philosophy of Media and Technology
PSCI 4014	Media and Politics
WGST 3020	Gender, Sexuality and Race in American Popular Culture

Organizations and Leadership Cluster

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
BLAW 3050	Business Law and Ethics
COMM 2045	Workplace Communication
COMM 2051	Introduction to Strategic Communication
COMM 4111	Theories of Leadership
COMM 4240	Organizational Communication
COMM 4255	Negotiations and Bargaining
COMM 4260	Communication and Conflict
ECON 4740	Industrial Organization
ENGL 3154	Technical Writing
ENGL 3170	Business Writing
ENTP 3210	Leadership for New and Innovative Ventures
ETST 4165	Cultural Diversity Awareness in the Workplace
HDFR 4003	Leadership and Organizations
MGMT 3000	Managing Individuals and Teams
MGMT 3010	Managing People for a Competitive Advantage
MGMT 4370	Organization Design
PHIL 3250	Business, Society, and Moral Responsibility
PSYC 3145	Industrial and Organizational Psychology
PUAD 1001	Why We Care About Government, Nonprofits, and the Public Good
PUAD 2001	Management for Public Service
PUAD 3002	Organizational and Strategic Management
PUAD 3003	Introduction to Nonprofit Organizations
PUAD 3004	Managing Nonprofit Organizations
PUAD 3005	Collaboration Across Sectors
PUAD 4000	Human Resources and Ethics in Public Service
PUAD 4002	Leading and Engaging for the Public Good
PUAD 4009	Human Service Organizations

Policy and Security Cluster

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
COMM 4430	Communication, China, and the US
COMM 4611	Rhetoric of Global Food Policy
COMM 4682	Political Communication
COMM 4720	Dynamics of Global Communication
CRJU 4450	Homeland Security
ENVS 1342	Environment, Society and Sustainability
GEOG 3380	Anthropocene Futures
GEOG 4440	Science, Policy and the Environment
HIST 3121	The World at War, 1914-1945
HIST 3345	Immigration and Ethnicity in American History
HIST 4032	Globalization in World History Since 1945
HIST 4220	U.S. Foreign Policy Since 1912
HIST 4472	The 1950s: Korean War, the Cold War and Social Transformation
HIST 4475	The Vietnam War
HIST 4490	Weapons of Mass Destruction
PHIL 3280	War and Morality
PSCI 4146	Indigenous Politics
PSCI 4216	International Politics: Human Rights
PSCI 4237	American National Security
PSCI 4240	International Security
PSCI 4280	The Politics of War Law
PSCI 4354	Environmental Politics
PSCI 4365	Global Ecological Crises
PSCI 4545	Immigration Politics
PSCI 4807	Political Violence
PUAD 4010	Public Service in Emergency Management and Homeland Security

Sexuality Cluster

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
BIOL 3074	Human Reproductive Biology
COMM 4610	Communication, Media, and Sex
COMM 4660	Queer Media Studies
ECON 3400	Economics of Sex and Drugs
ENGL 4306	Survey of Feminist Thought
ENGL 4308	Contemporary Feminist Thought
ENGL 4510	Whores and Saints: Medieval Women
ETST 4305	Women of Color Feminisms
HIST 3343	Women & Gender in US History
HIST 4303	Sex and Gender in Modern Britain
HIST 4307	History of Sexuality
HIST 4345	Gender, Science, and Medicine: 1600 to the Present
PBHL 3010	Human Sexuality and Public Health
PBHL 3071	Global Topics In Sexual and Reproductive Health
PBHL 4200	The Global HIV/AIDS Epidemic
PHIL 3500	Ideology and Culture: Racism and Sexism
PHIL 4500	Feminist Philosophy
PHIL 4933	Philosophy of Eros
PSCI 4215	Women's Rights, Human Rights: Global Perspectives
PSCI 4564	Gender and Politics
PSCI 4827	Women and the Law
PSYC 3235	Human Sexuality
PSYC 3263	Hormones and Behavior
PSYC 3611	Psychology of Women
SOCY 2440	Deviance and Social Control
SOCY 3010	Sociology of Human Sexuality
SOCY 3080	Sex and Gender
SOCY 4270	Social Meanings of Reproduction
WGST 3020	Gender, Sexuality and Race in American Popular Culture

Violence and Conflict Cluster

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
HIST 3121	The World at War, 1914-1945
HIST 3706	Age of Revolution
HIST 4030	Europe During the World Wars
HIST 4055	The Atlantic Slave Trade: Africa, Caribbean and U.S.
HIST 4212	Civil War and Reconstruction
HIST 4220	U.S. Foreign Policy Since 1912
HIST 4415	Social Revolutions in Latin America
HIST 4416	The Age of Imperialism
HIST 4471	The Second World War
HIST 4475	The Vietnam War
HIST 4490	Weapons of Mass Destruction
PHIL 3280	War and Morality
PHIL 4450	Punishment and Social Justice
PSCI 4276	Conflicts and Rights in International Law
PSCI 4280	The Politics of War Law
PSCI 4286	International Relations: War or Peace?
PSCI 4807	Political Violence
PSCI 4878	War, Film, and International Law
SOCY 4460	Hate Groups and Group Violence
SPAN 4360	Women and the Spanish Civil War

To learn more about the Student Learning Outcomes for this program, please visit our website. 

To review the Degree Map for this program, please visit our website.