 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
CHASS
strengthening
interdisciplinary programs
By Dr. Linda Brady, Dean, College of Humanities and Social Sciences
The College of Humanities and Social Sciences has been building towards an enhanced focus on interdisciplinary programs since I arrived here in 2001. Across NC State as well as across the University of North Carolina system, a concerted effort is being made to create interdepartmental collaborations and to develop new courses and programs that span a variety of disciplines. These collaborations result in some of the most innovative academic opportunities available to students today.
To strengthen our participation in this growing movement toward interdisciplinary programs, I appointed a Task Force on Interdisciplinary Studies in December 2002. The goals of the task force were to review the status of current programs in the college and make recommendations about how we could make our interdisciplinary programs more effective.
Walt Wolfram, the William Friday Professor of Linguistics in the Department of English, chaired the task force. The group included faculty members from across the college, a student representative, and a faculty member from another college with interests in interdisciplinary programs. The task force examined the ways in which our peer universities support interdisciplinary programs and also surveyed CHASS faculty about the nature and extend of their interdisciplinary work.
The task force recommended moving administration of these programs from the Division of Multidisciplinary Studies into the Dean’s Office, so that interdisciplinary activities would be a collegewide effort. Current MDS faculty will be relocated to appropriate departmental homes, where they will retain major responsibilities for interdisciplinary programs. This is the model used for many other interdisciplinary programs at NC State, as well as the model used by peer research universities around the country.
No academic programs
currently offered through, or coordinated by, the Division of Multidisciplinary
Studies will be eliminated. CHASS will continue to support the undergraduate
majors in Science, Technology and Society and Arts Applications, along
with the MDS self-designed degree. The college will continue to support
the minors and certificate programs offered by MDS, as well as the Master
of Arts in Liberal Studies (MALS). CHASS will continue to offer MDS 101
courses, support courses designed to satisfy the STS general education
requirement, and serve as coordinator of the First Year Inquiry Program.
And we will continue to support the dual-degree programs with other colleges
that draw some of the best NC State students to CHASS.
By centralizing administration in the Dean’s Office, interdisciplinary
programs will have more support and greater visibility in the college
and across campus. Our top priority is to make more interdisciplinary
opportunities available to students by developing innovative new programs,
such as Africana Studies, International Studies and Environmental Studies.
We are moving forward at the graduate level as well. Just last month,
the Graduate Council of the University of North Carolina approved our
proposal to plan an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Communication, Rhetoric,
and Digital Media.
On campus and throughout the state, we’re all examining the effectiveness of the way we spend our funds. While the college will realize some financial savings as a result of the restructuring, our work towards improving interdisciplinary programs began long before we were asked to take these recent cuts in our budget. We simply found that the budget situation presented a very natural time for us to make the changes.
We fully anticipate that our efforts to elevate interdisciplinary programs in CHASS to a broader focus will result in exciting new collaborations and unsurpassed opportunities for our students.
Posted November 21, 2003
All Rights Reserved
