Disciplinary Depth (CASCC)

The Major(s)

The disciplinary depth component of the curriculum provides students with the opportunity for sustained study in an academic discipline. Students learn to think deeply about a set of linked topics and to use the methodology of academic investigation in a specific field or a set of subfields. As a result, they extend and develop their own intellectual ideas with more sophisticated and informed analysis. They acquire the intellectual confidence that comes from mastery of a body of knowledge and develop the skills to apply their learning beyond their coursework.

The academic major provides students with a framework for such focused disciplinary study. Through a set of linked courses, students develop expertise in their discipline. Students in major courses have common academic backgrounds, and therefore upper-level major courses can address academic material at a sophisticated level.

Intellectual Competencies That Are Incorporated in the Major

The College of Arts & Sciences faculty has identified writing, speaking and information literacy as essential intellectual abilities that need to be mastered by competent graduates. These skills are interdisciplinary, and students will have multiple opportunities to practice and improve them in many settings over their four-year education. However, in-depth and discipline-specific study affords students an opportunity to practice these skills at a high level; therefore, every major incorporates intellectual skills-development into required coursework.

1. Students will develop their writing abilities through coursework in the University Writing Program, which requires that students take a minimum of three writing courses (two of which are linked to writing in particular disciplines). Courses in the major will allow students to apply their writing ability to address and investigate issues at a more sophisticated level due to their mastery of the subject matter.
2. Students will develop skills in formal presentation at a level reasonable for a college graduate in the particular major. Ways in which this skill can be obtained and practiced include, but are not restricted to: a course with student presentations, honors thesis defense, talk in a student colloquium series, presentation at a conference or presentation of significant course projects.
3. Students have achieved basic competency in finding, analyzing, evaluating and effectively using various sources of information in the Foundation Seminar and other courses. Courses in the major will build on these skills and introduce students to field-specific information retrieval techniques and to critical evaluation of content as customary in the field.

Information Literacy:

1. Students will determine and articulate a need for information, be able to frame the research question, and select resources appropriate to specific research needs.
2. Students will construct and refine search strategies to locate, access and retrieve information efficiently.
3. Students will critically evaluate resources and content, and understand the legal and ethical standards of information access and use.
4. Students will use technology effectively to organize, communicate and present information to support academic work.

Culminating Experience

In addition to completing a body of specialized coursework, students in each major will complete an approved culminating experience, usually in their senior year. Second-semester juniors may complete a culminating experience in a major with permission of the adviser and the department chair or program coordinator. The successful culminating experience will draw together a student's disciplinary experiences and provide a more coherent appreciation of the major's academic discipline. The structure of the culminating experience is left to the discretion of the faculty in the department or program offering the major (subject to the review of the Arts & Sciences Curriculum Committee). Types of culminating experiences will vary by major, but they may include a senior seminar, interdisciplinary course, independent study project, community-engaged learning or an honors thesis.