Going Independent

Independent Program lets students pursue their own ideas, but not without serious planning

Aaron Biberstein Editor in Chief

Unsatisfied with your major? Can’t find a multidisciplinary field that fits your unique taste? You may be a prime candidate for the independent major’s program.

The independent major allows students to craft their own focus to their coursework. “You as a student have to create an academic department with one student,” said Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of the Committee on the Independent Program Jeffrey Cynx. “That’s not an easy task.”

Contrary to what one might believe, becoming an independent major is hardly an anarchic process. Students must submit a proposal to the Committee on the Independent Program outlining their educational goals and must demonstrate that their interests fall outside major and multidisciplinary programs already in existence.

The proposal must also include a preliminary thesis topic as well as justification for all selected courses as well as potential advisers. The Committee usually requires several revisions before they accept the proposal.

Once a proposal is approved, students are assigned two advisers from different disciplines to help guide their work. Conventional courses of study require only one advisor, but because of the untested nature their work, independent majors are subject to a greater amount of scrutiny.

Students are required to complete at least 12 units and are barred from electing the non-recorded option for any independent coursework. Only three units may go ungraded. Independent majors can take no more than two courses at the 100 level and are required to fulfill four 300 level units including a senior thesis or project.

Independent majors must also start planning their educational careers early, as proposals must be finished by their sophomore year.

In 1972, there were 36 independent majors, while in 2004 there were only six. But according to Cynx this drop can be explained by the independent program’s special relationship with multidisciplinary departments.

“The Program helps predict student interests,” he said, and noted that many independent programs spawn the formation of Multidisciplinary programs, the most recent example being Media Studies. Since the early 1970’s, the Independent Program has seen an 82.9 percent drop in total degrees awarded. However, since that time the College has also seen the founding of many non-departmental programs of study.

The Committee on the Independent Program is comprised of four other faculty members besides the director, who represent the four curricular divisions of the college (the arts, foreign languages and literature, the social sciences, and the natural sciences.)

This year Susan Brisman of the English Department, James Challey, a physics professor, Pat Kenworthy from Hispanic Studies and Tom Porcello of Anthropology, serve alongside Cynx on the Committee. Cynx will end his three-year term as Program director this year.

He noted that many unique studies have been pursued through the independent program. “One nice one was called Peace Studies. It looked at religion and political science and tried to understand conceptually how to bring peace to the world,” he said.

“In general, we get people who are really exceptional and motivated and want to take responsibility for their education.”

Tiffany Watson ’05 is currently pursuing an independent major entitled The Philosophy of Dance.

“I chose to be an independent major because I wanted to create program combining my interests in philosophy, art history and dance,” she said. “I really enjoy it because I get to do what I find interesting.”

Watson’s program analyzes dance through philosophical and artistic lenses. “I’ve found many similarities between modern art and modern dance,” she said.

Watson said that though it has been a long a four years, she is finally seeing the fruits of her work. “After this whole long processes I find it is working,” she said. “I would have never had this opportunity had I attended a dance conservatory. I would never have been able to explore these ideas in such different fields.”