How to major in everything

Multidisciplinary programs turn ideas into reality

Laura Attanasio Contributing Editor

Today, the College offers 13 multidisciplinary programs available as majors, and all of which have been created in the last 50 years. The trend toward multidisciplinary learning is one general reason that so many programs have developed and flourished in a relatively short time, but the story of how each program was created is different.

For example, Africana Studies had a slightly different beginning than many of the programs. It originated in 1969 when a group of black students staged a sit-in in Main to express the need for classes about the black experience. Initially called Black Studies, it was actually based out of an off-campus building. The name was changed to Africana Studies when the program moved to campus.
“The impetus for the creation of the Africana Studies Program was both political and intellectual,” said Director of Africana Studies Ismail Rashid.

While Africana Studies is the oldest multidisciplinary in continuous existence at the College, American Culture was the first created. The program began in 1943 but was shut down in 1957 because of “the general movement in academia away from multidisciplinary study,” according to the programs’ website. In 1972, however, it was re-started by interested faculty.

As multidisciplinary programs have multiplied in the last decade or so, the process for their creation has become more institutionalized. Media Studies is the newest multidisciplinary program at Vassar, and thus went through this process very recently.

“Media Studies emerged from faculty interest across departments,” explained Director of Media Studies Bill Hoynes. In addition to the faculty sharing common interests, they noticed that they were teaching many of the same students, but they “lacked a core set of theoretical and methodological tools.”

The Media Studies Development Project, the precursor to the program, was formed in 1999-2000. It was modeled on the process used to create Environmental Studies. With the participation of over 20 faculty members, there were lectures, symposia, panel discussions, and four years of a summer institute that focused on curriculum development. The first intro class, “Approaches to Media Studies,” was offered in 2001, and this year Media Studies is newly available as a major.

The more malleable structure of Progams versus departments allows for for “curricular innovation and intellectual growth,” according to Hoynes, as well as particular challenges, including creating continuity and stability in course offerings and staffing.

Programs started most recently show the College’s ability to keep up with new trends in education while also assuring that its offerings are stable and long-running. (None of the programs started since the 70’s have been disbanded.) This is evident in the process now used to create new programs, which Dean of Faculty Ron Sharp described as “thorough and thoughtful.”

“It’s a real feather in Vassar’s cap that we do this,” said Sharp, who is impressed by programs such as Media Studies and Environmental Studies because the founding faculty really gave thought to all the different ways in which the programs could work.

“Vassar is very supportive of multidisciplinary studies,” noted Dean of Studies Sandy Thompson. “Faculty seem very committed to them, as do students.”

Sharp agreed. “Multidisciplinary programs are much more fully integrated into the curriculum here [than at comparable institutions]…there is a deep roots system for multidisciplinary studies at Vassar.”
The approach seems to be an effective one. Not only do a large number of faculty and students participate in the multidisciplinary programs, but all of the programs created since 1969 have lasted.

One of the main features that distinguishes departments and multidisciplinary programs is the way that staffing operates, which allows more flexibility but also constant challenges for the program directors. While departments have a fixed set of faculty members that are contractually obligated to teach a certain number of courses for the department in a given period of time, multidisciplinary programs, have a more amorphous faculty base.

There are four types of faculty that teach in multidisciplinary programs. A few professors either have joint appointments in both a department and a multidisciplinary program, or a contractual obligation to teach a certain number of courses in a program in a given time span. Occasionally, professors are hired that are not contractually obligated to teach in a given program but they have made a more informal verbal agreement. The majority, however, are professors in departments that simply choose to also teach in a program. To do so, they must go to the chair of their department and request to teach a multidisciplinary course; it is up to the chair to judge how many professors the department can spare. This can be a problem for small departments or departments that are stretched to their limits.

American Culture consists of a constantly changing staff. “No one in American Culture has a set line within American Culture,” said Director of American Culture Eileen Leonard. “Everyone comes from outside programs, works with us for a while, then returns to their home department.”

The constant change can create problems of continuity for majors, as well as challenges in terms of faculty, advising, and the number and type of courses being offered. However, the collaboration across disciplinary lines also allows professors and students from different backgrounds to learn from one another.

While the Africana Studies program faces many of the same challenges of other multidisciplinary programs, they tend to have more jointly appointed faculty as well as faculty that are contractually obligated to teach courses in the program.

Though resource allocation and staffing are the perennial difficulties faced by directors of and participants in multidisciplinary programs, efforts are being made on several fronts to systematize the process. Dean Sharp cites predictability, accountability, and planning as the areas that most need to be worked on.

“The real key is planning,” he said, noting that improving these areas is in the interest of everyone concerned.

So, you want to be a major...
How the Media Studies Program was created, in five easy steps

1. Come up with the idea, or take it from the students. The Media Studies Program came out of the observation that students were pursuing this course of study, but without a “core set of theoretical and methodological tools.”

2. Try it out during the off-season. The College explored the idea during the Summer, when it started hosting the Media Studies Development Project in 1999. Students were paid to be involved, and brainstormed along with faculty.

3. Set up an introductory course. The first class offered by the Media Studies Program was first offered in fall 2001. “Approaches to Media Studies” explored what courses for a major would be like.

4. Establish a Steering Comittee. The committe began meeting in the fall of 2003 and made their proposal to the Comittee on Curricular Policies that following winter. The proposal was approved in the spring of 2004.

5. You are now a course of study! The Media Studies major is now in its first year. Students in the class of 2007 or later will be able to fufill the requirements under the usual four-year schedule, and thus far several students have officially declared it as their major.