Mission Statement
The Department of Interdisciplinary Studies seeks to provide a broader range of opportunities than is typically available in most degree programs, including opportunities to study in more than one academic field.
Academic Opportunities
The Bachelor of Science degrees feature majors in professional and/or technical studies which allows students to combine two professional/ technical areas of study, or to combine one professional/technical area of study with another area from the liberal arts and sciences. A wide selection of technical concentrations can also be chosen from certificate programs at other local colleges, such as Oakland Community College and Macomb Community College (see pages 43-44).
The Bachelor of Arts/Science degrees feature majors in interdisciplinary studies which allow students to combine two or more areas of study from the arts and sciences into one degree. Interdisciplinary programs are the result of profound changes taking place across the spectrum of academic disciplines. Advances in science and technology, and realities such as globalization and multiculturalism, make it clear that the boundaries between the traditional disciplines are not as distinct as once thought. It is now widely acknowledged that higher education must prepare students to think critically and creatively across traditional boundaries, and to navigate the interrelationships of different disciplines. The BA/BS in Interdisciplinary Studies provides an opportunity for this by allowing students to choose different disciplines of study which are tied together by a specifically designed Interdisciplinary Core.
Career Opportunities
Interdisciplinary studies majors enjoy a variety of career options. For
example, the student who majors in professional/technical studies can
develop a wide variety of resources and skills that are valued by employers. The degree is also valuable for those interested in interdisciplinary occupations such as those of management, human resources, industrial psychology, or vocational ministry. In addition, the liberal arts opportunities in this degree plan also offer students with professional interests an opportunity to develop reasoning, speaking, and writing skills sought by many employers.
In addition to the opportunities listed above, the BA/BS in Interdisciplinary Studies offers other options as well. For example, with the right combination of concentrations, this degree can prepare students for graduate programs beyond a bachelor’s level (e.g. law, medicine, business, philosophy, seminary). The BA also offers an Honors Track for the qualifying student.
Degree Options in Interdisciplinary Studies, Course Descriptions
BS with Professional Studies Major:
Allows students to select two areas of study from several degree concentrations with a professional emphasis.
GENERAL EDUCATION CORE .................................... 51 credit hours
LIBERAL ARTS CORE .................................................. 15 credit hours
Courses completed for this core must be divided among at least three liberal arts areas, not including courses from the first and second areas of concentration. General education hours may not be used to meet this requirement. Nine of the 15 hours must be upper-division.
FIRST AREA OF CONCENTRATION............................ 24 credit hours
Must include at least 8 hours of Upper Division credits, and must be selected from the following options:
Communication
Professional Writing
Management
General Science
Mathematics
Sports Management
Behavioral Science
Business
Religion
SECOND AREA OF CONCENTRATION ....................... 24 credit hours
Must include at least 8 hours of Upper Division credits, and must be selected from one of the following:
Behavioral Science
Business
Management
Sports Management
ELECTIVES.................................................................... 14 credit hours
TOTAL FOR PROFESSIONAL STUDIES MAJOR ...... 128 credit hoursBS with Technical and Professional Studies Major:
Allows students to incorporate technical training from another institution (e.g. from a certificate program) into a degree in professional studies.
GENERAL EDUCATION CORE .................................... 51 credit hours
FIRST AREA OF CONCENTRATION............................ 24 credit hours
Must include at least 8 hours of Upper Division credits, and must be
selected from the following options:
Communication
Professional Writing
Management
General Science
Mathematics
Sports Management
Behavioral Science
Business
Religion
ELECTIVES
The number of elective hours taken may vary from none (when the selected technical certificate program exceeds 53 hours) to 29 (when the selected technical certificate program contains the 24 hour minimum).
TECHNICAL CONCENTRATION
The technical concentration must be selected from recognized certificate programs of recognized technical training institutions. The certificate program must include a minimum of 24 hours.
Transfer students who have at least 24 hours of technical or technical related courses, but have not received a certificate, can count those hours as a technical concentration and receive the B.S. in Technical and Professional Studies, if they are willing to sign a waiver that acknowledges that their technical training does not officially qualify them for employment in a technical field.BA/BS with Interdisciplinary Studies Major. Allows students to select two areas of study from several degree concentrations with emphases in liberal arts and sciences.
GENERAL EDUCATION CORE .................................... 51 credit hours
INTERDISCIPLINARY CORE......................................... 15 credit hours
The Interdisciplinary Core is designed to help students develop a philosophical foundation which will be useful in understanding, comparing and integrating different disciplines of study and different aspects of the human experience. The requirements are as follows:
PHI 2013, 6 hours from any upper division PHI classes, 6 upper division hours from two other liberal arts areas not including courses from the first and second areas of concentration. General education hours may not be used to meet this requirement.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE (BA only)................................... 8 credit hours
FIRST AREA OF CONCENTRATION............................ 24 credit hours
Must include at least 8 hours of Upper Division credits, and must be selected from the following options:
Communication
Literature
Professional Writing
General Science
Mathematics
Religion
History
Music
Pre-Law
SECOND AREA OF CONCENTRATION ...................... 24 credit hours
Must include at least 8 hours of Upper Division credits, and must be
selected from the following options:
Communication (BA only)
Literature (BA only)
Professional Writing
General Science
Mathematics
Religion (BA only)
History (BA only)
Music (BA only
Behavioral Science
Business
Management
Sports Management
Pre-Law (BA only)
ELECTIVES......................................................................14 credit hours
TOTAL FOR INTERDISC. STUDIES MAJOR ............ 128 credit hoursBA in Interdisciplinary Studies with Honors:
Allows qualified students the opportunity to significantly design their own degree plan in line with specific interdisciplinary interests.
The Honors program gives qualified students a tremendous level of
flexibility to pursue specific interests and to explore the creative possibilities of Interdisciplinary Studies. For a student to qualify, the following criteria must be met:
1. New students must have a minimum score of 27 on the ACT or 1200 on the SAT, and must have graduated from High School with a
GPA of 3.5 or higher and/or be in the top ten percent of their graduating class.
2. Transfer students or continuing Rochester students who wish to enroll in this degree can use their college performances as criteria. They must have completed at least 30 hours of college credit with a minimum GPA of 3.2, and have at least two faculty recommendations.
3. In order to receive this Honors degree, students must graduate with a minimum GPA of 3.4. If the student’s final GPA is below 3.4, then the “Honors” distinction will be dropped from the degree, and the student’s program will be considered under the normal Rochester College academic guidelines, and count as a normal BA in Interdisciplinary Studies.
Once the above criteria are met, then the interested student must submit a proposal for their self-designed Honors program that meets the requirements outlined below. The proposal (as outlined by the “Proposal/Rationale Form” which is available by the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies) must be submitted to and approved by a committee consisting of the Head of Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, the Provost and/or Academic Dean, and one other appropriate faculty member that the committee will select. This process must be completed before
60 hours of credit is completed.
GENERAL EDUCATION CORE .................................... 51 credit hours
These core requirements are flexible, but must include 16 hours from the “Christian Values Core,” 9 hours in Communication, 6 hours in Humanities, 2 hours of Physical Education, 6 hours of Science, 3 hours of Mathematics, and 9 hours of Social Science. Honors students are encouraged to choose as many upper division classes in these categories as possible.
INTERDISCIPLINARY CORE......................................... 15 credit hours
The Interdisciplinary Core is designed to help students develop a philosophical foundation which will be useful in understanding, comparing and integrating different disciplines of study and different aspects of the human experience. The requirements are as follows: PHI 2013, 6 hours from any upper division PHI classes, 6 upper division hours from two other liberal arts areas not including courses from the first and second areas of concentration. General education hours may not be used to meet this requirement.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE ................................................... 8 credit hours
SELF-DESIGNED PROGRAM……………….………..62 credit hours
At least 42 hours of the self-designed program must be upper division hours. The program must also include the foreign language requirement of all bachelor degrees (8 hours).
TOTAL FOR I.D.S. WITH HONORS ........................ 128 credit hoursBehavioral Science
Concentration:
PSY 2013 General Psychology ......................................................... 3
PSY 2223 Life Span Development or
PSY 2113 Psychology of Adjustment....................................... 3
PSY 3013 Psychology of Personality or
PSY 3093 History and Systems of Psychology........................... 3
PSY 3033 Abnormal Psychology ....................................................... 3
PSY 3053 Health Psychology, or
PSY 3413 Substance Abuse Counseling, or
PSY 3423 Cross Cultural Counseling, or
PSY 4403 Career Guidance Research and Counseling, or
PSY 4413 Family Systems Therapy, or
PSY 4423 Group Counseling Techniques ................................... 3
PSY 3403 Introduction to Psychotherapy and Counseling ............ 3
SOC 2013 Introduction to Sociology, or
SOC 2023 Social Problems, or
SOC 2453 Marriage and the Family ............................................ 3
SWK 2013 Introduction to Social Work or
SWK 3003 Human Behavior and the Social Environment...………... 3
Total for Behavioral Science Concentration................ 24 credit hoursBusiness Concentration:
ACC 2113 Accounting I ..................................................................... 3
BUS 2403 Macroeconomics or BUS 2413 Microeconomics ........... 3
BUS 3003 Business Communication ............................................... 3
BUS 3033 International Business .................................................... 3
BUS 3203 Principles of Finance....................................................... 3
BUS 3303 or 3313 Business Law I or II ........................................... 3
MGT 2603 Principles of Management ............................................. 3
MKT 2503 Principles of Marketing ................................................. 3
Total for Business Concentration................................ 24 credit hoursCommunication Concentration:
COM 2233 Nonverbal Communication, or
COM 2253 Listening, or
FLM 2013 Film Appreciation, or
FLM 2423 Film History, or
JRN 1101 Newspaper Journalism, or
JRN 2101 Yearbook Journalism, or
THE 1411 Stagecraft, or
THE 1421 Theatre Workshop, or
THE 2113 Technical Theatre ....................................................... 6
COM 2513 Introduction to Communication Studies ....................... 3
One course from the below categories ............................................. 3
Communication Studies (select one) ................................................ 3
COM 3513 Small Group Communication
COM 3523 Interpersonal Communication
COM 3533 Intercultural Communication
COM 3543 Communication Theory
Media Studies (select one) ................................................................ 3
ENG 4513 Media Writing
FLM 3413 Film Genre
FLM 3433 Film Theory
FLM 4413 Seminar in Film
MED 3633 Media Criticism
MED 4643 Religion and Popular Culture
Rhetorical Studies (select one) ......................................................... 3
RHE 2223 Public Speaking
RHE 3333 Rhetorical Criticism
RHE 3353 History of Rhetoric
RHE 4313 American Public Address
Theatre Studies (select one) ............................................................. 3
THE 2003 Appreciation of Theatre
THE 3113 Theatre for Young Audiences
THE 3313 Oral Interpretation of Literature
THE 4113 Directing
THE 4143 Theatre and Religion
Total for Communication Concentration .................... 24 credit hoursGeneral Science Concentration:
Laboratory Science Sequence (select one, another sequence
must be included in general education core) ................................... 8
BIO 1014 or 1024 Biological Science with Lab I or II
CHE 1514 or 1524 College Chemistry I or II
PHS 2013/2211 General Physics I
PHS 2023/2221 General Physics II
PHS 2514 or 2524 Engineering Physics I or II
Additional Science (select from below) .......................................... 16
BIO 1124 Zoology
BIO 2114 or 2124 Human Anatomy and Physiology I or II
BIO 2224 Introductory Botany and Zoology
BIO 3213 General Ecology
BIO 3324 Microbiology
BIO 3413 Genetics
CHE 2514 or 2524 Organic Chemistry I or II
CHE 3514 Biochemistry I
PHS 3004 Astronomy
PHS 3114 Earth’s Waters
PHS 3513 Modern Physics
PHS 4612 Senior Seminar
PHS 4901, 4902, or 4903 Topics in Science
Laboratory science sequence from above
Total for General Science Concentration .................... 24 credit hoursHistory Concentration:
HIS 1313 or 1323 Survey of Western Civilization I or II or
HIS 2513 or 2523 United States History I or II ......................... 9
CHS 3713 or 3723 Survey of Church History I or II, or
HIS 2113 Michigan History, or
HIS 3313 French Revolution and Napoleonic Era, or
HIS 3323 Nineteenth Century Europe, or
HIS 3423 Emerging Nations, or
HIS 3513 American Diplomatic History, or
HIS 3523 Colonial and Revolutionary America, or
HIS 3533 The Early American Republic, or
HIS 3543 The Gilded Age and Progressive Era, or
HIS 3553 America in World Crises, or
HIS 3813 Historical Research and Writing, or
HIS 4323 Twentieth Century Europe, or
HIS 4513 American Civil War Era, or
HIS 4523 Cold War America, or
HIS 4613 Selected Topics in History, or
HIS 4813 Senior Project in History .......................................... 15
Total for History Concentration ................................... 24 credit hoursLiterature Concentration:
ENG 3513 Critical Writing and Literary Analysis ......................... 3
ENG 3213 or 3223 British Writers I or II, or
ENG 4213 Shakespeare Comedies, or
ENG 4223 Shakespeare Tragedies, or
ENG 4233 Shakespeare Histories ............................................... 6
ENG 3313 American Writers I, or
ENG 3323 American Writers II, or
ENG 4413 Pluralism in American Literature ............................ 6
THE 2003 Appreciation of the Theatre, or
ENG 4713 Studies in Genre: Novel, or
ENG 4723 Studies in Genre: Short Story, or
ENG 4733 Studies in Genre: Poetry, or
ENG 4743 Studies in Genre: Drama ........................................... 6
ENG 4533 Senior Writing Project ............................................... 3
Total for Literature Concentration .............................. 24 credit hoursManagement Concentration:
MGT 2603 Principles of Management .............................................. 3
Additional Management (select from below) .................................. 21
MGT 3603 Organizational Behavior, or
MGT 3613 Human Resource Management, or
MGT 3623 Human Relations in the Workplace, or
MGT 3643 Labor Relations, or
MGT 3653 Leadership Theory, or
MGT 3683 Small Business Management, or
MGT 3693 Current Topics in Management, or
MGT 3703 Management Information Systems, or
MGT 3713 Operations Management
Total for Management Concentration .......................... 24 credit hoursMathematics Concentration:
MAT 1335 Pre-Calculus ..................................................................... 5
MAT 2515 Calculus and Analytic Geometry I ................................. 5
MAT 2524 Calculus and Analytic Geometry II ................................ 4
MAT 3534 Calculus and Analytic Geometry III ............................... 4
MAT 1213 Finite Mathematics, or
MAT 2413 Elementary Statistics, or
MAT 3613 Linear Algebra, or
MAT 3623 Differential Equations .................................................... 61
Total for Mathematics Concentration ......................... 24 credit hoursMusic Concentration:
MUS 1211 and 1221 Ear Training I and II ..................................... 2
MUS 1213 and 1223 Theory I and II ............................................... 6
MUS 3202 Keyboard Harmony, or
MUS 3213 Form and Analysis, or
MUS 3403 Conducting, or
MUS 3503 Corporate Worship Design, or
MUS 3603 Foreign Language Diction, or
MUS 3611, 3612, or 3613 Topics in Music, or
MUS 4203 Counterpoint, or
MUS 4403 Vocal Pedagogy, or
MUS 4413 Instrumental Techniques, or
MUS 4503 Hymnology and Church Music, or
MUS 4611, 4612, or 4613 Topics in Music ................................. 8
MUS 3314 and 3324 History of Western Music I and II ................. 8
Total for Music Concentration .................................... 24 credit hoursPre-Law Concentration:
BUS 3303 Business Law I ................................................................ 3
BUS 3313 Business Law II ............................................................... 3
HIS 3533 Early American Republic ................................................. 3
POS 2023 Introduction to the American Legal System ................. 3
POS 2043 Criminal Law and Procedure.......................................... 3
POS 4013 American Constitutional Law ........................................ 3
POS 4213 Substantive Criminal Law .............................................. 3
POS 4913 Directed Legal Research .................................................. 3
Total for Pre-Law Concentration .................................. 24 credit hoursProfessional Writing Concentration:
ENG 2113 Approaches to Grammar ................................................ 3
ENG 2513 Media Writing.................................................................. 3
ENG 3513 Critical Writing and Literary Analysis ......................... 3
ENG 3523 Creative Writing .............................................................. 3
ENG 3533 Technical Writing ........................................................... 3
ENG 3613 Introduction to Linguistics ............................................ 3
ENG 4523 Advanced Composition ................................................... 3
ENG 4533 Senior Writing Project ................................................... 3
Total for Professional Writing Concentration ............. 24 credit hoursReligion Concentration:
BIB 3983 Biblical Interpretation ...................................................... 3
BIB 3000 or above textual ................................................................ 6
CHS 3713 or 3723 Survey of Church History I or II, or
CHS 3733 History of the Restoration Movement, or
CHS 3743 History of American Religions ................................... 3
DOC 4963 Systematic Christian Doctrine ....................................... 3
Any CHS, DOC, or MIN courses ..................................................... 9
Total for Religion Concentration ................................. 24 credit hoursSports Management Concentration:
SMG 3003 Sports Marketing ............................................................ 3
SMG 3013 History and Philosophy of Sports ................................. 3
SMG 3023 Recreation Management ................................................. 3
SMG 3223 Principles and Practices of Sports Administration ...... 3
SMG 3283 Practicum in Sports Management ................................. 3
SMG 4003 Budget and Finance in Sports ....................................... 3
SMG 4113 Legal Aspects of Sports .................................................. 3
SMG 4253 Facility Design and Event Management ....................... 3
Total for Sports Management Concentration............. 24 credit hoursTechnical Field
Concentrations:
The Bachelor of Science (BS) degree with a major in technical and professional studies allows students to incorporate technical training from another institution (eg. certificate program) into a bachelor’s degree. In effect, any completed technical certificate from a recognized (approved) institution that is between 24 and 50 credit hours in length can serve as one of the concentrations in the BS in Technical and Professional Studies.
Whenever possible, it is recommended that students interested in this degree plan should attend Rochester College first and complete all other requirements of the degree and then go and receive the technical training as a block (in such a case, if the student is entering an approved certificate program and has informed the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, then the Rochester College requirement that 24 of the last 36 hours in a degree program must be taken at Rochester College will be waived). Alternatively, students may choose to take classes at the other institution toward the technical part of their degree while co-enrolled at Rochester College, but in such a case it is the responsibility of the student to work out all of the issues related to scheduling, financial aid, full-time status, and sports eligibility. Furthermore, transfer students who have at least 24 hours of technical or technical related courses, but have not received a certificate, can count those hours as a technical concentration in this degree plan if they are willing to sign a waiver that acknowledges that their technical training does not officially qualify them for employment in a technical field (waivers are available from the department of
Interdisciplinary Studies).
Below is a current list (as of the publishing date of this catalog) of some of the technical certificate programs that are available in the Rochester area at recognized institutions such as Macomb Community College and Oakland Community College. This list is simply an example of what is currently available. Students must keep in mind that these institutions occasionally change their programs and offerings and schedules, so that updated lists will often be needed before an assessment of the possibility of a degree plan can be completed.
From Macomb Community College:
Architectural Drawing EMT (Paramedic, fire fighting)
Automobile Technology Fire Science
Business- multi-media Law Enforcement
Civil Technology Media and Communication Arts
Climate Control Technology Medical Assistant
Construction Technology Quality Systems Technology
Culinary Arts/Hospitality Surgical Technology
Energy Specialist Tool Fixture and Die Design
Electronics Technology
