Interdisciplinary Studies

Why Interdisciplinarity?

A discipline is a system of questions and procedures, often associated with a particular subject. If we are studying the environment, the obvious approach might be Biology, for instance, which is the study (-λογος<) of life (βιος<); but our questions concerning land use, pollution, or the public interest might also require the expertise of political science, ethical philosophy, economics and business, as well as other specialties.

Disciplines have their integrity and their strengths, and there are good reasons why they developed. They also have their limitations. You may have interests or questions that require an interdisciplinary approach.

Maybe you are interested in a topic that is intrinsically interdisciplinary. Gender is not the province of any one discipline, but requires the insights of psychology, sociology, art, literature, and many others. The Middle Ages cannot be understood without knowledge of languages, history, religions, archaeology, and other disciplines.

It’s a complicated world, and in the future we will have ever greater need not only of experts with deep and specific knowledge, but also of people who can coordinate and apply the insights of these experts.

Truman is a somewhat unusual institution, in that we are a public liberal arts university. In keeping with that core mission, among our objectives in initiating an Interdisciplinary Studies Major, we mean to cultivate the coming generation of public intellectuals, and to prepare young people for lives of informed engagement and leadership in a complex world.