Our programs are multidisciplinary in nature, allowing students considerable freedom to tailor their degrees to their unique interests and professional goals, with many encouraging experiential learning in a professional setting of the student' own choosing.
Experiential Learning
Many Interdisciplinary Studies concentrations require or encourage credit through experiential learning. Experiential learning enables students to extend and apply their classroom learning by turning theory into practice.
The Capstone Experience
The MAIS degree culminates in a Capstone Experience that unfolds over 2-3 semesters. Students synthesize their course work into an original research proposal. They then decide to produce a project or a thesis, enabling them to stretch and grow through 1-2 semesters of unstructured research, writing, and discovery under the direction of their capstone faculty committee.
An Innovative Curriculum
Innovation is not just a core component of the Interdisciplinary Studies student experience; it is also built into the design of the program itself.
Interdisciplinary Studies is unique among Mason graduate programs because it offers faculty a way to pilot new Master's degrees as concentrations, thereby staying on the cutting edge of higher education. For example, the M.A.s in Anthropology, Communication, and Higher Education were once MAIS concentrations. As a result, the Interdisciplinary Studies program continues to evolve.
Growth and change are constants in Interdisciplinary Studies, but our embrace of excellence, freedom, and creativity is timeless.
April 06, 2020
