University of Virginia Library

Interdisciplinary Problems

One of the most significant developments
in curricular reform has been the liberalization
of the old concept of a major. The past years
have seen the addition of numerous interdisciplinary
majors in fields like Latin
American studies, wherein a student takes
courses from several departments to get a
background in a subject that encompasses
many disciplines. The latest of these is the
"University Major" which, theoretically, is
totally unstructured. A student in this
program needs only to present a certain
number of hours, regardless of the subjects
taken, to graduate.

The trend is likely to grow stronger in the
coming years. The rising prominence of fields
such as urban studies and environmental
conservation will place increased pressure on
the University's individual departments to
provide courses that can be coordinated with
the offerings of other departments in building
solid undergraduate and master's degree
programs. In an article published last fall,
Harper's magazine recommended that universities
act immediately to prepare their
students for the careers that will be created in
the near future in what Harper's referred to as
"survival" technology - careers that will
require specific knowledge drawn from
numerous traditionally autonomous disciplines.

The logical method for the University to
use in meeting this demand is the interdisciplinary
major. Thus, we applaud the creation
of the new "University major." But such
majors, while they require the freedom
granted them, cannot remain totally unstructured.
A student in a university major will
benefit from it most if he uses the freedom to
choose in the most intelligent manner
possible. Many faculty members, opposed to
the plan, urged retaining requirements because
they felt that students, left entirely to their
own devices, would be unable to choose their
courses intelligently. In this, they may have
been right, but they were wrong when they
reacted to this inability by suggesting the
reimposition of rigid requirements.

Instead of requirements, the University
must substitute guidance. It might be a good
idea for any student who wishes to declare an
interdisciplinary major to tentatively do so at
the end of his first year, rather than his
second as is now the case. At this point,
intelligent guidance, rather than the superficial
counselling on schedules and requirements
that now passes for an advising system,
could help the student to plot a three year
program. He would spend his second year
picking up the background needed for the
more advanced work taken in his third and
fourth years.

The College's guidance system has long
been its weakest facet. Such a deficiency is
not nearly so serious when a student is taking
a major in a single discipline such as English or
Biology. But if the College remains lax in its
efforts to counsel interdisciplinary majors, it
may well squander its best chance to meet the
challenge of the coming years.