2015-2016

Interdisciplinary Studies - Humanities 90-30, Bachelor

Department of Comparative Cultural Studies

College of Arts and Letters

This flexible bachelor's degree offers you an opportunity to design a plan of studies, in consultation with an advisor, to meet your individual educational needs. You may choose this degree if you plan to enter an occupation that requires a broad general education, if you are seeking career advancement or personal intellectual enrichment, or if you are considering a preprofessional plan.

This plan will not be available to new students after Summer 2024

University Requirements

  • To receive a bachelor's degree at Northern Arizona University, you must complete at least 120 units of credit that minimally includes a major, the liberal studies requirements, and university requirements as listed below.

    • All of Northern Arizona University's diversity, liberal studies, junior-level writing, and capstone requirements.
    • All requirements for your specific academic plan(s).
    • At least 30 units of upper-division courses, which may include transfer work.
    • At least 30 units of coursework taken through Northern Arizona University, of which at least 18 must be upper-division courses (300-level or above). This requirement is not met by credit-by-exam, retro-credits, transfer coursework, etc.
    • A cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0 on all work attempted at Northern Arizona University.

    The full policy can be viewed here.

In addition to University Requirements:

  • 30 units of Humanities specialization Requirements

  • Completion of Computer Literacy, Communication Skills, and Science or Language Requirements

  • Up to 9 units of specialization prefix courses may be used to satisfy Liberal Studies requirements; these same courses may also be used to satisfy specialization requirements.

  • Elective courses, if needed, to reach an overall total of at least 120 units.

Students may be able to use some courses to meet more than one requirement. Contact your advisor for details.

Minimum Units for Completion 120
Highest Mathematics Required MAT 114
Foreign Language Optional
Some online/blended coursework Required
Progression Plan Link Not Available
Student Learning Outcomes

  • CRITICAL THINKING – The graduate in the I.S. Humanities program will be able to evaluate a variety of creative compositions, including visual art, film, literature, built environments (architecture, landscaping), and intellectual histories (philosophy, religious texts); identify social, cultural, and historical contexts and values influencing the creation of these compositions; and understand cultures and their values from across the globe in order to better participate and work in an increasingly global marketplace.
  • CRITICAL READING – The graduate in the I.S. Humanities program will be able to identify themes common to humankind (i.e., birth rights, community expectations, individual rights, love, death and dying, freedom, war, gender, and the environment; and how describe these themes differ according to culture); evaluate modes of art, literature, ideas, and media in order to make judgments on the efficacy of texts and their uses in public forums; and analyze the ways in which texts reveal similarities and differences in the human experience throughout time and space.
  • EFFECTIVE WRITING – The graduate in the I.S. Humanities program will have the ability to write in several rhetorical modes (styles and genres) for a variety of community and professional audiences. These audiences include cultural and business entities that recognize how cultural knowledge/communication skills are essential in building professional relationships with diverse people at home and around the world. These entities are as diverse as medicine, business, technology, and public policy.  The I.S. Humanities program graduates will also have the ability to explain clearly and specifically the plurality of cultural values from which human expression arises for a variety of community and professional audiences.
  • CIVIL DISCOURSE AND CULTURAL AWARENESS – Armed with structural knowledge of diverse cultures and their arts and ideas, the graduate in the I.S. Humanities program will bring balanced perspectives to community and professional problem solving that is inclusive of difference and enhanced by an awareness of the growing interconnectedness of cultures globally.  This knowledge of diverse cultures and genres, combined with a balanced perspective, makes the Humanities graduate poised to engage in community, public, and professional life.
  • INTERDISCIPLINARITY –I.S. Humanities program graduates will be able to integrate viewpoints representing diverse cultured, historical, gendered, and national values and genres; plan, organize, and coordinate multi-dimensional problem solving approaches using insights from several disciplines, including traditional humanities disciplines and the social and environmental sciences; and develop reasonable options to initiate inclusive, just, and sustainable social change that is well-reasoned and historically aware and culturally sensitive.

Liberal Studies Requirement
    • Up to 9 units of specialization prefix courses may be used to satisfy Liberal Studies requirements; these same courses may also be used to satisfy specialization requirements.
    • You may not use the specific courses in your Concentration to satisfy liberal studies requirements.
    • Students with a completed AGEC from Arizona Community Colleges will have met the 35 units of liberal studies requirements.
    • Students with a completed IGETC from California Community Colleges will have met the 35 units of liberal studies requirements.
Major Requirements

  • Multi-use of coursework is not permitted within the Major Requirements. Major Requirements include Specialization, Communication, Computer Literacy, Language and Science.

  • Take the following 30 units with a Grade of "C" or better in each course:

    Humanities Specialization

      • HUM 362 or LAS 381, either of which meets the Global Diversity requirement; and/or
      • HUM 375, which meets the U.S. Diversity requirement.
Interdisciplinary Studies Requirements

  • Communication Requirements (6 units)

    Choose 6 units in the following two categories. 

    • Performance-based courses, select one from the following (3 units)
      • CST 111, CST 311, CST 312, CST 314, CST 315, CST 318 (Performance-based courses are defined as having at least 51 percent of the evaluation of the student being based upon oral performance.)
      • Or advisor approved
    • Theory-based courses, select one from the following (3 units)

  • Please note that you cannot use CLEP or locally prepared exams to satisfy this requirement. Transfer credit used to satisfy this requirement must be approved by the program director.

  • Foreign Language Requirement Option (19 units)

    • Foreign Language Requirement (16 units)
      • You must demonstrate proficiency in a language other than English that is equivalent to four terms of university coursework in the same language. You may satisfy this requirement by taking language courses or by testing out of all or part of it by taking CLEP, or other exams.
    AND
    • Computer Literacy (3 units)
      • This coursework must help you to understand, in general, the technical components of computers and information systems, how to solve problems using information systems technology, word processing, spreadsheet use, database management, graphic information software, website development, graphic design and use of statistical analysis software. Subject to advisor approval.
      • Select one from the following (3 units)
        • [BBA 293]
        • [ISM 120]
  • OR

    Science Requirement Option (18 units)

  • Science Requirement, select from the following (12 units):

    • ANT 101, ANT 250
    • GSP 130, GSP 150
    • Courses with Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Sciences, Geology, Mathematics, Nutrition, Physical Science, Physics, Statistics prefixes. Please note that other courses must be approved by the program director.

  • AND

    Computer Literacy (6 units)

    This coursework must help you to understand, in general, the technical components of computers and information systems, how to solve problems using information systems technology, word processing, spreadsheet use, database management, graphic information software, website development, graphic design and use of statistical analysis software. Subject to advisor approval.

    • Select CIS 120 or BBA 293 (3 units)
    • BBA 340 or Advisor Approved coursework including the CIS or CS prefix (3 units)
General Electives

  • Additional coursework is required if, after you have met the previously described requirements, you have not yet completed a total of 120 units of credit.

    You may take these remaining courses from any of the academic areas, using these courses to pursue your specific interests and goals. You may also use prerequisites or transfer credits as electives if they weren't used to meet major, minor, or liberal studies requirements.

    We encourage you to consult with your advisor to select the courses that will be most advantageous to you.

Additional Information

  • Be aware that some courses may have prerequisites that you must also successfully complete. For prerequisite information, click on the course or see your advisor.