Student-Designed Interdepartmental Major
A student-designed major crosses the traditional divisions of academic study by including courses in two or more departments, being unified by a methodology and culminating in a project that integrates the student's previous coursework.
The integrating project may be a Special Studies that results in an essay or other project, or a senior seminar paper or project. You should discuss the integrating project with your advisers.
Applications for majors may be submitted no earlier than the first semester of the sophomore year and no later than the second semester of the junior year.
Planning Your Major
Applying & Advisers
Honors
You may apply for honors within your student-designed major. The same deadlines apply as for departmental honors. Your primary adviser acts as the director of honors and determines the relative pecentages for your thesis project, your oral exam and your GPA in the final determination of honors. (These percentages will be listed on your honors application.)
The thesis adviser may be one of your major advisers or another faculty member from one of your major departments. One of the advisers must be a Smith faculty member, the other may have an appointment at one of the Five Colleges. See Departmental Honors for more information.
Changes to Course Plan
Once your interdepartmental major has been approved, you must inform the senior class dean of any later revisions of your course plan after you have consulted with your advisers and they have approved the change.
More information
If you have questions, speak to the senior class dean.