In addition to department-based minors, CHSS offers many minors in interdisciplinary areas of study. These minors require course work from two or more disciplines and are administered by interdepartmental faculty groups. In accordance with university policy, at least 8 credits must be applied only to the minor and may not be used to fulfill requirements of the student’s major, concentration, or another minor. For policies governing all minors, see the Academic Policies chapter of the catalog.
Phone: 703-993-1201
Brigety, Carbonneau, Carton, Cherubin, Clark, Dennis, Fauntroy, Fuchs, Haley, Horton, Johnson, Lepore, Levine, Manuel-Scott, Miller, Paden, Richards Jordan, Smith, Stewart, Trafton, Travis (director), Weatherspoon, Wilkins
The African American Studies Program offers all course work designated AFAM in the Course Descriptions chapter of this catalog.
The African American Studies Program is an interdisciplinary program that examines the cultural, historical, economic, and political dimensions and experiences of people of African descent in America, the Caribbean, Africa, and throughout the Diaspora. It introduces students to theories and methodologies that examine the complex dynamics of race, class, gender, and ethnicity in America. The program enables students to develop critical and analytical approaches to societal issues because such issues are addressed and delineated in a variety of academic disciplines and programs.
Students pursuing this minor must complete a minimum of 15 credits of related course work with a minimum GPA of 2.00 distributed as follows:
Other electives may be approved in advance by the director.
Phone: 703-993-3770
Butler (coordinator), Cherubin, Lytton, Mattusch, Winkler
This interdisciplinary minor is for students with diverse interests in the material culture of the ancient world. Course work combines the study of archaeology, literature, art, history, philosophy, myth, and religion. The minor’s scope is not limited to Greece and Rome, but touches on all the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean and the heirs of late antiquity such as Byzantium and early Islam.
The program represents foundation work crucial to graduate study in traditional departments of classical, near Eastern, or Mediterranean art and archaeology. Through this minor, students are given credit for acquiring practical linguistic skills and archaeological field experience as well as scholarly background. Students should consult with the coordinator in designing a program. At least 3 credits must be taken in ARTH, and at least 9 credits must be taken outside of ARTH.
Students pursuing this minor must complete 18 credits distributed as follows:
Phone: 703-993-2957
Butler, Chang, Cuong, DeCaroli, Hinton, H. Nguyen (coordinator), Lin, Paden, Platt, Ro, Wan, Zhang
The interdisciplinary minor in Asia-Pacific studies is for students whose interests focus on the humanities and social sciences and Asia’s role in global systems and the cultural mosaic of human experience. In particular, a new type of transregionalism is explored: the links between Asia and North America.
Students pursuing this minor must complete a minimum of 18 credits distributed as follows:
Other electives are possible, including approved study abroad or internships, when relevant, are possible with prior approval of the coordinator. Language courses in Chinese, Korean, or Japanese are strongly recommended.
Phone: 703-993-2768
Christensen, Fuchs (director), T. Gibson, A. Landsberg, Lont, Ricouart, Roan, Sample, Scarlata, Winkler
The Film and Media Studies (FAMS) interdisciplinary minor explores mass culture in its visual manifestations and helps students develop an informed awareness of culture and media, ideological tendencies, and effects on daily experience. Committed to interdisciplinarity, the program addresses the increasing complexity and multiplicity of visual cultures and offers students the tools with which to read a variety of texts, including film, television, video, and new media.
Most course work is offered through the Departments of Communication and English, with other courses available through the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and the Program in Film and Video Studies. The two required courses provide an introduction to the languages of film and popular media and modes of analysis appropriate to each. They are prerequisites for all advanced work in the minor. Students select four additional courses designed to introduce a more specialized level of study. Students may decide to focus on film, television, or the study of mass culture, or they may choose some mix of courses that suits their interests.
Communication majors must choose at least 6 credits outside of communication for their FAMS elective courses.
Students pursuing this minor must complete 18 credits distributed as follows:
* Requires prior written approval of FAMS coordinator
** May be repeated if topic is different
*** With permission of instructor and approval of FAMS coordinator
Phone: 703-993-1172
Burns, Decaroli, ffolliott, Fuchs, Johnsen-Neshati, Mattusch (cocoordinator), Owens, Rutledge, Shiner, Shutika, Todd, Winkler, Yocom (co-coordinator)
Stories told in both sacred and secular contexts, along with festivals, foods, music, material objects, and other traditional art forms, continue to influence our lives. This interdisciplinary minor offers students tools to explore the compelling meanings within these seemingly simple, everyday cultural texts, and helps them become more aware of the ways these texts are used by individuals and institutions for various goals. Students study folklore and mythology by juxtaposing the multiple viewpoints of anthropology, art history, classical studies, literary studies, and religious studies.
Students pursuing this minor must complete 18 credits chosen from three groupings given below with a minimum GPA of 2.00. If one of these courses is used to fulfill the 3 credits of literature required for general education, it may not be used to fulfill a requirement for the minor.
To avoid duplication of courses, English majors who choose the folklore and mythology interdisciplinary minor may not select the English Department’s folklore, mythology, and literature concentration.
Phone: 703-993-1400
Harbour (coordinator)
The minor consists of 18 credits of non-region-specific courses that deal with global connections or transactions. It is ideal for majors in business disciplines, economics, languages, geography, government and international politics, history, and other disciplines that take a global view. At least 9 credits must be at the 300 level or above.
Other globally oriented courses may also fulfill or substitute for the requirements of this program with written permission of the coordinator prior to registration.
Students pursuing this minor must complete a minimum of 18 credits distributed as follows:
Phone: 703-993-1178
Cleaveland, Haines, Ihara, Leeman, Maloney, Rabin, Ritchie, Seligmann, Shutika (coordinator)
The minor in immigration studies combines perspectives from the humanities and social sciences to provide an interdisciplinary and comparative understanding of the immigrant experience, ethnic identity, assimilation, ethnic exclusion and conflict, and refugee situations.
Students pursuing this minor must take 15 credits with a minimum GPA of 2.00, distributed as follows:
Phone: 703-993-1261
Faculty: Amireh, Bakhash, Butler, Dakake, DeCaroli, Hamdani (coordinator), Hilmi, Katz, Lukacs, Mandaville , Paden, Sheers
The minor in Islamic studies is designed for students interested in the societies, culture, history, and politics of the Islamic world. It is available to currently enrolled undergraduates.
Students pursuing this minor complete 21 credits distributed as follows:
Special topics courses, when relevant, may be used to fulfill elective credits for the minor with prior written approval of the coordinator.
CERB-ISLM
The certificate is for those seeking academic or professional enhancement through basic knowledge about Islam. Credits taken for the minor cannot be applied toward the certificate.
Students pursuing this certificate complete 21 credits distributed as follows:
While Arabic maybe used to fulfill this requirement, other languages can be substituted with prior approval of the coordinator.
Students may have the foreign language requirement waived by demonstrating proficiency in a relevant foreign language as determined by the Department of Modern and Classical Languages. Such students will have 3 additional elective credits. Courses in another language of the Islamic world can also be applied toward elective credits.
Special topics courses, when relevant, may be used to fulfill elective credits for the minor with prior written approval of the coordinator.
See the Latin American Studies section of this chapter for a description of the minor.
Phone: 703-993-1188
Chamberlain, Goldin, Holisky, Jones, Leeman, Levine, McCarthy, Ramos-Pellicia, Roman-Mendoza, Weinberger (coordinator), Wulf
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. Language is studied descriptively, theoretically, computationally, and psychologically, and as a social phenomenon. The field of linguistics thus informs and is informed by many other areas of study, including philosophy, psychology, sociology, computer science, the study of individual languages and literatures, literary studies, and education.
The interdisciplinary minor in linguistics may be combined with a major in one of the areas listed above or in any other field. This minor introduces the fundamental concepts of modern linguistic theory and explores how these concepts relate to various other disciplines.
Students pursuing this minor must complete 15 credits distributed as follows:
Phone: 703-993-2926
Amireh, Bakhash, Bryant, Butler, Gopin, Haddad (director), Hamdani, Hilmi, Katz, Lukacs, Mandaville, Massi-Dakake, Paczynska, Rouhana
Today, more than ever before, Middle East politics has become intertwined with American politics and the lives of many Americans. The minor in Middle East studies is designed to equip undergraduates with a firm multidisciplinary grounding in the region, its history, and its international relations. It is available for enrolled Mason students.
Students pursuing this minor must complete 18 credits, distributed as follows:
Only one of the following courses may count as an elective: GOVT 328, 447; CONF 399, 340. Only one elementary or intermediate language course may count as an elective (relevant languages: Arabic, Hebrew, Farsi, Turkish). Students are strongly encouraged to sign up for one of the study tour courses on the Middle East offered by the Study Abroad Program at the Center for Global Education. Destinations include Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Yemen, Morocco, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates.
Phone: 703-993-4318
Cambridge (co-coordinator), Chung, Forche, Higgins, Lont, Martin, O’Connor, L. Smith (co-coordinator), Weinberger, White
In the multimedia minor, students learn how to create original work and communicate with others through the fusion of images, text, sound, and video. Students analyze and incorporate into their productions contemporary design principles and current software applications. As part of this process, students are encouraged to focus on how multimedia technologies, which offer new tools for investigating and disseminating ideas, can enhance undergraduate research and writing. These skills, now important in most academic disciplines, are also increasingly valuable not only in the specialized information technology industries, but also in business, education, and politics.
This minor is not available to students majoring in AVT with a concentration in digital arts.
Students pursuing this minor must complete 18 to 20 credits distributed as follows:
Phone: 703-993-1161
Anderson (coordinator), Benitez, Bullard, Moore, Scully, Snead, Tichy, Yocom
Native American and indigenous studies is an interdisciplinary field of study committed to understanding both the unity and the diversity of present and past Native American tribes, cultures, and experiences. This interdisciplinary minor will help students think critically and respectfully about the complex dynamics of Native American cultures, considered both individually and comparatively. In addition to practicing and developing critical thinking and writing skills, students in this interdisciplinary minor will learn how value systems operate in different cultures, examine the roots of conflict and resolution across a broad historical and cultural spectrum, better understand the importance of language as a means of cultural expression, and heighten their appreciation of the unique status of present-day Native American tribes as nations with certain sovereign powers within the boundaries of the United States.
In addition to a required course that introduces key concepts, events, figures, and methodological approaches, students will take five 3-credit elective courses from no fewer than three departments. The course work for this minor will enable students to examine Native American cultures from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including those that are anthropological, historical, artistic, philosophical, and political.
Students pursuing in this minor complete 6 courses (18 credits) distributed as follows:
Special topics courses and summer field work offerings, when relevant, may be used to fulfill elective credits for the minor with prior approval of the coordinator.
No more than two courses from a single department can be applied to the minor. No more than 3 credits can be applied to both university general education requirements and the minor. A minimum GPA of 2.00 is required for course work in this minor.
Phone: 703-993-4973
Desmond Dinan, School of Public Policy
Students pursuing this minor must complete a minimum of 18 credits. Where relevant to the minor, special topics courses, seminars, independent study, internships, and study abroad may also be taken for elective credit, with prior approval by the coordinator. The credits are distributed as follows:
Phone: 703-993-1265
Bergoffen, Cherubin, De Nys, Feit, Harbour, Mandaville, Miller, Paden (coordinator), Snyder
The minor provides intensive study in the area of political philosophy and political theory and includes courses that focus on the history of political philosophy; the moral evaluation of political institutions; the ethical, social, and political issues raised by globalization; and the conceptual foundations of democracy and human rights. The minor provides the opportunity for students to study this field from a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives; develops a deeper philosophical perspective on political institutions; and lays the foundation for further graduate study in philosophy, government, or policy studies.
Students pursuing this minor must complete 15 credits distributed as follows:
Special topics courses and independent studies courses, when relevant, may be used to fulfill elective credits with prior approval of the coordinator.
Phone: 703-993-9621
Bitler (co-director), McAuley, Fox, Jacobsen, Kinnaman, Rankin (co-director), Rutledge, Rowan, Smith, Thompson
Through the course work in this minor students explore the effect of science in their daily lives and develop an understanding of the multiple ways that science is integrated into different, nonscience disciplines. As a prerequisite to the minor, students should have completed their general education science requirement of 7 to 8 credits. In coordination with their minor advisor and through CHSS 200, students develop a core of five courses that revolves around a specific theme through which they connect science and society more closely. Possible themes include the environment, ethics, ethnography, faith, healing, justice and the law, media, and medicine, among others. The program of study must include one foundation course in the related field of study.
In addition to completing 15 credits of core courses, students start with CHSS 200 Introduction to Science and Society, which provides them with a broad overview of related topics and helps them to develop their individualized core of courses, and end with a capstone CHSS 400 Perspectives on Science and Society, in which they demonstrate what they have learned through their course of study.
Students pursuing this minor must complete a minimum of 18 credits distributed as follows:
Only 9 lower-level credits can be applied to the minor (7 within the core and the 2-credit CHSS 200), and no more than 3 credits can be applied to both university general education requirements and the minor. No more than two courses from a single department can be applied to the minor. A minimum GPA of 2.00 is required for course work in this minor.
Science, Society, and the Environment
ECON 335, EVPP 110 (foundation course), GEOG 303, NCLC 319, PHIL 343
Science, Society, and Ethnography
ANTH 135 (foundation course), ANTH 365, ENGL 311, GEOG 304, HIST 418
Science, Society, and Faith
ANTH 135 (foundation course), ANTH 496, PHIL 377, PHIL 378, RELI 100 (foundation course)
Science, Society, and Humankind
ANTH 120 (foundation course), BIOL 313, ENGL 492, NCLC 300, PHIL 111
Science, Society, and Healing
HSCI 150 (foundation course), NCLC 378, PHIL 309, RELI 341, SOCI 390
Phone: 703-993-1418
Clapsaddle, Clark, Dumont, Gifford, Hackler (coordinator), Haynes, Horton, Hysom, Mattusch, Samara, Schintler, Schrag, Sockett, Stough, Todd, Travis, Verheyen, Wong
The program offers all course work designated USST in the Course Descriptions chapter of this catalog.
Students pursuing this minor must complete a minimum of 18 credits distributed as follows:
See the Women and Gender Studies section of this chapter for a description of the minor.