University Catalog 2005-2006

University Catalog > CAS > Interdisciplinary Minors

Interdisciplinary Minors

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Interdisciplinary Minors

In addition to departmental based minors, CAS offers 14 minors in interdisciplinary areas of study. These minors require course work from two or more disciplines, and are administered by interdepartmental faculty groups. For policies governing all minors please see the Academic Policies chapter of the catalog.

African American Studies

Faculty

Brigety, Carton, Clark, Dennis, Fuchs, Horton, Johnson, Levine, Miller, Mobley McKenzie, Paden, Richards Jordan, Smith, Stewart, Trafton, Travis (director), Weatherspoon, Wilkins

Course Work

The African American Studies program offers all course work designated AFAM in the Course Descriptions chapter of this catalog.

Requirements

African American studies is an interdisciplinary field of study that examines the cultural, historical, economic, and political dimensions and experiences of people of African descent in America, the Caribbean, Africa, and around the world. It introduces students to methodologies for examining the complex dynamics of race, class, gender, and ethnicity in America, and enables them to develop critical and analytical approaches to address contemporary issues in African American life and culture.

The interdisciplinary minor in African American studies requires a minimum of 21 credits of related course work, which includes 12 required credits and 9 elective credits from various disciplines in CAS with a minimum GPA of 2.00.

Required Courses
Elective Courses

Other courses as approved by the coordinator of the interdisciplinary minor in African American studies.

Ancient Mediterranean Art and Archaeology

Faculty

Butler (coordinator), Cherubin, Lytton, Mattusch, Winkler

Course Work

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, as well as 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 9 credits must be taken outside ARTH, with at least 3 credits in ARTH.

Requirements

Students in this minor complete 18 credits distributed as follows:

Asia-Pacific Studies

Faculty

Butler, Chang, Cheng, Cuong, DeCaroli, H. Nguyen (coordinator), Lin, Liu, 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.

Requirements

Students must complete a minimum of 21 credits distributed as follows.

Three required courses (9 credits):

Four electives (12 credits), chosen from:

Approved study abroad or internships or other courses as approved by the coordinator of the interdisciplinary minor.

Language courses in Chinese or Japanese are strongly recommended.

Film and Media Studies

Faculty

Burton, Christensen, Fuchs (coordinator), Gibson, Lont, Ricouart, Roan, Teminaga, Winkler

We are inundated on a daily basis with mass culture, especially as it is purveyed through the mass media. The effects are enormous and often unconscious. The film and media studies (FAMS) interdisciplinary minor aims to develop in students a more informed awareness of the nature of this culture, its ideological tendencies, and its effects on daily life in our society. The program offers diverse perspectives on mass media in the belief that such juxtapositions are more productive than any single approach. Committed to interdisciplinary studies, the program addresses the increasing complexity and multiplicity of visual cultures.

The program's basic components are offered through the departments of Communication, English, and Music, with other courses available through the Department of Modern and Classical Languages. This 18-credit interdisciplinary minor introduces and explores mass culture in its visual manifestations. The program offers students the tools with which to read a variety of texts, including film, television, video, news media, and architecture.

Requirements

Students in this minor complete 18 credits distributed as follows.

Two required courses (6 credits) provide an introduction to the languages of film and popular media, and to modes of analysis appropriate to each. These courses are prerequisites for all advanced work in the minor.

After completing the two required courses, students select four additional courses (12 credits) from those listed below. These courses are designed to introduce a more specialized level of study. Students may decide to focus on film or emphasize the study of mass culture, or they may choose some mixture of courses that suits their own interests.

Communication majors must choose at least 6 credits outside of Communication for their FAMS elective courses.

For more information, contact Peter Brunette, Department of English, Robinson Hall, Room A465, 703-993-1190.

* requires approval of FAMS coordinator

** may be repeated if topic is different

***  permission of instructor and approval of FAMS coordinator

Folklore and Mythology

Phone: 703-993-1172
Web: www.gmu.edu/folklore/resources

Faculty

Burns, Decaroli, ffolliott, Fuchs, Johnsen-Neshati, Mattusch (co-coordinator), 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 tools to explore the compelling meanings within these seemingly simple, everyday cultural texts, and 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.

Requirements

A minimum of 18 credits are required, taken from three groupings of courses with a minimum GPA of 2.00. If any of these courses is taken for credit toward the BA literature requirement, it may not be taken for credit in the minor.

Group 1 (3 credits)

Students may take only one Group 1 course from a department for credit toward the minor.

Group 2 (12–15 credits)
Group 3 (0–3 credits)

Independent Study and Internships: ANTH 299, 495; ARTH 393, 490, 491; ENGL 498, 499; summer field work schools offered by the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress and other institutions approved by faculty.

To avoid duplication of courses, English majors who choose the folklore and mythology interdisciplinary minor should not select the English Department's folklore, mythology, and literature concentration.

For more information, contact Margaret Yocom, Department of English, Robinson Hall A, Room 439; or Carol Mattusch, Department of History and Art History, Robinson Hall B, Room 373A.

Global Systems

Faculty

Harbour (coordinator)

Requirements

The program 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.

Five elective courses (15 credits) chosen from at least two of the following fields:

Field A: Government, geography, and administration of justice
Field B: Economics, anthropology, marketing, history, and sociology
Field C: Environmental science, nursing, systems engineering, urban and suburban studies, civil and infrastructure engineering
Field D: Modes of communication

Other globally oriented courses such as UNIV, GLOA, and departmental special topics courses, may also fulfill or substitute for the requirements of this program; written permission of the coordinator is required prior to -registration.

For more information, contact the coordinator in the Department of Public and International Affairs, Robinson Hall, Room A201, 703-993-1400.

Islamic Studies

Core Faculty

Amireh, Dakake, Hamdani (coordinator), Mandaville

Affiliated Faculty

Bakhash, Beyoghlow, Butler, Chamberlain, DeCaroli, Fatih, Friedlander, Hilmi, Katz, Lukacs, 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 and consists of a minimum of 21 credits of related course work, including 9 required credits, 9 elective credits, and 3 language credits or proficiency as determined by the Department of Modern and Classical Languages.

Requirements

Students complete 21 credits distributed as follows:

Three core courses (9 credits):

Three elective courses (9 credits) chosen from:

One course (3 credits) in a foreign language of any country with a significant Muslim population, such as ARAB 101, 102, 201, or 202. Other languages can be substituted on approval of the coordinator.

Students may demonstrate proficiency in a relevant foreign language to fulfill the language requirement of the minor; those that do have 3 additional elective credits. Courses in another language of the Islamic world can be applied toward elective credits.

Special topics courses, when relevant, may be used to fulfill elective credits for the minor with prior approval of the coordinator.

Certificate in Islamic Studies

The certificate is for those seeking academic or professional enhancement through basic knowledge about Islam. A bachelor's degree in any field is a prerequisite. The certificate requires a minimum of 18 credits: 9 required and 9 elective. Electives may include language credits. Credits taken for the minor cannot be applied toward the certificate.

For more information contact the coordinator, Robinson Hall B, Room 347, 703-993-1261.

Latin American Studies

See the "Latin American Studies" section of this chapter for a description of the minor.

Linguistics

Faculty

Chamberlain, Goldin, Hamburger, Holisky, Jones, Leeman, Levine, Roman-Mendoza, Weinberger (coordinator), Wulf

Linguistics is the scientific study of language. Language is studied in a variety of ways—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.

Requirements

Students must complete 15 credits distributed as follows:

9 credits of electives, chosen in consultation with linguistics coordinator

Multimedia

Faculty

Cambridge, Chung, Forche, Higgins, Hu, Lont, Martin, O'Connor, Smith, Weinberger, White, Windmueller

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.

Requirements

Students in this minor complete 18 to 20 credits distributed as follows:

9–10 credits of core courses

AVT 180 or CAS 101 Computers in the Creative Arts (3 credits)

NCLC 249 Internet Literacy (4 credits)

8–9 credits of electives with no more than 6 elective credits in any one college or department

The New Europe

Coordinator: Desmond Dinan, School of Public Policy

Students receiving the university-wide minor in the New Europe complete a minimum of 18 credits: a 3-credit required course and 15 credits of electives (at least 3 credits from each field). Special topics courses, seminars, independent study, internships, and study abroad, where relevant to the minor, may also be taken for elective credits, with approval of the coordinator.

One required course (3 credits):

Five electives (15 credits, at least one chosen from each field below):

Field A: History, geography, and politics
Field B: Language, literature, and the arts

Non-Profit Studies

See the "New Century College" section of this chapter for a description of the minor.

Urban and Suburban Studies

Faculty

Clapsaddle, Clark, Dumont, Gifford, Hackler (coordinator), K. Haynes, Horton, Hysom, Mattusch, Rosenzweig, Schintler, Sockett, Stough, Todd, Travis, Verheyen, Wong

Course Work

The program offers all course work designated USST in the Course Descriptions chapter of this catalog.

Requirements

The interdisciplinary minor requires a minimum of 18 credits of course work:

Women's Studies

See the "Women's Studies" section of this chapter for a description of the minor.