Are you thinking about declaring your major and not enthused by one of the 46 options Wesleyan has to offer? Do you wish that your current major included more diverse perspectives? If so, the University Major may be a great opportunity for you to shape your education. Although Wesleyan offers several outstanding departments and majors and strives to create interdisciplinary programs that meet the interests of its students, the truth is, no school can provide everything! Choosing to design a University Major means that you will compose a curriculum, drawing from at least three departments and put the ideas, tools, and perspectives of these disciplines in conversation with each other. This is perfect for someone interested in say, consumer economics and its cross cultural psychology throughout history, or science education through the arts. In my experience, the University Major has enabled me to explore Disability Studies from the perspective of sociology, anthropology, psychology, biochemistry, and queer theory. I could not have accomplished this by double, or even triple majoring, and have had a valuable academic experience. Applying for a University Major is not as daunting as you may think. The application requires that you have three faculty advisors (preferably from different departments), two letters of support from these advisors, and an essay describing your field of interest, your intended curriculum, and explaining why your intellectual differences cannot be fulfilled through the combination of two existing majors. Also, you will be expected to provide a course list demonstrating that the courses at Wesleyan can support your major. I found consulting with my advisor, and my class dean, Dean Melendez, who also is University Major Coordinator, to both ease the process and be very helpful in formulating my major and academic goals. In addition, reviewing preview proposals helped me understand exactly what the committee was looking for when evaluating a course of study. A word of caution—although I have found the University Major to be an important part of my Wesleyan experience, it does pose some challenges. Although I have amazing advisors, there are no faculty at Wesleyan trained in Disability Studies. It has been rewarding to learn together, but it means that I have had to take initiative to find books and resources than I do in my work as a Molecular Biology & Biochemistry Major. Furthermore, when it came time to write my thesis (yes, writing a senior thesis or essay is a requirement of the major—sorry!), I had no department through which I could apply for a grant to fund travel required for research. However, all of these small inconveniences have been well worth it. Developing a major and sculpting my own curriculum has been an invaluable experience, and I hope that you consider the University Major route! Spring deadline is April 1, 2012, by 5:00 p.m. For more information or an appointment to discuss a proposed major or the application process, contact Dean Marina Melendez at mmelendez@wesleyan.edu or check out http://www.wesleyan.edu/studentaffairs/resources/majordeclaration/umajor.html.
Leave a Reply