Hey guys! Welcome back for another week of mentoring and discussion. While Peter and I offer different perspectives this week, we're going to be working more closely together from here on out, to give you guys the best possible information. Hopefully our own experiences can guide your future decisions with a little more clarity.
As a side note, please always feel free to ask us any questions, and while we don't have all the answers, we have a fair bit of combined knowledge.
Anyways, here's the good stuff.
Peter's Perspective:
A very large part of IDS is taking the skills you will learn from your various field and integrating them so they work together. An example of this would be in my history classes I have learned how to thoroughly research and take information I find and determine its value as a resource. This skill while great would be useless in a classroom for my students unless I am able to integrate my knowledge of the subject with a form of teaching that will benefit my students. I need to take this information put it into a lesson plan and be able to teach a classroom how and why they should know this material.
For me this integration has been about looking into my future goals and what skills I really should be focusing on and trying to fine polish for my repertoire. I have integrated my minor with my areas of study by picking subjects that correlate. When I chose social science education I wanted to be a history teacher. It only made sense for history to be one of my areas of concentration. I now have extensive knowledge of various historical subjects and because of my minor I am able to put this knowledge into a beneficial classroom lesson.
This is all important because if you are not able to integrate the skill you have gained from your various areas and minor in my opinion you will have a weak basis of knowledge. This view comes because you are not focusing in on one certain subject you’re not mastering any subject rather getting tidbits from various subjects that are meant to be put together. The benefit you are supposed to derive is the ability to tie all the skills together and utilize them as one.
While I personally believe I have done a good job integrating my knowledge from the various areas of focus and minor there is always room for improvement. I have gained a lot of knowledge from my political science classes however I really don’t believe I have utilized this knowledge when it comes to my future profession of education. If a teacher asks for a lesson plan I always focus on a historical context rather then trying to use my political science knowledge. For me I just need to become more confident
Mary's Perspective:
Obviously, one of the most prominent features of an IDS degree is your ability to pick two distinctly different (although potentially related) fields of study and an IDS specific minor. However, the IDS program is not meant to steer you towards a dual-degree, rather there is an emphasis on the relationship between your areas of study. As mentioned in a past posting, one of my most integrated IDS programs was: Journalism and Social/Behavioral Studies with a minor in Middle Eastern studies. Not only did I have a purpose behind picking these areas, I had a goal, which was a future in journalism. Integration gives your degree more of a purpose- it emphasizes the fact that your IDS degree is more than a degree in Liberal Arts.
In terms of my current degree, my areas (once again, the Arts, Social/Behavior, with a minor in Humanities), each emphasizes divergent areas of study. However, I have been able to integrate my degree, it terms of the cultural emphasis intrinsic in each of these areas. Furthermore, the majority of my classes have also emphasized the historic relationships between various countries, along with their separate and unique cultures.
Personally, I believe that integration, in terms of academic development, gives one a more focused path upon which to pursue your education. Having a clear idea of how your areas relate, what you would like to pursue, and what you have learned from the pursuit of your degree also offers a form of professional credibility. Although I mentioned this in passing, it is essential that you convey the relationship of your areas of study and the skills you have gained through the experience when delving into a professional career of your choosing.
Finally, there are ways through which to more thoroughly integrate your areas of study and minor. First, while minors may be more limiting in their requirements, your focus areas are fairly extensive in their range. There’s a list at the IDS office (where I HOPE you’ve all visited), that details the courses permissible for each area of study. Your advisors are also highly capable and a priceless resource, they’re there because they want to discuss the potentials of your degree. Not only are there advisors at close range, consider moving beyond this realm and discussing your career ideas with someone involved in the field. They can offer plenty of useful information in terms of skills and the know-how needed for a given career. Furthermore, if you’re extremely unsatisfied with the relationship of your areas/minor, please at least considering changing one or more of these variables. There is a reason that IDS is so flexible, you need to have full confidence to stand behind your degree, especially with the saturated job market most of us will be entering in.
Sorry about the formatting guys, I had a heck of a time trying to get this post up.
ReplyDeleteMary, I like your point about how interdisciplinary studies majors dont aim to have a dual degree, but rather to integrate their knowledge into one focus. That is one of the main things that attracted me to the program.
ReplyDeleteThe ability to integrate is a central quality to Interdisciplinary studies majors. The goal of Interdisciplinarians is to study several different areas and be able to apply the knowledge gained towards one specific occupation. I use integration in my every day life, in classes and outside of them. For example, in my philosophy of the mind class I need to apply my knowledge of psychology and statistics in while investigating different philosophical theories. Then, I have to use writing skills while formulating papers representative of my personal philosophical views.
ReplyDeleteI have integrated my areas and minor to fit my occupation and personal life. My psychology minor will help me to attian a degree in psychology while my areas of Letters in Modern Languages and Communications will improve my writing and understanding of the media. While my main focus is currently psychology as an occupation, I am also very interested in journalism and other forms of writing. I think that it is always beneficial to have a solid grasp on language and writing skills regardless of what occupation you chose.
I would be able to more effectively integrate my minor and areas of study if I found a way to make writing directly relevant to being a psychologist. I know there are many things I can do with a degree in psychology, and by choosing a specified occupation that also demands writing, I would be better integrating all of my studies. In my remaining years as an undergraduate student at UCF I will learn more about my chosen degree and how I can better intergrate all of my interests to better benefit my career.
I feel that being an IDS student and having the ability to have two different fields of study plus an IDS specific minor will be beneficial for me after i get out of the Marine Corps. As stated before my two fields of study are sociology and criminal justice. While receiving flight training in the Marine Corps, after I get out, I would be looking for a possible career in criminal justice as a helicopter chase pilot. My sociology studies will be helpful with demographics and social problems found within society.
ReplyDeleteMy minor in aerospace studies helps me with my knowledge and a solid understanding of how our military works and operates in garrison and during war time. I will be receiving further training once I receive my commission.
Peter, I like how you demonstrated your areas of study and how you incorporated your minor inot them. I agree that what IDS students study should have some correlate or significnace with each other. An IDS student will have a solid foundation to build from and can keep adding significant knowledge and past experiences that involve their IDS degree.
ReplyDeleteIntegration is the collaboration of thoughts and ideas toward a central goal. Each factor in the collaboration contributes to meeting that goal. For example, you can integrate thoughts from many different classes and apply them to others. I have definitely integrated my areas of study. I am studying Legal Studies Pre-Law, Political Science Pre-Law, and Business. I would like to be an attorney one day who focuses on business contracts. By minoring in business, I am able to take classes such as Business Law to help my knowledge in the business field, while still acquiring legal knowledge. Integration is incredibly important in that respect, because it assists me in achieving different fields of study with a common goal. By the various areas, I will be able to acquire knowledge in the field of my choice. I feel as though my areas of study are well integrated. I believe I should continue on the path that I am on.
ReplyDeleteMary, I agree with Samantha in the fact that the relationship between areas of study is important. That is a very good point and it stuck out to me when I was reading your blog. I think that maintaining that focus on the relationship of the areas of study is a great way to stay focused, and will be incredibly helpful toward academic success.
ReplyDeleteWe live in a time where there is a tremendous amount of overspecialization in academics, since universities have been largely reduced to diploma-granting institutions that pass students through in order to give them skills for a particular career. I believe this segregation of disciplines has led to a lack of integration that can be counterproductive on many levels. Firstly, it narrows the perspective and understanding of students, especially since certain approaches in each discipline are generally concomitant with certain philosophies or worldviews. It also compromises any real understanding or appreciation of any specific discipline. For example, I asked a question in a science class that dealt with ethics, and the question was deemed inappropriate because it wasn’t an ethics class! I took many ethics classes, and almost no one in those classes (even in bioethics) was a science major of any kind.
ReplyDeleteIntegration of IDS areas of concentration is also important to avoid a lack of cohesive program or plan of action with the degree. Understanding how the areas can be integrated can help to develop a clearer picture of what professional path to pursue, especially if one hasn’t been chosen yet. I integrated my areas when they were still two separate majors, with the intention of seeking graduate and professional goals in global health policy and research. I believe that any fields of study can be integrated, no matter how initially disparate they may seem. It is my view that everything is ultimately inextricably interrelated.