Individual Studies Program

2407 Marie Mount Hall
Phone: 301-314-0023
individualstudies@umd.edu
http://ivsp.umd.edu

Director: Joan Burton, Ph.D.

The Individual Studies Program (IVSP) enables UM students to design their own interdisciplinary majors, subject to a proposal process, when their educational goals cannot be reasonably achieved within an existing departmental curriculum. The Individual Studies Program leads to a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree. IVSP degree programs focus on academic and intellectual growth through interdisciplinary study. Individually created student majors have recently included such titles as International Relations and East Asia, Global Health, 3D Environment Modeling and Design, Environmental Sustainability, Education and Social Change in Latin America, Healthcare Management for Diverse Communities, Global Development, Middle Eastern Studies, Asian American Policy and Advocacy, Women's Health, Digital Media in Society, and Urban Policy Studies.

For information, see Office of Undergraduate Studies.

Program Learning Outcomes

  1. Students will demonstrate the ability to gather information, understand the defining-concepts from three or more areas of study, and combine these concepts to propose an individually designed major to be independently pursued.
    2.
  2. Students will be able to apply the concepts of their individually designed major in an internship or independent research project.
    3.
  3. Through a final capstone project, students will demonstrate their ability to integrate different areas of study to examine a question, problem, or phenomenon.