January 15, 2004

The art of the self-designed major

By Stephen Anzaldi

Most new students arrive on campus with a particular field of study in mind.

As they mature and develop new curiosities, many change their minds — and their majors — choosing anything from anthropology to Spanish to voice. And yet there are a few individuals each year who realize they don’t quite fit within the boundaries established in the undergraduate catalog. Armed with an ambition to go against the tide, these students choose a self-designed major.

A self-designed program uses formal departmental majors as a model to create a novel mix of courses and special projects tailored to the creator’s own interests.

“A student must have a great deal of intellectual independence to want to do this,” says Stephen Fisher, associate provost for undergraduate education. “It takes moxie to knock on a professor’s door and ask, ‘Will you supervise my self-designed major in an area I’m going to craft on my own?’”

The self-designed program is known as the ad hoc major in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, the interdepartmental studies major in the School of Communication and the combined studies program in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science. Recent self-designed programs include communication with an emphasis on arts administration, public health, music and ministry, and conducting.

Because of the challenge inherent in blazing a new trail, only a few students pursue this option each year. Mary Finn, assistant dean in the office of undergraduate studies and advising at Weinberg, estimates as few as three ad hoc majors graduate from the college each year. The application process begins with a petition to the Curricular Review Committee.

“The student must start by presenting a compelling case as to why existing majors don’t work and propose a new curriculum that is feasible, coherent and academically rigorous by Northwestern standards,” Finn says.

Maureen Farrell, a 2003 Weinberg graduate, double majored in anthropology and an ad hoc African Studies program. While Northwestern’s program of study and research in this area is widely respected around the world, it does not include an undergraduate major.

As a Northwestern freshman, having already traveled to Africa in high school, Farrell took courses in Swahili. After a study abroad stint in Africa, she decided she wanted more than the existing minor.

“I realized it was ridiculous to be at a place with such an amazing program and not get more out of the African Studies resources on campus,” Farrell says. “In my junior year I completed the application process for the ad hoc major because I wanted that on my transcript and degree.”

Reflecting on the experience, Farrell says she earned a certain measure of respect from professors. “On the first day of class, when I said I was majoring in African Studies, they knew I was there because I really wanted to be there.”

Senior Julianne Kuck (pictured) came to Northwestern with an interest in chemistry. However, a summer job taught her that lab-based research wasn’t for her. Instead of sticking with the basic chemistry program, she folded in computational science to capitalize on her interest in computers. The result is a computational chemistry major.

“This is a pretty up-and-coming program and several other schools have a similar major in place,” she says. “So I didn’t have to struggle to prove its validity.”

Kuck spent much time researching other schools’ programs, drawing up proposals and coping with the challenge of soliciting help from unknown professors. But she had a good time doing it.

“The whole process was actually fun for me because I was so invested in it,” she says.

Moreover, in job interviews or on graduate school applications, students like Farrell and Kuck can point to their success in shaping their own degree as a way to separate them from the competition.

The self-designed major is, essentially, a no-cost, self-supporting program. As Fisher notes, curricular review committees are already in place for other purposes. Therefore, the system operates without the need to meet certain participation rates in order to remain viable.

However, Fisher’s office recently produced a brochure entitled “Self-Designed Academic Programs” aimed at venturesome young students who initially feel they might like to try something a bit off base.

“The idea is to use this as a recruitment device,” Fisher explains, “to publicize this as an option for students on the way in, as opposed to something they just stumble upon down the road.”