Student-Designed, Interdisciplinary Majors and Minors

The self-designed, interdisciplinary major/minor is for students whose exceptional intellectual interests cross disciplinary boundaries. These majors/minors should reflect a plan of study that cannot be replicated through one of the College’s existing majors/minors. Like other majors, a student-designed one must be coherent, provide curricular depth, and include a writing-intensive course and capstone project. It must represent a clearly defined field of study, more than a narrow research topic; and it cannot be pre-professional in orientation. Because students designing their own major/minor are not attached to a particular department or program, they must be self-motivated academically and capable of working independently.

The deadline for proposing a student-designed major is October 1 for approval in the fall semester and March 1 for approval in the spring semester. Proposals should be submitted no later than in the first semester of the junior year. In the case of student-designed minors, moreover, the final deadline is March 1 of the junior year, unless a student is spending the semester abroad.

Additional requirements for student-designed majors/minors are as follows:

• GPA Requirement. Students proposing a self-designed major/minor must have a minimum GPA of 3.0.
• Number of Courses. A student-designed major should consist of 12-18 courses. A student-designed minor should consist of 5-6 courses.
• Interdisciplinarity. A student-designed major/minor must include courses from at least two different disciplines; no more than half of all courses for the major should be from a single discipline.
• Advanced Courses. At least 6 courses in a student-designed major and at least 3 courses in a student- designed minor must be at the advanced level (usually 300-level or above).
• Structure of the Major. Each student-designed major must include a set of foundational courses; advanced courses that give coherence and depth to the major; and a capstone project, which synthesizes and integrates learning in the major. Generally, the capstone project will be writing-intensive; if this is not feasible (e.g., some projects in the arts), a writing-intensive course must be part of the major.
• “Double Majors/Minors.” For students who will have two majors, a maximum of three courses may be counted toward both fields of study; for students proposing to add a minor, a maximum of two courses may be counted toward both fields of study. In general, if a student has more than one major and/or minor, these should not be in closely allied fields.
• Transfer Credits. A maximum of three courses not taken at Trinity may be counted towards a self- designed major; for a student-designed minor, a maximum of two courses taken elsewhere can be transferred.
•  Advisers. Two faculty members from different disciplines must support the proposal, serve as academic advisers to the student, and agree to oversee the capstone project.
• Honors (majors only). The two faculty sponsors may decide jointly to award honors to a student in a self-designed major, based on academic performance and the quality of the synthesizing project. All candidates for honors must have at least an A- (3.67) grade point average in all courses taken towards the self-designed major.

Students interested in proposing a self-designed, interdisciplinary major/minor should consult as soon as possible with their current academic adviser and both prospective sponsors of the self-designed major/minor. Department chairs and/or program directors of the prospective sponsors will be contacted via e-mail to confirm their support of the proposed student-designed major/minor.The Curriculum Committee reserves the right to limit resubmissions of denied proposals.

The form for the major or minor must be completed and submitted electronically to the Curriculum Committee.

Read about Virginia Fabbri Butera ’73 who received an Interdisciplinary B.A. in Renaissance studies (courses included Italian, French, and English art; history; literature; and philosophy) who was highlighted in the Spring 2024 Trinity College Reporter.