Interdisciplinary majors a needed reality check

It’s getting tougher and tougher to find jobs. Believe me, I’m going through the search right now.

And it’s not even a job search. It’s an internship search that I’m hoping will lead to some sort of full-time employment. So, freshmen, live it up.

But the real point of this isn’t to moan about my lack of employment. It’s to highlight the fact that with plans like the “Finish in Four” initiative, we’re trying to reverse where we’ve been and get more people to graduate and graduate on time.

It’s great, and it has landed IU in a prominent spot on many “great deal” studies throughout the nation, including the Washington Monthly’s “Best Bang for the Buck” rankings.

Graduating is good. We want students to graduate. But it does mean more competition in the job market. Luckily, IU is also taking steps to get students to grow and prove themselves worthy of the job through proposed interdisciplinary majors.

Interim Vice Provost for Education Dennis Groth said he recognizes the amount of students who have multiple majors and enhance their degrees with certificates and minors, and he is “looking at ways that we can investigate the paths that our students have already taken.” This would essentially put a focus on making more programs within the Media School, which has generated some buzz throughout campus in the past year.

Overall, focusing on more programs like this can be highly beneficial from a student perspective.

Interdisciplinary majors will help people focus their multiple interests and buffer their degree with minors and certificates. It will give institutional backing with trained advisers who can confidently answer questions about the varying aspects of the degree — not guessing how the other department functions.

It will also give more students more enticing and realistic opportunities.

Being an English and theatre and drama major, I’m basically in the hurricane of high-risk degrees paired with typical big-dreamers. We’re not all going to be actors on Broadway or writing the next great American novel — statistically, it’s impossible.
I see people in my daily life who are solely graduating with a degree in English, focusing on creative writing. There’s nothing wrong with this as long as you don’t lose track of the reality of the job market. You’ll most likely work for a publishing house or literary agent before you can be John Steinbeck.

Interdisciplinary majors will help provide this reality check and facilitate students working toward becoming truly desirable parts of the workforce.

Finally, interdisciplinary majors would help break down large, useless institutions the University loves to buy into, like the College of Arts and Sciences — something many of you know I’m passionate about. While most of us normally complain about the University on this page, this week I say “Good job, IU.”

I’m tempted to fail some of my classes so I can stick around and see what unfolds.

sjostrow@indiana.edu