Individualized
Undergraduate Major College of Humanities, Interdisciplinary Studies, and Social Sciences
Bachelor of Arts
Individualized Major Minute Transcription
[video: Dr. Crawford O’Brien sits in her office, cards and photos line the space behind her.]Dr. Crawford O’Brien, Dean of Interdisciplinary Studies: Hello, I’m Suzanne Crawford O’Brien. And I’m here to talk to you about the individualized major. This is my major minute.
[video: Over the video of Dr. Crawford O’Brien, the header “Major Minute” slides in in white lettering.](video beeping)
[video: A pair of hands clap in front of Dr. Crawford-O’Brien to begin the minute.](timer ticking)
[video: return to Dr. Crawford-O’Brien. To the left of her appears a translucent yellow stopwatch, which counts down a minute.]Dr. Crawford-O’Brien: With an individualized major, you chart your own path. A faculty mentor helps you design your program of study, one that’s guided by your passions, interests, and goals. You take courses from all around the university, as well as experiential learning, like studying abroad or internships, or even applied research. Some students opt for this because they have a dream job in mind. One that maybe doesn’t fit in a more traditional major, or we can help you design a major that will prepare you for that goal. For other students, it’s a degree in interdisciplinary studies. They want to study broadly across disciplines and don’t want a major in one area. So we help you find a meaningful path through those courses. It’s also an option for students who are maybe returning to college. Maybe you have a lot of existing credits and wanna finish up your degree without starting over. We’ve had students design all sorts of degrees from music business to global health, to movement linguistics, digital media, indigenous studies, whatever you wanna do, odds are, we can help make it happen.
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About
With an individualized major, students chart their own course. Guided by a faculty mentor, you design and propose your own program of study, one that reflects your goal, passions, and experiences. Some students design their degree because they have a dream job in mind, one that isn’t necessarily reflected in a more traditional major. Others want to study broadly across disciplines and don’t want to major in one area: we help you build connections between those courses. An individualized pathway is also an option for students who are returning to college. If you want to finish your degree without starting over, an individualized plan can help you do that in a purposeful way. Taking courses from across PLU’s offerings, students with individualized majors develop their expertise in conversation with faculty advisors who offer personalized support and guidance.
Graduates from the last 5 years: Their jobs
- Language Program Manager, Samish Tribe
- Senior Graphic Designer, All About the Good
- Show Manager and Booking Assistant, Real Art Tacoma
- Sports Dietetic Intern, United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee
- Graphic Designer, The Grand Theater Tacoma
- Photographer
Graduates from the last last 5 years: Their graduate programs
- PhD in Literature, University of Washington
- Medical School, University of Virginia School of Medicine
- Master’s in Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University
- Master’s in Molecular Biology, Lancaster University
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