The Major in Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities

Thematic Concentrations

Interdisciplinary Focus

Applicants to the major must write a statement articulating the focus of the concentration and explaining the choice of courses in relation to that focus.

Distribution of Courses

Students must present a program of study proposing at least twelve courses (over and above the requirements of the honors program) for a minimum of 60 units and including six courses from one of the following three categories and three from each of the others:

• literary/cultural study
• historical study
• philosophical study

These categories are not strictly equivalent to departmental disciplines: courses from the arts, and even some social sciences might very will fit into the "literary/cultural" category; any course with a historical emphasis might well belong in the "historical" category, even literature courses; and courses that are theory based, regardless of the discipline, might well fit into the "philosophical" category. Where a specific course best fits will depend in large part on the overall scope of the student's individual focus.

Program of Study forms are available in the Program Office.

If additional courses are needed to make up the 60 unit minimum, students may take those courses in any of the three categories.

Language Requirement

Humanities majors choosing Option I are required to be or become proficient in a foreign language. Proficiency is understood as the ability to speak, understand, read, and write a modern European language, or to read an Asian or ancient language.

Proficiency can be certified in a number of ways, most commonly by coursework. To show proficiency through coursework, students should complete five collegiate quarters of language studies, or three quarters of collegiate study combined with one quarter of intensive language study at an overseas campus.

Satisfactory completion of a literature course taken in a foreign language in which the texts are read in the original language, will be taken as evidence of proficiency.

Proficiency can also be certified by other means, such as a placement test, evidence of bilingual education, or, in some cases, a letter of certification from a qualified teacher of the language. "Equivalent" work must be approved either at the time the concentration is approved or at a later date by the student's adviser, and noted in the student's academic file.

Advising and Approval of the Concentration

At the time they apply to the major, students should obtain the signature of a Stanford faculty member who has agreed to act as the studentÍs academic adviser. Where this is not possible, the Chair can approve the concentration and act as adviser until the student makes other arrangements. In any case, the Chair of the Honors Program must approve the concentration.

For more information on concentrations, see "Developing a Concentration" below.

Please Note:

Changes in the study plan (which are inevitable) must be approved by the student's adviser and must be kept on file in the program office. Students may include a list of "alternate" courses at the end of your statement of purpose to minimize the need for such approvals.