Interdisciplinary

Not all advances in knowledge, or in creativity, take place within established disciplines. In fact, innovative thinking and creativity may be unleashed by diminishing or deliberately removing the boundaries between disciplines or by bridging the boundaries. The University of Northern British Columbia provides two options for interdisciplinary inquiry.

The MA option in Interdisciplinary Studies is specifically designed to enable students to pursue intellectual development outside the constraints of traditional disciplines in the Humanities and Social Sciences. The MSc option in Interdisciplinary Studies is specifically designed to enable students to go beyond the constraints of traditional disciplines in the Physical and Life Sciences. Applicants interested in interdisciplinary studies should consult the Associate Dean of Graduate Programs directly for advice on which option would be most appropriate for their research interests, and on how to tailor a course of study appropriate to their interests.

An applicant may undertake an Interdisciplinary Studies program only under the following circumstances:

The applicant's proposed course of study cannot be pursued within an existing degree.
The applicant has a well-conceived idea of the courses needed for a program of study, and of a thesis topic that the applicant wishes to pursue.

An interdisciplinary degree program shall normally follow the following guidelines or criteria:

The intellectual rationale of the thesis must be truly interdisciplinary; that is, it must draw from at least two of the university programs described in the UNBC Graduate Calendar.
All interdisciplinary programs shall include a 12 credit hour thesis, and shall be composed of a minimum total of 27 credit hours.
The number of courses included in an Interdisciplinary Studies Program shall be at least five, but may be more if it is deemed by the supervisor and supervisory committee that additional courses are necessary.
A student may not take all courses, nor all but one course, from the same program.
It must be clearly demonstrated in the proposal that the subject of study cannot be contained within one graduate program.
For administrative purposes, only the program to which the thesis supervisor is appointed shall be deemed the student's discipline.

Steps to Take in Arranging an Interdisciplinary Graduate Program

It is the applicant’s responsibility to provide a detailed description of the program of study and research proposal. To assist in the preparation of the needed documentation, applicants should follow the steps below:

Determine that you meet the general graduate admission requirements at the University of Northern British Columbia by reviewing the admission requirements in the calendar. See Graduate Admissions and Regulations.
Determine that your research proposal could not be undertaken in any established graduate program at the University of Northern British Columbia by reviewing the calendar and speaking with graduate advisors from the programs that might constitute your proposed program of study.
Also consult the graduate advisors to obtain specific information on course requirements and prerequisites.
Prepare as detailed a draft of your research proposal as possible to give to potential supervisors (for assistance see the section on Guidelines for Preparing a Research Proposal presented below).
Identify potential supervisors using the faculty listings in the University Calendar as well as the program websites. Arrange meetings or contact suitable potential supervisors by telephone or e-mail. (Do not send inquiries to every faculty member in a program. Choose the appropriate contacts.)
Work with the supervisor to choose potential committee members. Committee members must be eligible to supervise graduate students and to contribute expertise to the research.
Contact the potential committee members with your proposal.
Once you have a potential committee established, meet or consult with your proposed supervisor and members to indicate their approvals.
Prepare the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program Proposal Checklist and have it signed by your proposed supervisor(s) and committee member(s).
Get signatures from the chairs or directors of the programs/schools (at least two) to which your committee members are attached. The signatures indicate that these programs are willing to participate in your academic program.
Submit your completed Application for Admission and the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program Proposal Checklist, along with your research proposal and research plan, to the Graduate Studies Officer, Office of the Registrar. If courses are listed which are in programs other than those of the supervisory committee members, include written permission from the program to enroll in these courses. In addition, you need to identify a minimum of two courses that will be taken in the first semester.
Arrange for official transcripts and three academic references to be sent directly to the Graduate Studies Officer, Office of the Registrar.

Admission

Application deadlines are found in this calendar under "Semester Dates" or online at: www.unbc.ca/calendar/graduate, also under "Semester Dates." The Interdisciplinary Studies MA and Msc Program accepts students for the September Semester.

For additional information about graduate admissions or to download application materials, go to the Graduate Programs website at www.unbc.ca/graduateprograms.

An applicant's undergraduate qualifications will be evaluated as one of the principal determinants of his/her preparation to successfully complete the chosen course of studies and thesis research. To be considered for entry, an applicant must hold a four-year baccalaureate degree, and have achieved a GPA of at least 3.33 on the most recently completed 60 credit hours.

Applicants may wish to consult with the Associate Dean of Graduate Programs prior to applying for the Interdisciplinary Studies program. The Associate Dean of Graduate Programs may advise the applicant to apply to an existing program, or may advise the applicant to contact members of the faculty who may have interests suitable to the course of study the applicant wishes to pursue.

Persons seeking admission to an Interdisciplinary Studies Program should apply directly to the Office of the Registrar. An Interdisciplinary Studies MA Committee will evaluate applications to the MA option; an Interdisciplinary Studies MSc Committee will evaluate applications to the MSc option. Each committee consists of at least three faculty members, and is chaired by the Associate Dean of Graduate Programs.

Before the committees will consider an application, the applicant must have a proposed thesis supervisor. In addition, the applicant must select, and have approved by the proposed supervisor and the proposed supervisory committee, the courses which are to be taken. The applicant must submit a completed application, including the research proposal, to the Office of the Registrar before the deadlines. This proposal must adhere to the following guidelines.

For additional information about Graduate Studies and to download Graduate application forms, please click here.

Guidelines for Preparing a Research Proposal for an Interdisciplinary Program

Normally, a research proposal is approximately two pages in length. In it, you must identify the topic and approach that you wish to undertake, and justify the relevance of the program of study and the supervisory committee membership. You also need to explain why the proposal requires an interdisciplinary approach.

The guidelines that follow are designed to assist you in preparing a properly documented proposal. You should put together an outline of your ideas, so that you can share this with potential supervisors. Once you have the agreement of a potential supervisor, you can seek their assistance in refining and completing the proposal.

I. Research Proposal

1. Please specify the working title of your research. This should describe the topic and its key elements (e.g., time period, place, texts/authors, etc.).

2. Provide a statement of your research question(s) or research objective(s). The statement should be a clear, brief description of the topic area, with emphasis on the particular issue to be investigated in this area. Make sure to define terms and use language accessible to a non-specialist audience.

3. Provide a general description of the approach that you plan to take in the proposed investigation. Briefly describe: how you will go about carrying out this research; how you will collect your data; and how you will attempt to analyze it.

II. Necessity for Interdisciplinary Studies.

4. Summarize the contribution you hope your research will make.

5. Identify what makes your research proposal an interdisciplinary project and explain why it cannot be carried out within an existing disciplinary program.

III. Proposed Program of Study

6. Identify the academic courses and the experiences that have prepared you to undertake the proposed research project.

7. Specify the prospective courses that you wish to include in your program of study.

8. Identify the courses that will provide you with the methodological and linguistic (if relevant) skills needed for your research proposal.

9. Briefly explain how the proposed program of study will contribute to the goals of your research.

IV. Proposed Supervisory Committee

10. Identify the members of your proposed supervisory committee and the relevant expertise they will bring to the project.

Any faculty members associated with other Graduate programs listed in the current Graduate Calendar may supervise students in the Interdisciplinary Studies Program. Other faculty members who may supervise students are listed above.