Terms and Definitions

Course of Study 2013-2014

The curriculum is organized within four traditional academic divisions and a fifth interdisciplinary division.	Fine Arts Humanities Natural Sciences Social Sciences Other (Interdisciplinary)
A discipline is a traditional area of academic study. Parentheses show that some related disciplines are grouped together into departments for administrative purposes. This book is organized alphabetically by department.	Fine Arts: (Art History and Studio Art); (Dance and Drama); Music Humanities: (Classics, including Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Sanskrit); English; (Modern Languages and Literatures, including Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish); Philosophy; Religious Studies Natural Sciences: Biology; Chemistry; Mathematics; Physics; Psychology Social Sciences: Anthropology; Economics; History; Political Science; Sociology
Interdisciplinary programs are those that draw from two or more of the traditional disciplines. For example, Asian studies draws from the faculties of anthropology, history, modern languages, philosophy, and religious studies.	African Diaspora Studies American Studies Asian Studies Biochemistry Environmental Studies Integrated Program in Humane Studies International Studies Islamic Civilization and Cultures Law and Society Molecular Biology Neuroscience Public Policy Scientific Computing Women's and Gender Studies
Major: All students must complete a minimum of one major course of study in either a traditional discipline or in an interdisciplinary program.	All departments offer one or more major courses of study. There are currently six interdisciplinary majors: American Studies, Biochemistry, International Studies, Molecular Biology, Neuroscience, Women's and Gender Studies.
A synoptic major is a course of study devised by an individual student in consultation with faculty advisors.	Synoptic majors are typically interdisciplinary in nature. Some recent examples are Marine Conservation; Complex Systems; Experimental Cinematography; Rhetoric; and Strategy, Game Theory, Logic, and Decision Modeling.
Students may elect to undertake a minor course of study if they choose.	Minor courses of study are offered by the departments of Anthropology, Art, Biology, Classics, Dance and Drama, History, Mathematics, Modern Languages and Literatures, Music, Philosophy, Physics, Religious Studies, and Sociology.
A concentration is very similar to a minor, except that it is interdisciplinary in nature.	Most interdisciplinary programs offer a concentration, while a few offer a major only.