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Multidisciplinary Studies

The College of Arts and Sciences

Program Director

Cindy Moseman, Assistant Dean in College of Arts & Sciences, MDS Coordinator

Degrees Offered

Bachelor of Science

Student Learning Outcomes

  1. Identify an important problem or question using knowledge from one or both of the cognate areas.

  2. Research information from relevant journals/books and possibly from media sources. This may also include researched data from experiments, observations or interviews.

  3. Synthesize findings to create a final paper, performance, media production, or other appropriate means of sharing knowledge.

Description of Major

The B.S. degree in Multidisciplinary Studies (MDS) is an individualized, multidisciplinary degree which allows students flexibility in designing degree programs that relate to their personal academic and career goals. Students will complete the University Core Curriculum requirements, take a cohesive set of courses from two different content areas (cognates), and complete a Multidisciplinary Capstone Experience (1 hour). This degree program will provide a path to achieve baccalaureate degrees for those students whose interests lie in multiple areas and/or whose accumulated semester credit hours may not otherwise combine to qualify them for one of AU's existing baccalaureate degrees.

"Cognate" is defined as a coherent program of study developed in conjunction with a faculty member from that area of study that consists of 24 credit hours minimum. Of those 24 credit hours, at least 9 hours must be 300/400 level courses. The two cognates must total at least 59 hours.

Degree Requirements

Students must take a minimum of 30 semester hours at Ashland University. The last 12 hours of coursework, and at least one half of the student's work in the two cognate areas, must be taken at AU.

These programs of study are academically rigorous and require significant student initiative. Conceptualizing the major is the responsibility of the student, advisor, and the faculty mentors.

A student will work with their academic advisor who will coordinate with the faculty MDS Liaisons from each of the cognate areas, to design a Multidisciplinary Studies Major.

Interested students should contact their advisor who will review program requirements, application process, discuss the student's areas of interest, and assist the student in identifying the appropriate faculty MDS Liaisons to mentor the student. More information and the application form can be found: https://www.ashland.edu/cas/departments/multidisciplinary-studies

Once the program is approved by the faculty MDS Liaisons their respective deans, the completed proposal will be submitted to the Registrar’s Office for verification and inclusion in the student's permanent file.

Courses and Descriptions

See courses and descriptions section of the Ashland University Undergraduate Catalog