Organizing Theme B.S. / B.A.

The Organizing Theme Major is best suited for the self-motivated student who has a well-defined intellectual curiosity for a topic involving multiple disciplines and which cannot be accommodated by the already existing majors, double majors, or interdepartmental majors at Union College. The Organizing Theme Major encourages the exploration of thematically related connections across disciplines, and must therefore incorporate courses from at least three different departments (with no more than four courses from any one department to count toward the major). The student must choose and work with an advisor (or advisors) who is supportive of the student’s proposed Organizing Theme Major and has a clear understanding of what the project entails. The student who chooses to work with more than one advisor must be certain that the advisors are willing to work together with the student to create and carry out the Organizing Theme Major proposal.

The Application Process

The Organizing Theme Major proposal requires the approval of the chosen Organizing Theme advisor(s) and then a faculty committee established by the Dean of Studies. It may be proposed no sooner than the spring term of the freshman year and no later than the sixth week of the spring term sophomore year (in extremely rare cases, this deadline may be extended to the first week of the fall term of junior year). For more information about the Organizing Theme Major and the application process, see the Organizing Theme Web page or contact the Dean of Studies.