Wayne State University

Graduate Faculty

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College Master's Student Information

WSU Master's Student Information

WSU Graduate Bulletin

PhD programs in Interdisciplinary Studies 

As of October 1, 2007, the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies has become the Interdisciplinary Studies Program, and no additional students are being admitted.  However, current students are being served by faculty and staff and encouraged to complete their degrees.

Wayne State University is a Carnegie I Research Extensive institution, one of a group of prominent universities nationwide that have as their mission the creation and transmission of new knowledge. MISP faculty actively contribute to advancing scholarship in their fields, disseminating that new knowledge both in learned publications and their teaching. MISP attracts students from every social, racial, and religious background and from every phase of adult life. Classes are offered in the evenings, both on campus in the heart of the Cultural Center of Detroit and at various satellite locations in the metropolitan Detroit area.

DEGREE OPTIONS

The Master of Interdisciplinary Studies Program (MISP) offers students the option of designing their own master’s degree curriculum. Instead of the typical narrow focus of graduate programs, MISP provides an opportunity to invent a broad program of advanced study that crosses disciplinary boundaries and engages themes and issues from multidisciplinary and integrated perspectives. MISP students can choose between the Historical and Cultural Studies (HC) track and the Individualized Study (IS) track. The Historical and Cultural Studies track is a graduate liberal arts program for those who want to deeply engage the study of philosophy, history, cross-cultural and period studies, and the new paradigm of knowledge, cultural studies. All of the graduate courses are taken in the Master of Interdisciplinary Studies Program. By contrast, the Individualized Studies track is a framework for customizing a graduate program of study. Students take one-half of their courses in the Master of Interdisciplinary Studies Program and the other half from MISP or other graduate departments in the University. On this track, students, for example, can have a concentration in business, forensic investigation, gerontology, or invent their own configuration of classes. One MISP student who was a General Motors engineer for twenty years, for example, created his own course of study and, after having taken fiction and screen-writing courses in the Department of English and Communication, wrote a novel as his final master’s project. He plans on publishing the novel and embarking on a new career in writing. Both the Historical and Cultural Studies and the Individualized Study tracks require a total of 32 graduate credit hours to earn the master’s degree.

Historical and Cultural Studies (HC Track)

Historical and Cultural Studies focuses on the relationships among the different disciplines of knowledge. Each course in this sequence investigates cultural theory and process: what we know, how we know it, and how we represent what we know to different people, communities, and organizations. The HC track explores how knowledge is organized at different times in history and examines the structure, purpose, and benefactors of such organizations. It also examines the origin, transmission, retention, and transformation of cultural processes. Each course on this HC track encourages students to read widely and pursue research in individual areas of interest.

Thirty-two credit hours of course work are required:

Individualized Studies Track (IS Track)

Individual Studies (IS) focuses on invention and discovery. Students in this track are encouraged to make personal connections across departments. They do this by designing their own curriculum, in which 16 credit hours are taken in MISP and the remaining 16 graduate credits are taken in MISP or other departments at the University. Popular concentrations include Business, Forensic Investigation, and Gerontology. Topics that students have chosen range from environmental pollution, leadership, organizational culture, third-world studies, globalization, oral history, folk and popular culture, creativity, addiction, non-profit sector studies, comparative health care and educational practices in the US and Latin America, school violence, deviance, and biological warfare. To cap their study students research and write on a topic that synthesizes the theories and practices they have encountered in those advanced courses, or design a project that reflects their interest. Students, for example, have presented projects that were videos or artworks, and one designed a computer program interpreted through an explanatory text.

Thirty-two credit hours of course work are required:

Gerontology

Gerontology is a concentration on the Individualized Study Track for those who want to plan for an aging society and provide services to the elderly. Students in MISP can address both these issues through the Master of Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Gerontology. Those accepted into the Institute of Gerontology may, on consultation with advisors, elect nine more Gerontology-related credits and receive the Graduate Certificate in Gerontology along with their MISP degree. These programs are designed for students interested in doing research on aging, shaping public policy on the aging society, providing services to the elderly, or increasing their own awareness of human development in the later years. Students can receive training in the basic physiological, social, and scientific theories of aging, the impact of physical and cultural environments on the aging process, and policy issues and ethical concerns pertaining to old age.

Thirty-two credit hours of course work are required for a Master's degree, plus 9 credits for a Graduate Certificate in Gerontology:

Business Track

The Business track is for those who seek a broad interdisciplinary approach to organizational life and culture. Discovering solutions to complex problems in a globalized marketplace requires a multi-disciplinary and integrated approach. Business track students take 16 credit hours in MISP and 16 credit hours in the graduate School of Business. Among the courses available to the student are the following: