Choosing a college program that speaks to you can be a headache, so when you’re on the prowl for majors, keep your eyes peeled for Interdisciplinary Studies programs.
The College of Arts and Sciences’ interdisciplinary majors allow you to sculpt an education that meets your needs and desires, and you wouldn’t believe how versatile these programs are. You can get a degree in anything from environmental science, game design, gender studies or gerontology (and, yes, that is the study of old age).
Scientific Revolution
For students interested in the sciences, you’re in luck! Georgia State is among the top 108 public and private colleges in the Carnegie Foundation’s elite category of Research Universities. If your curiosity of the world is unquenchable, here are a few programs to jump into:
Environmental science integrates courses from geology, biology and chemistry. Choose focal topics like environmental psychology and study the relationships between individuals and how they relate to their built and natural environments. Take a swing at climate change, another favorite topic. Look at how human activity is changing the ecosystems we inhabit and the impact it can have on ourselves and the natural world at large. It’s all exciting stuff!
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Programs and Electives for Nerds
The Institute for Biomedical Sciences is dedicated to advancing crucial biomedical research that improves human health. They work to close the gaps between lab research and its clinical applications, and you get to join this noble feat by joining the institute’s Biomedical Enterprise program.
Learn to bring the biomedical sciences to the marketplace with courses like Organizational Entrepreneurship and Biosafety: Principles and Practice and Experimental Approaches in Biomed Research. Too dry for you? Don’t fret. They’ve got amazing electives like Principles of Toxicology, Neurophysics, Genetics and the Law, and much more.
Geriatrics
To top it all off, Georgia State offers a program on gerontology, the study of the one thing we’ll all experience in our lives–old age. The Gerontology Institute has been operating for 30 years and has become the most distinguished gerontology program in the Southeast.
At the Gerontology Institute, you’ll come to understand aging beyond a personal level. You’ll look at the psychosocial, health and political elements of aging. By 2028, 77 million baby boomers are going to be at retiring age. How is that going to affect society’s structure? What are the implications for urban planning? We need people who can tackle these issues and going into gerontology is a great way to get involved.
“The aging population is growing, so there are lots of careers out there. People coming out of high school aren’t necessarily exposed to the fact that you can have a career working with older adults,” Elisabeth Burgess, director of the Gerontology Institute said.
There are so many opportunities to take advantage of while enrolled in Georgia State’s interdisciplinary programs. As a Georgia State Panther, you can mold your college career around an education that matters to you! It can’t get any better than that.
