Interdisciplinary Trail

Focus on Student Exploration

18-20 credits

The Bethany Plan has a general education component called the Interdisciplinary Trail. The program is designed to evaluate the enduring and current issues of human experience through a set of perspectives. Each Bethany student will complete an interdisciplinary trail with courses in a variety of different disciplines and instructors outside of a student’s intended major. The collection of courses addresses areas of knowledge and methods of thinking traditionally associated with a liberal arts education. The intention is to have the students gain experiences in community and civic engagement, creativity and expression, and problem-solving and natural engagement. Each course in the program would be designed to have an interdisciplinary orientation and each course will consider the other perspectives of the program.    

Learning Objectives:  

Bethany’s Interdisciplinary Trails will enable students to:  

  • Analyze an important set of issues within a global context;  

  • Make insightful connections across disciplines and perspectives;  

  • Draw conclusions by combining examples, facts, theories or methodologies from three different academic divisions (humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences);  

  • Communicate in different modes and across disciplinary divides;  

  • Apply creative approaches to problem-solving and self-directed study.  

Courses:  

Each Bethany student will complete an Interdisciplinary Trail, which includes courses in a variety of different disciplines and instructors. The Interdisciplinary Trail includes a combination of courses that has a minimum of 18 credits with a maximum 20 (to account for labs). Two courses (a total of 6 credits) from each of the three divisions of programs (Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences) must be included.  Students may select from the faculty-designed Interdisciplinary Trails or a student may coordinate with their advisor to design their own trail.  If one is designing their own trail, it must be proposed and approved prior to the end of a student’s sophomore year.   

Faculty-Designed Interdisciplinary Trails 

Identity and Belonging 

Sustainability in the Modern World