Rethinking Interdisciplinary Education at AU
Gabriela Rupp, Class of 2026
Published Fall 2024
Project Methods, Motivations, and Outcomes
Interdisciplinarity is a leading educational approach for many institutions of higher education, encouraging students to break down barriers between subjects and grow an expansive set of widely applicable skills and knowledge. However, viewpoints on how institutions and instructors can best fund, support, and teach an interdisciplinary model vary widely. Students often struggle to engage with academic exploration and interdisciplinary study due to rigid program requirements, time constraints, or lack of institutional support.
In this project, I explore interdisciplinary study at American University, specifically seeking to gain insights from AU students about how professors can best engage students in courses outside of their major, or primary field of study. My motivation for exploring how students experience interdisciplinarity at AU stems from my own experience of being enrolled in multiple, diverse academic programs. I am double majoring in Secondary Education and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, with a minor in Political Science and a certificate in Women, Policy, and Political Leadership. Each of these programs is unique not only in its content, but also in its methods and community dynamics. In order for students to feel confident engaging in courses outside of their primary field of study, we must understand differences across disciplines and find ways to bridge the gaps.
For this project, I spoke directly with AU students about their experiences in courses outside their major. This approach highlights real-time student perspectives, which serve to complement academic research on interdisciplinarity. I had conversations with students from diverse academic backgrounds and interests to share their thoughts and experiences about how they’ve engaged with courses outside their major, where they have seen room for improvement, what challenges they have overcome, and how they feel the overall culture at AU impacts interdisciplinary study. Their responses discuss various courses, assignments, assessments, and methods they’ve interacted with in their time at AU, with particular emphasis on Core Habits of Mind courses.
While students expressed a wide variety of experiences and opinions, some common themes emerged across the student conversations. Below, I have organized the project around 6 major themes and each theme captures direct quotes from my student conversations.
In preparing for these conversations with students, I looked into American University’s promotional materials addressing the topic of interdisciplinary study. As a liberal arts institution, the university emphasizes opportunities for students to explore diverse academic pathways, and some programs such as the Communications, Legal Institutions, Economics, and Government (CLEG) major are designed specifically with interdisciplinary principles in mind. Students also have options to design their own individualized program of study, to double major, or pick up a minor. The AU Core program is the primary way that many students engage with content outside of their major. This program’s purpose is to “foster the agile thinking that prepares students to engage in a complex, constantly changing world.”
However, AU students often note a distance between the university’s widely promoted ideals that drew them to AU, and the reality of student experiences on campus. Through my project, I seek to understand the ways that AU encourages interdisciplinary study and academic exploration, as well as where improvements can be made to bridge the gap between AU’s public-facing communication and students’ daily educational experiences. I also seek to reflect on how instructors can best leverage their positions to support positive outcomes for students enrolled in courses outside of their primary area of study.
Featured students:
Aaron Kowalski (he/him) is a Junior majoring in International Studies with a primary focus in Justice, Ethics, and Human Rights, and a regional focus on the Western Hemisphere. He is also minoring in Religious Studies.
Shayna Caruso (she/her) is a Junior majoring in Elementary Education. She also has strong interests in public policy, especially in equitable education policy solutions.
Chase Posner (he/him) is a Junior majoring in Computer Science.
Student Insights on Interdisciplinarity
Create a Supportive Classroom Culture
Aaron: “At times, I’ve struggled with fields outside of my own at AU, specifically when it comes to math and science. When I have to step outside my comfort zone academically, it can definitely be daunting. I think the main thing that professors can do to help overcome that is to try to reduce the separation between themselves and the students, trying to cut down on one-way classroom communication so students feel welcome to ask clarifying questions and seek additional support without feeling like they’re interrupting something or burdening their professor.”
Shayna: “One issue that comes up when taking classes outside your major is imposter syndrome. It can feel like everyone else in the class has way more knowledge than you, and you feel like you don’t belong. And it’s hard to focus on the material and stay motivated if those feelings are distracting you. That’s why having a good classroom culture is so important. In the School of Education, we have a really close-knit community so the class culture is very supportive and communal, but in larger departments with different types of students, professors might have to work a little harder to create that class bond.”
Chase: “My Theories of Democracy class last year was quite engaging. I have an interest in philosophy, but don’t get to study it often since I’m a Computer Science major. The professor started the class by acknowledging that many of us were there because it fulfills a core requirement and encouraging students to apply themselves despite that. He told us even if you’re just here to tick that box, like, I appreciate you choosing this class. That set a welcoming tone for the space that changed the course of the class.”
Shayna: “In Habits of Mind classes, people aren’t there for the same reasons. If they were, it would just be their major. So, the role of the instructor in establishing the shared norms and making the space accessible and inviting is even more important to students’ success.”
Do Not Assume Prior Knowledge
Chase: “I took an Asian History class for a Habits of Mind requirement, and it felt like a lot of outside research was required for me to understand what we were doing in that class. When professors assume that students already know a lot about the content, or have taken other classes in the subject area, it can be really discouraging, and it feels really isolating. If it’s a course for your major, it makes more sense because you’re all on a similar academic track, but for those core classes, it’s important for professors to recognize that people are all coming to your class with different skills and knowledge. And that doesn’t have to be a bad thing, it gives you a unique opportunity to learn from each other.”
Aaron: “As an SIS student who has an interest in history and culture and how different cultures have interacted with each other, I’ve really enjoyed my Renaissance Perspectives class this semester. Our professor made everything very accessible to us. Because it’s a Habits of Mind course, she’s aware that most people aren’t coming in with extensive art history knowledge so she makes sure to spend a little bit of extra time on what it all means, and connecting the content to our interests, not so much just throwing us into the deep end or forcing us to rely on a textbook.”
Chase: “I think how instructors approach assigned reading is really important, especially when students are taking a class outside their major. If you’re not familiar with the content, or even just the basic style and structure of the assigned reading, it’s going to be hard to meaningfully connect with it, and to contribute to a class conversation. When professors have made an effort to introduce a reading, then summarize it after, it helps students feel more comfortable and helps us be confident about speaking up in class. Not just leaving people out there to flounder and figure out what’s going on in the text without support.”
Incorporate Diverse and Creative Modes of Engagement
Shayna: “One of the best classes, and actually the first class that I took outside my major was GOVT 110, Politics in the U.S. The class was very discussion-based, and our professor encouraged a lot of different perspectives. It was really interesting to me to learn from other people’s experiences with government and see the differences in where people grew up around the states. I remember during the final, I was so happy after because I had learned something from the class, and even from the test. I was the only education major in the class, and I was encouraged to apply that knowledge to the course content and share my field with the class.”
Aaron: “Engaging students outside of the classroom space can be an effective way to increase the impact of your class. I had a professor who would come to us every week with a couple of events or opportunities to volunteer or informational events on campus or in D.C. It gave a great supplement to the required class content. Particularly with a school like AU where a lot of our marketing is about how involved students are in social issues, grounding course concepts in the local community is really cool way to incorporate real-life engagement and build up some transferable skills.”
Chase: “Sometime in Habits of Mind courses, instructors can get caught up in it just being an intro class to their field. But it should be more than an intro class. It should be focused on the ways of knowing, reading, and writing in other fields that students can apply later in life, not just the facts and figures.”
Aaron: “One assignment that was really interesting to me is we had to use this software called Genially, which I had never heard of or used before. It’s essentially an interactive virtual tool where you can drop pinpoints on a piece of artwork, and it opens up a text box and you can explain the artistic technique or context of a piece. Instead of having just a pen-and-paper multiple choice exam or write an essay, I think that was an effective and creative way to check for understanding.”
Use Holistic Assessment and Facilitate Safe Failure
Shayna: “I’ve had some classes where it’s all lecture and we’re assessed with a five-minute quiz. And it just makes me question: who is this for? It doesn’t feel meaningful or high impact, and it definitely doesn’t make me want to dig deeper in the course. I think your assignments and your grading should directly reflect your educational values, and that should be apparent to your students.”
Aaron: “For a final writing assignment, we turned in multiple drafts and we got feedback from the professor throughout every iteration. That was very helpful for our professor to take the time to help us improve and support us throughout the writing project so that we could arrive at the best possible work by the end of the course. I think whenever possible giving more meaningful feedback on few assignments is more helpful than over-assigning and not offering much support because of time constraints.”
Chase: “I find that when professors grade based on effort it encourages me to be involved in the class. I think that grading based on participation is a good strategy, but it shouldn’t be solely based on how many times you’re speaking. Considering quality and other ways of participating, as well as if students are actively listening to their peers are good ways to make sure everyone can participate and learn. At the end of the day, our goal should be to encourage students to be engaged and improving, not to be perfect. So, your grading criteria should reflect that.”
Aaron: “I think that having some supplemental assignments or offering multiple attempts to build up your skills on quizzes or assignments is really helpful, especially when you’re studying outside of your comfort zone and it’s something completely new to you. If you’re being penalized for not knowing what’s going on, it does feel a little counterintuitive.”
Foster student motivation
Aaron: “My freshman year writing class was about food justice, which was a topic that I hadn’t really thought much about before. I registered for that section out of scheduling convenience, but as the class went on, many students found connections to their interests and became motivated to learn more. We watched some interesting documentaries, had some great guest speakers, and people did projects on food desserts in their home communities. That class did a very good job at making me look beyond my usual scope of study. It became one of my favorite classes, and I still use a lot of the themes from that class in my major years later.”
Shayna: “For a science class I’m taking right now, we basically had to pick a locale that we had to research the whole semester and about how the climate crisis is impacting it. So, mine is the Lake Erie algae overgrowth. It’s been cool to do a choice paper on it but have a still central theme to all of them. That way we can explore our personal interests and stay motivated, but everybody is still focusing on the main learning outcomes for the class.”
Notes on AU’s culture as an institution
Shayna: “I think AU sometimes struggles to reconcile their interests as both a research institution and their use of the liberal arts education model. I think there’s a valid argument to say that not everybody is coming for the same education, so there needs to be a way to uplift all students to be at a similar level so we can all learn productively. Theoretically, all of our classes should be encouraging diverse ways of thinking, it shouldn’t just be in your habits of mind.”
Aaron: “We’re required to take diverse subjects through the AU Core requirements, but sometimes it feels like it’s mostly an image thing, and we aren’t being fully supported if we want to explore academically, because of the various pressures about employability and the culture at AU prioritizes what are perceived as more practical fields over more academic ones. We would fall on the ladder of liberal arts education, but I feel the university could more meaningfully commit to centering those values. Programs like the Living Learning Communities are a step in the right direction.”
Chase: “I think the student body does a good job of encouraging each other to branch out. I think AU definitely does promote itself as a school that tries to encourage branching out and multiple majors and such. But it can be hard for students to take classes in new subjects because they don’t have the room in their schedule, or they feel like they’re risking their GPA by trying something new that they might not be the best at right away. I think Habits of Mind, and the AU core in general, has the potential to be one of the best things about this school. But I think it’s something that, unfortunately, a lot of students kind of view as a chore.”
