有时，学生可以围绕某一设想提出学业方向，并且与各相关系里的学术顾问一道制定课程大纲。例如，如果致力于研究战争给社会带来的影响，那么所学课程可能跨历史学、心理学和政治学等学科。

更常见的情况是，不同科系的教师设有跨学科专业。例如：

• 在加州大学伯克利分校（University of California at Berkeley），环境科学专业的学习由生物学、化学、数学、物理学和经济学等多门学科课程组成。
• 在卡内基梅隆大学（Carnegie Mellon University），获得计量金融学学位要求修数学、金融学、统计学和电脑编程，它是一个集理学院、商学院和公共政策学院课程于一体的专业。

威廉玛丽学院(College of William & Mary)教学主管之一乔尔·施瓦茨（Joel Schwartz）说：“我们这里有大约25%的学生都是修跨学科专业，通常是作为双学位的一部分。常见的例子是……既获得生物专业的深度，也获得环境学及政策学的广度。”

有些高校要求学生必须选择跨学科专业。在威斯康星州大学绿湾分校（University of Wisconsin at Green Bay），所有学生的主科或副科必须是跨学科专业。

该校教授乔吉娜·威尔逊-登格斯（Georjeanna Wilson-Doenges）说：“[这]给学生带来宽阔的视野。跨学科学习是一种融汇贯通多种思维方法来解决问题的途径。”

无论你想攻读跨学科专业还是走较为传统的求学路线，我们都可以提供有助于你制定计划的信息，使你最大程度地受益于美国留学经历。


Keep it all in perspective with an interdisciplinary major

U.S. higher education is flexible. Students can explore a variety of academic fields before deciding on a major. And more and more, students choose interdisciplinary majors, which draw on coursework from more than one academic department.

Sometimes, a student creates an interdisciplinary major by proposing a course of study that focuses on a central idea and planning the curriculum with advisers from the relevant departments. For instance, a course of study on the effects of war on societies might incorporate history, psychology and political science courses.

More often, interdisciplinary majors are created by faculty coming together from different departments.

• At the University of California at Berkeley, the environmental sciences major combines courses from biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics and economics.
• Carnegie Mellon University offers a degree in computational finance that includes elements of mathematics, finance, statistics and computer programming. It is a joint program of the college of science, the business school and the school of public policy.

“About 25 percent of our students have an interdisciplinary major,” said Joel Schwartz, a dean at William and Mary College. “Often as part of a double major. A common example would be … getting depth from a biology major and breadth from an environmental science and policy major.”

Some colleges require students to undertake interdisciplinary study. At the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay, all students must major or minor in an interdisciplinary field.

“[It] gives a student a broad perspective,” said Georjeanna Wilson-Doenges, a professor at the college. “An interdisciplinary course of study is a way to integrate multiple ways of thinking to solve problems.”

Whether you want to pursue an interdisciplinary major or follow a more traditional path, we can help you plan for and get the most out of a U.S. education.