University's few independent majors focus on personal ambitions

While some University students were working at summer internships or vacationing abroad between freshman and sophomore year, Shani Moore '02 was studying journalism at Johns Hopkins University.

Having a long-standing interest in journalism, Moore was frustrated with the lack of a major at Princeton. She combined her interest in journalism with a curriculum based in politics, becoming one of the few independent majors at the University.

Moore's decision represents a road that is less traveled at the University, as few students opt to create their own program of study.

Independent majors expressed enthusiasm about the opportunity to do interdisciplinary work as a major. Megan Kelly-Sweeney '02, the only member of her class who will graduate with a concentration not based in any department, was grateful that she was able to follow her true interests.

"I've always leaned towards interdisciplinary approaches and coursework and wanted my degree to reflect the work I did here," Kelly-Sweeney said in an e-mail. "I wanted to recognize . . . the value of bringing together different disciplines and modes of thinking in a new way."

Kelly-Sweeney is studying "cognitive science and technology." Her major draws from psychology, computer science and architecture. Her thesis, she said, will be a creative project involving both design and written work that will examine "the computer as an inhabitable environment rather than simply an object and the potential for blending the representation of virtual space with physical, built space."

Other students, like Moore, have chosen interdisciplinary work based in a specific department. With her concentration in political journalism, Moore — despite creating a specific major and taking coursework at another university to complete it — is based in the politics department.

After being disappointed that there were few journalism courses at Princeton, she took summer classes at Johns Hopkins in journalism to get background in the area.

Her course of study was especially challenging because she had to fulfill all the requirements of the politics department in addition to studying journalism at Johns Hopkins, she said.

For her thesis, Moore said she is conducting "an analysis of political and social milestones using the prism of the black press" and added that she is examining the ways in which black newspaper coverage in the 20th century differed from the coverage in mainstream newspapers.

She said her concentration helped give her a "deeper understanding of journalism." She intends to study both journalism and business in graduate school and said she feels better prepared as a result of her course of study.

Moore advised anyone who is interested in interdisciplinary work to take advantage of the diverse array of courses available in different departments and in different schools.

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"You can create a broad-based foundation for any course of study," she said.

Kelly-Sweeney expanded on the requirements for getting administrative approval for an independent concentration.

"You do need to have two faculty sponsors endorse your proposal and agree to advise your junior independent work," she said. "Faculty and departmental support is the key to successfully developing and carrying out an independent major."