Student-Designed Major
Design your own major and incorporate a "Semester in Washington" internship--a guided, hands-on tour of the workings of the nation's capital.
Are your interests too numerous to fit into a major or two? Do you want to study a particular interest from multiple perspectives? If so, why not design your own major. At the end of your sophomore year, meet with an advisory committee of faculty members to present your ideas. Work with them to design your own program chosen from at two to four disciplines. In your senior year, complete a St. Mary's Project, again of your own design, to bring your studies to a focused conclusion.
St. Mary's Project (SMP)
A martial arts athlete who entered St. Mary's thinking he would major in computer science, Jordan Riccio took a required history course from Professor Xiaofei Kang and discovered that he wanted to learn more about the Far East. With her help and that of the faculty in the departments of history, philosophy, and language (Chinese), he designed his own major in East Asian Studies, culminating in his SMP titled "Path of a hero: ethics and traditional warriors in the romance of the three kingdoms."
Other examples of SMPs of students who designed their own major:
- Portraying the Holocaust: Museum studies
- One cowboy's power package is another super mom's desire: Advertising in America
- Islamic economic systems
- Archaeological curation using computer software
- Effects of tourism on Thai culture
- More than meets the eye: Trends of appearance in the workplace
- Digital glimpse of rugby
- Patients vs. patients: The economics of essential medicines in poor countries
- I am me (a novel)
Travel Abroad
Isis Rodriguez-Cortes had always been interested in international relations, but the college did not offer a major in it. After she finished a summer internship at the U.S. State Department, she met with faculty from the departments of political science, history, and economics to design her own major in international relations. She then took advantage of the College's study-abroad program and spent a semester in Florence, Italy.
Life After St. Mary's
Employers and graduate programs are attracted to students who have the intelligence and motivation to design their own major. Whether your path leads to graduate school, a professional program like medicine, business, or law, or a career—use the student-designed major to explore your passions while developing your skills for the next step in your life.
For more information, visit the Student-Designed Major Web site at
http://www.smcm.edu/studentdesigned/index.html