The Marlboro Institute for Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies at Emerson College offers a self-tailored liberal arts experience. It enables creative, passionate students to examine the world across diverse disciplines, add depth and intellectual perspective to their studies, and even allows students to design their own major.
The Marlboro Institute is also home to two unique programs: The Honors Program and the Emerson Prison Initiative.
CREATE YOUR OWN MAJOR.
What intrigues and inspires you?
Students pursuing an academic major through the Marlboro Institute complete an Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS) program of their own design. It is based on the belief that students can craft their own education, engage in self-directed inquiry, and bring a big idea to life from conception to execution.
As a student in the Marlboro Institute at Emerson, you will learn to form and communicate critical ideas and collaborate with a diverse community of creative peers. Through the Interdisciplinary Studies major (IDS), you will be able to pursue a self-designed major based on your specific interests, and lead a final project centered on an idea or solution that inspires you .
Supported by an advisory team of faculty members who will provide guidance along the way, you’ll spend your first three years in a specialized curriculum defined by your area of interest and anchored in critical explorations of knowledge across the arts, humanities, sciences, communication, and social sciences.
During your first year, you will engage in interdisciplinary modes of inquiry with other first-year IDS majors. You will start to develop and research emergent questions individually and collaboratively. Project-based learning will be introduced in the following sophomore seminar.
You will begin preparing for your capstone project in the junior seminar by identifying a methodological approach for your research. Your senior year will culminate in a year-long capstone experience designed by you and your advisors. Throughout all four years, academic flexibility will remain at the core of the program and allow for intellectual exploration as you approach graduation.
Here is a sample of IDS majors that students at the Marlboro Institute pursue:
- Creative Writing and Philosophy
- Cultural Studies
- Economics and Media Studies
- Environmental Studies, Interactive Technology, and Dance
- Latin American Studies and Film
- Nonprofit Communication for Social Change and Equity
- Philosophy and Political Science
- Podcasting and Business
- Race, Gender, and Social Justice
- Sociology, Food Studies, and Business
- Theater and Anthropology