An interdisciplinary minor is a great way to make the most of your college experience at UM. The University currently offers four interdisciplinary minors, open to every student, regardless of their chosen major. Getting started with these minors early, with each requiring 18-21 credit hours, is recommended.
There are several benefits to adding an interdisciplinary minor to your degree. It offers a more rounded education, more diversity on your resume, and you’ll meet all sorts of new peers, friends and colleagues throughout each program.
Check out UM’s interdisciplinary minors yourself:
Students witness climate change firsthand with an internship in the minor or through other interactive experiences. The Climate Change Studies minor is more than learning about climate change; it’s about learning how you, as a person, interact with and change the environment.
The Climate Change Studies minor connects the earth science aspect to technology, the economy, and society. As climate change grows and adapts, so does this program, which is constantly evolving and expanding its focus as the nation’s first interdisciplinary, undergraduate degree program in climate change.
The Global Public Health minor is for students interested in professions that impact the well-being of individuals and communities at large. This minor works with a diverse range of students, including those pursuing degrees in healthcare, computer science, the social sciences, journalism, and other fields.
The Global Public Health minor focuses on shaping global citizens who are agile and creative learners. This minor helps students become more knowledgeable, understanding, and competent individuals within the global community.
Scholarships and internships are available to students in this minor, which are awarded and offered through local health advocacy organizations that partner with UM. Following this minor will prepare students for ever-changing global complexities through expanding the boundaries of knowledge and sustaining diverse communities.
The Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) minor focuses on women's history and future in Montana, America, and the world. The minor diverges with many different disciplines, including African American studies, sociology with an emphasis on inequality and social justice, psychology, English, history, world languages and culture, environmental studies and Native American studies. This minor addresses issues that affect us all and apply to every discipline.
The WGSS program, since the 1970s, fosters awareness of cultural and international diversity. It also dissects the circulations of power through race, class, age, and ability. Students who follow this minor will learn to think critically and envision justice for all people while being articulate, imaginative, analytical, persuasive and creative.
As a member of the WGSS minor, students will be offered a small group of core classes, including Media Representations of Gender and Sexuality, LGBTQ Studies, and Feminist Theory and Methods. Courses from other departments include Feminism and Film in Communication Studies, LGBTIQ Counseling in Psychology, and Race, Gender, and Class in Sociology.
The International Development Studies (IDS) minor focuses on global human connection and development. Through this minor, students can apply the knowledge from their major to real-world issues and can go to where the issues are most relevant. This minor prepares students to serve the underserved through sustainable development.
This minor allows students to experience environments vastly different from Montana while communicating and supporting others through impactful, positive change. Students will be prepped for the U.S. Peace Corps and other national/international equivalents and careers through the coursework in the IDS minor.
Students and faculty who are a part of the IDS minor work together on interesting and important projects. Each graduate from the IDS minor leaves with a unique field experience that IDS fosters in their program, leaving with incredible life stories.