Resources

Statement of Purpose

Your statement of purpose should succinctly state why you would like to blend together coursework from more than one academic area to achieve your academic and/or career goals. You should also include your anticipated learning outcomes, i.e. what you expect to have learned by the end of the program. Be specific, but also concise.

Fill out the degree plan template with the help of the Interdisciplinary Studies. Your degree plan must include the following:

  • Primary concentration composed of 12-18 hours (No more than 18 hours in the primary concentration)
  • Second concentration with a minimum of 6 hours
  • Third concentration required to be INSD and consists of two courses in Interdisciplinary Studies
  • a total of 30 graduate credit hours
  • Completion option is the INSD capstone

You are not required to submit your plan until you have completed 9 hours of graduate credit, but no coursework is guaranteed to count toward completion of the degree until you have an approved degree plan filed with the Graduate School.

Knowledge of a second language or "language tool" is required for the Master of Arts degree. This language proficiency can be proven by examination or with two years of college-level courses on your transcripts.

Take special care when considering courses that list prerequisites, and note that some courses or areas of study require faculty or departmental approval (e.g. applied music and art, psychology, history, etc.). While you may take undergraduate courses (e.g. prerequisites), only graduate-level classes (5000-level courses or above) count toward a master’s degree.

Students changing majors to Interdisciplinary Studies with 9 graduate credit hours or more completed must submit to the Toulouse Graduate School an approved and signed degree plan before enrolling in courses as an Interdisciplinary Studies student.

Changes in classes can be made if necessary by working with your academic counselor and submitting a degree plan update form. If changes are extensive, you may need to submit a new degree plan. 

The INSD Program requires the INSD 5940 capstone course in order to complete the INSD Master's degree. We expect that your work will demonstrate interdisciplinary elements from each of your areas of academic discipline. For example, although we often think of portfolios in association with art, some students in non-artistic fields have compiled graduation portfolios that include papers they wrote in classes from all three of their academic fields. This collection of writings is usually "book ended" with an introduction and conclusion highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of their research and the things they learned throughout their master's program. 

See Graduation at the Toulouse Graduate School website for details and deadlines on the process of graduation at UNT.

You must apply for graduation before or at the beginning of your last semester of classes to set things in motion for your graduation.

Please note that there is an early application deadline at the beginning of each term.

In completing your degree with the INSD capstone course, please talk to your academic advisor to make sure you get enrolled in that final course. The Graduate School will simply check to be sure that you finished all the coursework on your degree plan, and that you successfully completed your capstone course.