The Individualized Major
Some goals don't fit inside one department. The Individualized Major lets you build a degree that does — combining areas of study from across Arts & Sciences into a single program you design.
Design Your Future. Create Your Major.
We're for students whose goals sit between disciplines, or beyond what any single department's curriculum covers. You identify a goal, choose the areas of study that serve it, and write a proposal that ties them together. The program advisor works alongside you on the curriculum plan. Our majors have created hundreds of individualized programs — and no two look quite the same.
A few majors our students have built
- Bioethics
- Investigative Journalism
- Cyber Threat Intelligence Analysis
- Museum Studies
- Expressive Creative Therapy (Pre-Art Therapy)
- Global Health (Pre-med)
Is the Individualized Major right for me?
It probably is, if —
Your goal spans two or more departments.
You are preparing for a graduate or professional program that rewards breadth.
You have already taken coursework across several areas and want it to add up to something.
You can name a career or academic goal and explain why it needs more than one discipline.
It probably is not, if —
You are undecided and looking for somewhere to land. The proposal asks you to name a direction, so this works best once you have one.
An existing major already serves your goal well. If it does, take it — you will get the same outcome with less paperwork.
Advising & Contact
News from the Individualized Major
Upcoming Events
History, Memory, and America at 250 Symposium
The Years In-between: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on American History
The Politics of Remembering and Forgetting
Design Your Future. Create Your Major. Become Extraordinary.
Ready to build the degree that doesn't exist yet? From Harvard Law School admissions to Fulbright Fellowships, our graduates prove that when you design your own path, extraordinary outcomes follow.