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Graduate Programme in Interdisciplinary Studies Faculty of Graduate Studies
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Degree Requirements

MA Interdisciplinary Studies Degree Requirements: 18 Course Credits (12 credits of course work representing an interdisciplinary focus and possibly including a Research Methods Course) relevant to a student’s Research Plan.

RequirementDescription
INST 5000 3.0 Core Courses
(3 credits each)		INST 5000 A 3.0 – “Interdisciplinary Seminar” is a required, core course comprised of regular meetings and discussions with the Supervisory Committee in the Candidate’s specific areas of study. These discussions fulfill the function of an interdisciplinary seminar and are graded as a regular course. Normally students meet with each supervisor once a month and with the full Supervisory Committee at least once each term. Progress reports must be submitted to the program office each term.  The final grade for this course also includes a student’s “Thesis Proposal,” a “Colloquium Presentation” (or oral seminar) and the “Oral Examination” of the thesis.  IS 5000 A is graded like a regular course. 

INST 5000 B 3.0 – “Interdisciplinary Studies: Theory/Practice” is a required core course that examines representative ways of thinking in interdisciplinary terms and studies selected methodological approaches to interdisciplinary research, which students apply to their own intellectual or artistic praxis.  This course also requires students to professionalize their academic development by submitting some combination of a conference proposal/paper, a grant application, an ethics proposal, a CV or resume, or a draft application for a professional position.  This course is graded pass/fail. 
Annual Progress ReportThe FGS POLICY states : It is clearly established that completion rates are enhanced and average completion/withdrawal times reduced if supervisory committees meet regularly (at least annually) with each student, usually in the spring, and evaluate the student’s activities and progress.

Master’s Programme In Interdisciplinary Studies:  A thesis supervisory committee shall meet twice a year with the student, normally in December for the Interim Progress Report due in January and early April for the Annual Progress Report, due in April, to evaluate the Reports on Progress submitted by the student, who then submits a completed copy of same to the graduate programme director, after the meetings.  Reports to the graduate programme director of unsatisfactory progress may require a student to withdraw from a programme of studies, or withdraw from the graduate programme in which the student is enrolled.

Failure to Submit Annual Progress Report: Failure to submit an Annual Progress Report by April 15th will result in the placement of an automated enrolment block. Students are well-advised to book an early April Committee meeting at the start of the academic year.

ColloquiumA public presentation of the student’s work in progress. Normally Full Time Students in their 2nd year present their colloquium in the weeks following the Winter Reading Week. All three supervisors are asked to attend.
ThesisA Written Thesis (maximum 120 pages), the focus of the student’s programme, which should demonstrate the Candidate’s originality and understanding of the area of investigation. After the formal submission of the thesis, the student defend it at an oral examination. The examining committee includes an external examiner from outside of York University and an internal examiner, who is arm’s length from the thesis, from York.
Creative ComponentMany IS students opt to do a creative component alongside their written thesis which further illuminates & disseminates their scholarly work. This has taken the form of a smart phone app; a novel; a photo exhibit; a film; a play etc. Do talk to
the director about these innovative options.
Completion Time6 terms (full-time) OR 9 terms (part-time)

The Graduate Programme in Interdisciplinary Studies’ Student Learning Outcomes are organized into six subsets, and The Master’s Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies is awarded to students who have achieved:

  • General and specialized knowledge of the key theories, methodologies, critical suppositions and modes of expression which comprise the diverse scholarly disciplines and/or creative practices constituting an individualized programme of interdisciplinary study and research
  • Systematic and specific understanding and critical awareness of established and/or current debates, insights and issues informing the diverse scholarly disciplines and/or creative practices constituting an individualized programme of interdisciplinary study and research
  • The articulation and/or performance of this knowledge, understanding and critical awareness in coursework across a range of pertinent disciplines, and the successful completion of a conventional manuscript-based written interdisciplinary MA thesis or an interdisciplinary MA thesis that marries a shorter conventional manuscript-based written component with a creative component, including its defence at oral examination
  • Mastery in identifying and investigating key research questions and problematics informing the diverse scholarly disciplines and/or creative practices constituting an individualized programme of interdisciplinary inquiry;
  • Mastery in identifying and investigating key theories, methodologies, critical suppositions and modes of expression undergirding research and scholarship in the diverse scholarly disciplines and/or creative practices constituting an individualized programme of interdisciplinary inquiry
  • Mastery in formulating and critically evaluating arguments and modes of expression related to research in the diverse scholarly disciplines and/or creative practices constituting an individualized programme of interdisciplinary inquiry
  • Mastery in conceptualizing, designing and implementing interdisciplinary research that interprets and combines the research orientations, techniques and principles of the diverse scholarly disciplines and/or creative practices constituting an individualized programme of interdisciplinary inquiry
  • The articulation and/or performance of these research skills in coursework across the diverse scholarly disciplines and/or creative practices constituting an individualized programme of interdisciplinary inquiry
  • The articulation and/or performance of these research skills in the successful completion of a conventional manuscript-based written interdisciplinary MA thesis or an interdisciplinary MA thesis that marries a shorter conventional manuscript-based written component with a creative component, including its defense at oral examination
  • Under the supervision of three faculty members, successful presentation in a public colloquium of scholarly and/or creative work in progress undertaken for the preparation of a conventional manuscript-based written interdisciplinary MA thesis or an interdisciplinary MA thesis that marries a shorter conventional manuscript-based written component with a creative component
  • Under the supervision of three faculty members, successful completion of a conventional manuscript-based written interdisciplinary MA thesis or an interdisciplinary MA thesis that marries a shorter conventional manuscript-based written component with a creative component
  • Before a committee of four faculty members, successful defense at oral examination of a conventional manuscript-based written interdisciplinary MA thesis or an interdisciplinary MA thesis that marries a shorter conventional manuscript-based written component with a creative component. Mastery in researching and writing scholarly essays and/or producing creative work in a range of courses pertinent to the diverse scholarly disciplines and/or creative practices constituting an individualized programme of interdisciplinary inquiry
  • Competence to transfer and apply the disciplinary and interdisciplinary skills and scholarly and/or creative knowledge associated with certain forms of public presentation, and with researching, writing and defending a specified kind of scholarly and/or creative MA thesis, to the critical analysis and/or creative exploration of new scholarly and/or creative questions or of specified problems in new scholarly and/or creative environments
  • Competence to discern and to interrogate the use and abuse of the disciplinary and interdisciplinary skills and scholarly and/or creative knowledge associated with certain forms of public presentation, and with researching, writing and defending a specified kind of scholarly and/or creative MA thesis, in the construction of new intellectual and/or creative questions or of specified problems in new intellectual and/or creative environments
  • Mastery in balancing the various requirements of the IS MA programme, namely coursework, the development of awards and scholarships applications, a thesis proposal, a colloquium presentation of research in progress, and an independently researched, academically and/or creatively innovative thesis and its defense at oral examination
  • Mastery in conducting integrative and combinative independent inquiry in the diverse scholarly disciplines and/or creative practices constituting an individualized programme of interdisciplinary inquiry
  • Mastery in integrating and combining the knowledge and skills associated with the diverse scholarly disciplines and/or creative practices constituting an individualized programme of interdisciplinary inquiry
  • Ability to produce new knowledge and/or creative works by applying the research theories and methods associated with the diverse scholarly disciplines and/or creative practices constituting an individualized programme of interdisciplinary inquiry
  • Informed understanding of the importance of academic integrity in research, and when required, the ability to design, complete and adhere to research ethics protocols, as mandated by the IS programme, FGS, York University and the federal research funding Tri-Council of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
  • Successful and timely completion of graduate assistant responsibilities, as directed by members of the supervisory committee, singly and as a whole
  • Familiarity with the academic, professional and/or vocational organizations and publications associated with the diverse scholarly disciplines and/or creative practices constituting an individualized programme of interdisciplinary inquiry
  • Mastery in analyzing and assessing the variety and effectiveness of the different technical formats and media modes associated with the diverse scholarly disciplines and/or creative practices constituting an individualized programme of interdisciplinary study and research
  • Mastery in communicating forms of knowledge, modes of analysis and research results in the discursive, performing, visual and/or artisanal media associated with the diverse scholarly disciplines and/or creative practices constituting an individualized programme of interdisciplinary study and research ideas and issues
  • Mastery in communicating forms of knowledge, modes of analysis and research results in the different technical formats associated with the diverse scholarly disciplines and/or creative practices constituting an individualized programme of interdisciplinary study and research
  • Ability to enter unfamiliar academic and/or creative environments to communicate forms of knowledge, modes of analysis and research results arising from the diverse scholarly disciplines and/or creative practices constituting an individualized programme of interdisciplinary study and research
  • Ability to engage with academic and non-academic vocational and/or professional audiences about debates, insights and issues informing the diverse scholarly disciplines and/or creative practices constituting an individualized programme of interdisciplinary study and research
  • General awareness of the complexity of knowledge and of the potential contributions of other theories, methods and disciplines to the diverse scholarly disciplines and/or creative practices constituting an individualized programme of interdisciplinary study and research
  • General awareness of the social, cultural and historical contingency of the processes of knowledge construction, use and exchange associated with the diverse scholarly disciplines and/or creative practices constituting an individualized programme of interdisciplinary study and research
  • General awareness of the social, cultural and historical contingency of the various academic and creative perspectives associated with the diverse scholarly disciplines and/or creative practices constituting an individualized programme of interdisciplinary study and research
  • Specific awareness of the limits of knowledge, modes of analysis and research results associated with the diverse scholarly disciplines and/or creative practices constituting an individualized programme of interdisciplinary study and research
  • Specific ability to identify gaps in the forms of knowledge, modes of analysis and research results associated with the diverse scholarly disciplines and/or creative practices constituting an individualized programme of interdisciplinary study and research
  • Specific ability to propose suggestions for addressing gaps in the forms of knowledge, modes of analysis and research results associated with the diverse scholarly disciplines and/or creative practices constituting an individualized programme of interdisciplinary study and research
  • Specific awareness of the value of peer-editing, co-authoring and other forms of collaborative study and research associated with the diverse scholarly disciplines and/or creative practices constituting an individualized programme of interdisciplinary study and research
  • Self-awareness with respect to the social, cultural and historical contingency of the researching subject in relation to the diverse scholarly disciplines and/or creative practices constituting an individualized programme of interdisciplinary study and research

Language and Cognate Requirements

There is no language requirement other than English for the MA in Interdisciplinary Studies, but a Candidate’s Supervisory Committee may require the Candidate to demonstrate a reading knowledge of such languages as are necessary to enable the student to use the major secondary and primary sources relevant to the Thesis. When appropriate, other skills or preparatory courses (e.g., statistics, computer science, survey research) may also be required.

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The Graduate Programme in Interdisciplinary Studies at York is an exciting environment to pursue innovative, socially engaging, career-ready education. Contact our Graduate Programme Administrator to learn more.

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