About the Independent Program...
Vassar College has long recognized that knowledge is not neatly divided into compartments. As a result, a full study of certain phenomena may not be possible from the confines of a single discipline or academic department. The Independent Program exists to facilitate the study of subjects that can best be approached in
a multidisciplinary way and for which Vassar does not already have a formalized
interdepartmental or multidisciplinary program.
For example, a student wishing to understand the roots of human behavior might well become an Independent major and draw upon courses in Sociology, Biology, Psychology, Anthropology, Religion, and History (to name a few of the most obvious). Alternatively, the same student might choose to take a somewhat more narrow perspective, majoring in Neuroscience and Behavior or Women's Studies, or be still more specialized by studying the roots of human behavior from the point of view of a single discipline.
The Independent Program is available to students at Vassar College who wish to elect a field of concentration that is not provided by one of the regular departments, interdepartmental concentrations, or multidisciplinary concentrations of the college.
Prospective majors make formal application to the Committee on the Independent Program, usually during their sophomore year. Once admitted to the Independent Program, each student follows the agreed upon course of study, culminating in the senior thesis, under the continuing guidance of two faculty advisers.
The variety of possible major concentrations is impressive, a variety that is made possible both by the breadth of Vassar's curriculum and by access to courses at other institutions through various exchange programs.