Graduate Interdisciplinary Masters Degree Programs

Recently, both at this university and nationally, interdisciplinary research has been encouraged with the assumption being that when researchers break out of their departmental "silos" and work with people from other disciplines they are more likely to develop new ways to think about and solve old problems.  At UB we offer an interdisciplinary educational program that encourages students to develop a foundation in one core discipline while also acquiring expertise in a second.

Each of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs in the College of Arts and Sciences offers renowned faculty, a flexible curriculum, and an opportunity for personal enrichment and professional preparation.  Our flexible master's level degrees have attracted teachers, librarians, scientists, artists, and employees of non-profit or government agencies that seek additional training in the same area as their undergraduate work and who wish to explore cross-disciplinary work in related fields.  Many have found, some years after completing their undergraduate degrees, that these master's programs provide good ways to catch up with rapidly changing fields of interest.  For others, these programs have been used to bridge the gap between the B.A. or B.S. and the Ph.D., or as a step toward admission to professional school.  Teachers have used this degree as a way to fulfill the requirement for teacher/professional certification.

Prospective students choose from among three unique degree programs:

The M.A. in Humanities Interdisciplinary Program offers students the opportunity to combine advanced studies in a core humanities discipline, with study in another humanities, social sciences, or natural sciences field.

The M.S. in Social Sciences Interdisciplinary Program invites students to develop individualized graduate programs, extending over two areas in the social sciences, with the possibility of including electives from the humanities, the natural sciences or a professional school.

The M.S. in Natural Sciences Interdisciplinary Program is a flexible program, where students combine one core area of natural sciences or mathematics with graduate level course work in a variety of related disciplines, including engineering, education, social sciences or humanities.

In addition, students may choose to define their interests through structured "specializations" or “certifications” housed within the flexible programs.