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This archived information is dated to the 2009-10 academic year only and may no longer be current.

For currently applicable policies and information, see the current Stanford Bulletin.

Individually Designed Majors and Individually Designed Honors Program in Humanities

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School of Humanities and Sciences

The Individually Designed Major (IDM) program is overseen by the Office of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies in the School of Humanities and Sciences. (Please see the "School of Engineering" section of this bulletin for information about the IDM in Engineering.)

The program is intended for currently registered undergraduates in good academic standing interested in pursuing an area of scholarly inquiry that falls outside the purview of an established academic department or program of the University. Proposals for the IDM should be intellectually coherent majors designed by the students themselves with the assistance of faculty members of their choice. The advisers must be members of the Academic Council. The IDM requires a minimum of 75 units, all in courses at or above the 100 level, and a minimum GPA of 3.5. The proposed major must not duplicate or be achievable through a major already offered by another degree-granting department or program. IDM students are required to complete a capstone requirement in the form of an honors project. An IDM cannot be a student's secondary major.

The application deadline for IDM proposals is the fifth week of Spring Quarter of the sophomore year. Applications are reviewed only once a year by a curriculum committee in H&S. Information about proposal procedures and the procedure for an honors project is available at the Office of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies in the Dean's Office in the School of Humanities and Sciences, Building 1.

INDIVIDUALLY DESIGNED HONORS PROGRAM IN HUMANITIES

Qualified students who wish to complete an honors thesis in the Humanities and to have the notation "Honors in Humanities" recorded on their diplomas and transcripts in addition to their primary degree may apply for the Individually Designed Honors Program in Humanities. The requirements are as follows:

  1. A minimum GPA of 3.5 for acceptance. The 3.5 GPA must be maintained throughout the course of the student's Stanford undergraduate career.
  2. Students must select two advisers for the honors thesis who are members of the Academic Council, at least one of whom is not from the student's major department. Both faculty members must be from humanities and arts departments.
  3. Students majoring in a humanities or arts department must complete 25 additional units in the humanities and arts, chosen from areas outside of the major department. Areas of concentration include arts, literature, history, and philosophy. Courses must be chosen in consultation with the student's advisers, and a potential list of such courses submitted with the proposal.
  4. Students majoring in a non-humanities and arts department must complete the equivalent of a minor in one humanities and arts department, and an additional 10 units in another. Winter-Spring IHUM courses may be used to satisfy part of this requirement. Courses must be chosen in consultation with the student's advisers, and a potential list of such courses submitted with the proposal.
  5. Students must complete a capstone, majors seminar, or honors seminar in a humanities and arts department.
  6. The honors thesis may be taken for a minimum of 5 units up to a maximum of 10 units. These units must be in addition to the requirements of 3 or 4 and 5 above. The student should determine the size and scope of the thesis in consultation with his or her two advisers.
  7. Students should consult with the Associate Dean for Graduate and Undergraduate Studies in the School of Humanities and Sciences before submitting a proposal.
  8. All proposals must be submitted no later than the third week of Autumn Quarter in the student's junior year, and preferably by Spring Quarter of the Sophomore year. H&S's Curriculum Committee in the Humanities and Arts reviews all proposals as received.

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