Students in the BIS program are able to pick two separate areas of concentration
for their studies. These concentration areas are varied and diverse, including subjects such as business, mathematics, art,
tourism, marketing, foreign languages, and many more. The course material for these topics are equivalent to a minor. Students
are also required to take a series of core courses which are custom-created for the BIS program, including an interdisciplinary
internship.
It is true that the course material covered in the concentration areas may not be as thorough as recieving a double major
in those subjects, yet students in the BIS program do not learn only about each concentration. The BIS core classes teach
students methods in which they can incorporate their two areas, no matter how dissimilar, which allow them to utilize
different skill sets in combination with their general knowlege to bring new perspectives and ways of thinking in their careers.
A BIS graduate will bring out-of-the-box thinking to any company they work for as well as a broad skill set wich will make
them useful in more than just one area.
Why did I choose the BIS program? In spring of 2006, when I transferred from Grand Canyon to Arizona State University,
I had to pick a new major because Grand Canyon had very few programs in which I was interested. The problem was that I had
such a broad range of interests that I found it very difficult to restrict myself to a single one. I wanted to learn and experience
as much as possible, so when the advisors at ASU told me about the BIS program, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to
not only study multiple topics, but also combine those topics in such a way that they would both be useful to me. I had always
wanted to achieve fluency in Spanish, and architecture is one of my many interests, so I decided that earning an interdisciplinary
studies degree would be the best possible way to attain and utilize experience in both fields.
In the following pages you will see descriptions of the courses I have taken and also demonstrations of the skills I
have learned.
