Interdisciplinary Graduate Degrees & Certificates
Purdue's interdisciplinary studies graduate programs of study bring together two or more disciplines to reframe a problem or provide a different avenue of analysis. American Studies, Comparative Literature, and Linguistics MAs and PhDs while Philosophy and Literature offers a PhD. African American Studies and Research Center and the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program offer graduate concentrations and certificates. Graduate concentrations are incorporated into a student’s MA or Ph.D. plan of study in their home department, while students apply directly for the graduate certificate program.
African American Studies Concentration
Although African American Studies does not offer graduate degrees, graduate students are able to make African American Studies a concentration in their M.A. and Ph.D. degree programs. African American Studies is an interdisciplinary field with theories, methods, and approaches particular to it. The African American experience represents an important global dimension of American culture. Students wishing to conduct research on African American subjects with a specific interest in gaining expertise in African American Studies practices, theories, and methods. This focus of the graduate concentration in African American Studies introduces students to methods, theories, and approaches to the study of African American life that are widely agreed upon as most efficacious and ethical. Students are encouraged to explore African American social and economic life, cultural developments, engagement with the wider world, and its people and institutions in all their complexity.
American Studies Graduate Program
The American Studies M.A. and Ph.D. degrees at Purdue are flexible, largely self-directed plans of study. Two years of coursework are required for the M.A. and Ph.D. each, with the majority of courses being elective. M.A. students also take AMST 63000, a capstone independent research seminar. Ph.D. students take AMST 60300. Ph.D. students are required to take a major and a dissertation prospectus. All students in the program work closely with an advisor and plan of study committee who supervise their path toward the degree.
Digital Humanities Certificate
The Digital Humanities Certificate is a 15-credit certificate that combines course work from the College of Liberal Arts and Libraries and School of Information Studies. Its primary objective is to better prepare students in both STEM fields and the liberal arts for the multidisciplinary demands of the 21st-century job market. The 15-credit Plan of Study consists of the required Introduction to Digital Humanities; a senior capstone project; and 9 additional credits consisting of one course from three of the following categories: Culture and Society, Digital Literacy, Programming, and Visualization.
Linguistics Graduate Program
The Purdue University Department of Linguistics prepares students in the scholarly study of language as the most important human faculty. The department awards the master's and doctoral degrees in linguistics to students who successfully complete the requirements for each degree.
Sports Studies and Production Certificate
This certificate requires 2 parts: 9 credit hours of coursework and a minimum of 2 sessions of experiential learning with Hall of Music Productions or Intercollegiate Athletics. The student will complete a minimum of 2 sessions of work with Hall of Music Productions or Intercollegiate Athletics, with each session focusing on a different sport. Each session requires a minimum of 50 hours of work to be completed within a semester. This number was chosen as it corresponds to 1 credit of FVS 450: Internship in Film/Video/Media Production. This work may be taken as internship credit under FVS 450, **OR** may be taken as paid work as a student employee of Hall of Music Productions or Intercollegiate Athletics.
Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies Concentration
The Graduate Concentration in Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies require students to complete a minimum of 12 credit hours for M.A. students and 15 credit hours for Ph.D. students in courses that have a significant amount of content related to WGSS as a field of study. Two of these courses (6 credits) must be earned by completing WGSS 680-Feminist Theory and WGSS 682-Feminist Methodologies.