Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies Program
Our top-ranked program offers a broad liberal arts degree with marketable skills and real-world experience, including an option to specialize in K-5 education.
Welcome to our Program
This major, Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies (IDLS), is for students who have decided to gain a broad and deep education rather than be narrowly focused. Flexibility to choose courses that match your interests provides you with solid preparation for a rewarding career or graduate school.
Businesses and communities need creative problem-solvers, leaders and integrative thinkers, which means it is no longer enough to be limited to one discipline.
We are proud to be members of Association for Interdisciplinary Studies (AIS), our professional organization which promotes the interchange of ideas among scholars and administrators in all of the arts and sciences on intellectual and organizational issues related to furthering integrative studies.
/127x0:927x800/prod01/channel_34/media/seattle-university/college-of-arts-and-sciences/departments-and-programs/interdisciplinary-liberal-studies-program/images/FristDayFallQrt23_yk_026.jpg)
Our Degrees
Explore complex real-world issues that interest you. Your integrative experiences and interdisciplinary research prepare you for an exciting variety of careers.
Choose our specialization in elementary education and gain the foundation for teacher certification.
Right Here InThriving Urban Seattle
/0x11:600x390/prod01/channel_34/media/seattle-university/college-of-arts-and-sciences/departments-and-programs/interdisciplinary-liberal-studies-program/images/UG_CommencementCeremony23_as_145.jpg)
In The Nation, Best Integrative Studies, Best Colleges
Hear From Our Alumni
/62x0:438x500/prod01/channel_34/media/seattle-university/college-of-arts-and-sciences/departments-and-programs/interdisciplinary-liberal-studies-program/images/Olivia-Gaughra-square.png)
Olivia Gaughran
"I feel equipped to converse with professionals about real-world problems in an informed and compassionate way and to converse about complex global problems with the communities around me."
BA, Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies, '21
VALUE: INTERDISCIPLINARY LIBERAL STUDIES DEGREE
Marketable skills come from being trained as an interdisciplinarian including: project-management, effective communication, teamwork, leadership, strategic thinking, creativity, enterprise.
Where you'll find our graduates
Our graduates are working in every kind of business imaginable and teaching K-8 across the United States and abroad.
Beyond the Classroom
/0x18:798x816/prod01/channel_34/media/seattle-university/college-of-arts-and-sciences/departments-and-programs/interdisciplinary-liberal-studies-program/images/CatholicArtHistoryClass_cjt_020.JPG)
Internships and Careers
You will be encouraged to participate in internships, with support from our program to find opportunities that align with your goals and to prepare you to seek the career you want.
/171x0:854x683/prod01/channel_34/media/seattle-university/college-of-arts-and-sciences/departments-and-programs/interdisciplinary-liberal-studies-program/images/AIS-1.jpg)
Alpha Iota Sigma Honor Society
Our Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies program is the first and only program on the West Coast to qualify for a chapter of the national honor society for interdisciplinary studies.
Contact Us
Sven Arvidson, PhD
Professor and Director, Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies
Associate Appointment, Philosophy
/0x57:1200x1442/prod01/channel_34/media/seattle-university/directory/faculty-amp-staff-directory/images/artsci/Sven_Arvidson__8cx10_1200X1499.jpg)
/0x28:576x693/prod01/channel_34/media/seattle-university/directory/faculty-amp-staff-directory/images/placeholders/ProfileDefaultPics-Interlock.png)