For about a half-dozen students every year, even UCLA’s
diverse field of 122 majors and 55 minors just doesn’t seem
to satisfy their academic hunger.
Thankfully for them, the College of Letters & Science has
developed an “individual major” program, allowing these
inventive students to cook up their own recipes for academic
success.
“It’s a great opportunity for students who
aren’t getting the education they want at UCLA because
you’re able to take your education in your own hands,”
said Sophia Kozak, the Academic Affairs commissioner for the
Undergraduate Students Association Council.
UCLA’s Individual Major program ““ housed within the
College Honors program ““ is designed to accommodate those
students who have academic interests that do not fit within the
existing majors or minors at UCLA.
During the intensive application process, students give their
major a theme-oriented title, plan a curriculum, and explain why
they can’t accomplish their academic goals within the current
structure ““ all under the guidance of counselors and faculty
advisers.
Kozak’s “Power, Privilege, Oppression, and
Resistance” major focuses on what she calls “the study
of marginalized communities in contemporary American
society.” The major includes a variety of classes, with the
majority from the areas of ethnic studies, women’s studies,
and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender studies.
“I started off thinking I wanted to do communications and
tried some other majors, but I was really unhappy with the lack of
focus on issues of diversity,” she said.
The self-described activist said her studies have given her an
“educational foundation” that she can apply to her
fight for social justice in the future.
Toi Turner, a College Honors counselor, said creating the major
is a thorough and specific process so students don’t use it
simply to get around degree requirements for other majors.
“It can be labor-intensive because we want the academic
experience to be a solid one, an academically sound one,” she
said. “It’s not something one does haphazardly and
without research.”
Jennifer Wilson, assistant vice provost of the College of
Letters & Science, said about 30 students at UCLA currently
have individual majors and around six new ones come in each
year.
“It’s not a huge number, but the ones who do it have
a wonderful academic experience,” Wilson said.Â
“Of the students who commit, we’ve never had an
unsuccessful student,” she added.
Wilson, who reviews applications for individual majors, said a
few in particular have caught her eye, including one titled
“Politics and Film” in which the student took a variety
of political science, film, communication studies and sociology
classes. She recalled another student doing an “Animal
Behavior” major, which included courses from anthropology,
psychology and biology.
With the university’s ever-increasing catalog of majors
and minors, Wilson said the number of students considering creating
their own has gone down, as more students have been able to find
their niche within the existing framework.
Kozak said the bureaucracy involved with the process makes the
program too inaccessible ““ something she hopes to change with
her position on USAC next year. Still, she said her experience as a
whole has been very positive.
“The beauty of the decision I’ve made to do it is
that it has given me the opportunity to pursue an education that
compels me to act on the things I’ve learned about in
society,” she said.
For more information, visit the College Honors Web site at
www.college.ucla.edu/up/honors.