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Arizona State University
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Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies:

What Does This Mean:
 
The Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies program is a fairly new degree offered at Arizona State.  In this degree you choose two concentration areas to study, I chose Business and Geography.  A student can combine any two concentration areas that he or she desires.  This unique way of learning not only gives you a diverse degree, but in the BIS core classes you integrate your concentrations and investigate problems and situations from different angles.

Why I Chose Business and Geography:
 
I believe that it is difficult for most students coming out of high school at such a young age to properly choose a degree that want to pursue that will affect the rest of their lives.  Coming out of high school I always felt that Business woul be a good fit for me.  I felt that mangagement, marketing and all aspects of business would be of great importance to my life.  I did though feel that something was missing and that was when I looked at the BIS program.  I saw that I could take two concentrations and make it into one degree.  The other concentration I chose was Geography.  I have always loved maps and the outdoors.  Some people can visualize numbers in their head, I visualize location.  I can close my eyes and take a tour around the globe all in my head with my knowledge of Geogrpahy.  People always ask, "What are you going to do with Geography?"  I am not sure exactly, but I love learning about it.  Right now I intern for City of New York Department of Parks and Recreation.  Our goal is to maintain Parkland and keep it safe.  I travel around the city in all 5 boroughs going to different parks.  One of my goals when I came here was to get the majority of the city streets locked in my head, so far so good.
 
 

BIS Core Classes:
 
BIS 301:  Foundations od Interdisciplinary Studies
-Here I learned about the history of higher education and the beginning of Interdisciplinary Studies.  This class taught me how to integrate my concentrations as well as work in groups with people who have separate concentrations from myself.
 
BIS 302:  Interdisciplinary Inquiry
-In this class we used interdisciplinary ideas to look for the answers of certain questions.  My group was given a question and we had to figure out whether it was better for Phoenix to continue to build out or start to build up with high rise apartment buildings.  Phoenix has no real central location where people from all over flock too, there are too many small central business districts.  Phoenix is eventually going to turn into Los Angeles, a spread out, overpopulated mess.
 
BIS 401:  Applied Interdisciplinary Studies
-My applied study internship is at City of New York Department of Parks and Recreation, Marketing and Special events division.  This internship allows me to integrate marketing by promoting Parks throughout the city as well as management by coordinating and supervising special events.  I integrate geography by learning the urban geography of New York City.  Mapping out and visiting different Parks in the city are just some of the tasks that I partake in.
 
BIS 402:  Senior Seminar
-I learn the value and meaning of money to myself and others.  Different assignments try to make look and find out what is really important to me.  Tracking my expenses for a month and creating an online portfolio are just some of the things that I do in this senior capstone class.