Why this program?

Limited only by your imagination, the MA: Interdisciplinary Studies program allows you to build precisely the degree you want, selecting courses and experiences that support your academic interests, professional pursuits, and lifelong learning goals. Through this program, you will learn how to synthesize knowledge by drawing from multiple fields of study, analyze critical reasoning and create effective arguments, and develop and apply skills through various modes of communication. With personalized and hands-on learning opportunities, you will emerge well-prepared for anything you put your mind to. Students in this program are encouraged to engage with 爱豆社区鈥檚 network of Global Centers & Partners to further their learning and research opportunities!

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Program Highlights

Students in the MA: Interdisciplinary Studies program are able to explore multiple areas of study through the program, enabling them to engage with a broad set of skills and knowledge that can be applied to professional pursuits, doctoral aspirations, and lifelong learning goals.

Highlights of the MA: Interdisciplinary Studies program include:  

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What will this program look like?

Students in the MA: Interdisciplinary Studies program are truly able to build their degree. With only three required classes and a total of 30 credits required to complete the program, students are able to spend 21 credits exploring their areas of interest through graduate classes at 爱豆社区, self-directed studies working independently or with a mentor, and/or engaging with 爱豆社区鈥檚 Global Centers & Partners. Some of these global opportunities include: 

• Earn a certificate in Ecological Design Thinking with , while immersed in the Peruvian Amazon jungle.
• Spend a semester at the , studying natural history, cultural geography, and the intersections of society and environment.
• Conduct a research and/or studio-based residency at the , exploring the relationship between art and ecology.

Program Overview

This microcredential short course is offered in partnership with the iconic wooden-boatbuilding shop based in Flagstaff, Arizona, run by 爱豆社区 alum Brad Dimock, that specializes in building beautiful wooden boats, including Grand Canyon dories and McKenzie River dories. This course begins with a 1-week session in Fretwater鈥檚 boatshop building two 9鈥� open one-person McKenziacs. This will be followed by a 3-day river trip on the San Juan River.

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Wooden Boat Building

During this portion of the course, you will gain the knowledge and skills to build your own McKenzie River dory, her larger cousin the Grand Canyon Dory, or any number of other similar craft. You鈥檒l learn lofting, scarfing, fabricating parts, free-form assembly, and outfitting, as well as many of the arcane arts you鈥檒l use along the way. You鈥檒l use a minimum of fancy tools, relying more on adaptation and improvisation, as well as learn about maintenance, storage, and repair. 

Wooden Boat River Running

Then you will take your boats 鈥� to the river! In addition to learning (or if you are already a River Rat) refining your river expeditionary and camping skills, you will learn how to navigate and row these beautiful wooden crafts in Class I and II whitewater over the course of a 3-day river trip on the San Juan River from Sand Island to Mexican Hat. 

爱豆社区 River Studies and Leadership Certification

Offered in partnership with the , the introduces students to the multidisciplinary nature of river-related professions through its unique combination of classes and real-world experiences. Participating undergraduate and graduate students complete complete coursework in science, policy, geographic information systems (GIS) and river safety; enlist in a river-based course or internship; and present research findings or a capstone project summary in person at an RMS event, such as the biennial River Management Symposium or through an article published in the quarterly RMS Journal. Students enrolled in the program have opportunities to participate in regional and national events, and receive news, resources, and jobs curated for current and aspiring river professionals.  

To learn more, please visit

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What Can You Do A River Studies and Leadership Certificate?

Students who complete this certificate program have a competitive advantage in careers associated with any and all aspects of environmental education. Here are just some of their career choices:

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Course Requirements

The River Studies and Leadership Certificate is an interdisciplinary program that combines learning about river science, geographic information systems (GIS), policy and river field experience with a chosen emphasis in one of three areas: river science, river-based policy, or river-based education, recreation and tourism. RSLC students demonstrate 鈥渞eal-world鈥� application of their knowledge and skills through professional experience or an internship with a river project. The River Studies and Leadership Certificate program is structured as follows:

Core Courses (4 courses):

Students must successfully complete approved* courses in the following subjects:

• Geographic Information Systems (1 course)
• River Science (1 course)
• River Policy (1 course)
• River Safety (1 course) ()

Emphasis Courses (2 courses):

Students must take at least two approved* courses from ONE of the following emphasis areas:

• River Science
• River-based Policy and Management
• River-based Recreation, Education, and Tourism

Professional Experience Requirement

In order to enable students to become effective leaders and river professionals, one of the requirements of the River Studies and Leadership Certificate is that 鈥渓earning must be applied in a professional context鈥�.  This requirement may be met through a credit-earning internship, paid internship, paid professional experience, independent study or course-related professional experience.  The experience must encompass a minimum of 90 hours of work (or 2 credit-hours) and will be reviewed and approved by the River Studies and Leadership Certificate Committee to certify the adequacy of the experience for the professional experience program requirement.  Students with relevant, recent professional or internship experience may request that those experiences be used to fulfill this requirement. 

Oral or Written Presentation Requirement

Students are required to either present aspects of their work at either 1. an RMS Symposium, trip or conference hosted by RMS or partners, or 2. write an article for the RMS Journal about their experiences. For RMS Journal submissions, students should work with their RSLC advisors to make sure the article is consistent with Certificate requirements. In addition, articles should steer away from topics that duplicate the findings or reflections of previously-published articles. Articles may:

• Describe or report on a topic related to a research paper you鈥檝e written or the results of a research project.
• Reflect on an immersive river course, internship, or experience attending (and possibly presenting your work at) the River Management Symposium or other RMS-sponsored events.

Why this program?

This immersive workshop introduces students to mono-printing as an expressive foundation for relief and mixed-media printmaking. Through hands-on demonstrations, guided studio practice, and group critiques, students will explore both traditional and experimental approaches to mono-printing, including additive and subtractive inking, layering, stenciling, and ghost printing.

Emphasis is placed on creative risk-taking, sustainable studio practices, material exploration, and personal visual language development. Students will leave with a cohesive body of prints, a working sketchbook, and practical skills applicable to future printmaking and mixed-media work.

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What will this program look like?

DAY 1 鈥� Foundations + Controlled Exploration

• Welcome Introductions, Images + Demo
• Exercise 1: Direct Mark-Making
• Exercise 2: Additive + Subtractive Layers
• Structured Challenge: Limited Palette Composition
• Registration Intro (Simple Method)
• Texture & Transparency
• Independent Studio Work
• Group Critique + Clean Up

DAY 2 鈥� Advanced Layering + Series Development

Editioning Practice, Critique and Reflection

Review + Advanced Demo

Project 1: 3-Layer Registered Print

Ghost Print & Variation Series

Ink Modification + Experimental Techniques

Final Project: Thematic Print 鈥� Solo work

Program Overview

This 5 day yogic river immersion takes place in a spectacular southwest canyon adjacent to Monument Valley in Utah. This program brings together the outdoor skills inherent to a multi-day river trip with a focus of connecting to Place through yogic practices. Participants will have numerous opportunities to practice yoga asana, breathing and meditation while flowing through the San Juan river鈥檚 upper corridor. Participants will share in the daily work required to paddle down stream and live harmoniously in the river environment. Each day will be a blend of landscape exploration and personal exploration through a variety of yoga practices in this natural outdoor setting. Discussions and reflections around yogic philosophy and principles will allow participants to dive deeper into their understanding of yoga and consider what aspects are most relevant and meaningful to them.

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Schedule

Day 1: Drive to Sand Island. Dinner, evening yoga practice + camp setup

Day 2: River safety + cultural introductions + petroglyph panel stop + evening yoga + camp

Day 3: Layover for am + pm yoga practices, side hike option, and sense of place overview, art + reflection

Day 4: Sidehike explorations and place-based yoga practices and discussions

Day 5: Silent float, contemplative practice. Take out + drive

Why this program?

This two-day studio intensive introduces students to the creative possibilities of solar plate printmaking. Participating will learn and practice the process of creating solar plates, then use layering, color, texture, monoprint, and collage to transform solar plate imagery into expressive mixed-media prints. Students will create a series of original prints while learning both traditional and contemporary approaches to image-making. This workshop is designed for artists, educators, students, and creative individuals interested in expanding their printmaking practice.

No prior printmaking experience is required!

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What will this program look like?

Through demonstrations, guided exercises, and independent studio exploration, students will explore solar plate exposure, photographic image transfer, hand-drawn plate creation, plate development, intaglio inking and wiping, multiple-plate printing, monoprinting, transparency and color mixing, miced-media integration, and print presentation. Emphasis will be placed on creative experimentation, personal expression, and the development of a unique visual language through printmaking. 

Day 1: Learning Focus: Creating successful solar plates and developing confidence with the basic solar plate printing process.

• Introduction to contemporary solar plate and mixed-media printmaking, with examples 
• Overview of solar plate materials and safety procedures
• Image selection, composition, and preparation of digital and hand-drawn imagery
• Demonstration of solar plate exposure, development, printing plates, registration, and multiple-plate printing
• Create and expose 5×7 solar plates
• Print and evaluate plates, experiment with inking and wiping approaches
• Group review of prints and discussion of successful exposures and challenges

Day 2: Learning Focus: Using layering, color, texture, monoprint, and collage to transform solar plate imagery into expressive mixed-media prints.

• Demonstration of color and registration techniques, monoprinting, and combining solar plate imagery with monoprint layers
• Layering solar plate images, exploring transparency and color mixing, and combining solar plate imagery with monoprint layers
• Incorporating printed and painted papers; cutting, assembling, and layering printed elements
• Development of a small personal print series
• Individual instructor feedback and 1:1 consultations

Why this program?

The Foundations in Community Journalism microcredential invites participants into the practice of journalism as a tool for collective power, resilience, and accountability. Through four interconnected, experiential workshops, students will gain both a grounding in the values of community journalism and practical skills they can immediately apply. Together, we will explore what makes community journalism distinct from legacy models and how it overlaps with community organizing. Students will learn why authentic, trust-based relationships are central to ethical reporting, and they will practice strategies for showing up within communities with transparency, humility, and care. Participants will sharpen their ability to ask strong, open-ended questions鈥攃ultivating curiosity, cultural awareness, and active listening as cornerstones of ethical storytelling. Finally, students will step behind the scenes of the full journalistic process, moving from idea to impact while reflecting on the rights and responsibilities of both journalists and news consumers. By the end of this program, students will leave with a holistic understanding of community journalism: its principles, practices, and potential to create meaningful stories that are accurate, ethical, and rooted in community trust.

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What will this program look like?

To successfully complete the pathway and earn the Foundations in Community Journalism badge, participants must:

• Engage with all four modules by completing required readings, videos, and non-lecture learning resources.
  
• Submit one artifact per module (e.g., a short written response, audio/video reflection, or activity worksheet) demonstrating engagement with key concepts:
  • Module 1: Reflection on how community journalism differs from legacy journalism.
  • Module 2: Example of a relationship-building strategy or community map.
  • Module 3: A set of open-ended, intentional interview questions.
  • Module 4: A brief outline of a story idea following the journalistic process.
    
• Participate in at least two cohort-based discussions (online discussion prompts, peer feedback, or synchronous conversations).
  
• Complete a final capstone reflection (2鈥�3 pages or a short multimedia submission) synthesizing learning across all modules. The capstone must demonstrate:
  • Understanding of the historical roots and purposes of community journalism.
  • Application of relationship-building and ethical accountability strategies.
  • Ability to craft effective, curiosity-driven questions.
  • Familiarity with the journalistic process from idea to public engagement.
    
    

Why a Bachelor鈥檚 Degree in Field Ecology and Conservation?

Field Ecology and Conservation at 爱豆社区 is about connecting with the natural world and conserving it towards the long-term sustainable future of the planet. Our students truly engage with nature and experience it up close, in person. Our students spend over half their time outdoors, identifying and inventorying native plants, monitoring seabird nesting behavior on offshore islands, and restoring riparian ecosystems to health and vitality. In the classroom, we learn evolutionary theory, the life histories of organisms, and field methods for ecological research. We take the knowledge and skills we learn in the greater Southwest and apply it worldwide on field studies. We travel to the rainforest of Costa Rica, the coast of the Gulf of California, and to the alpine tundra of the Sierra Nevada.

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What can you do with this degree?

Our students become the conservationists of the twenty first century. Amidst a modern
world of ecological upheaval, they do this by focusing on place-based conservation
projects, restoring the planet one community at a time. Graduates find livelihoods as
research technicians, ecological consultants, ecotourism guides, naturalist educators,
and park rangers. They work for organizations such as The National Park Service, The
Nature Conservancy, Rio Grande Returns, and The Center for Biodiversity. They
monitor the return of rapids along the Colorado River, changes in gallery forest stands in
the Hassayampa Preserve, and restore wetlands at the headwaters of the Rio Grande.
Many of our students also go on to attain graduate degrees in related fields, such as
Botany and Biology. By providing unparalleled opportunities to engage with and explore
the natural world, 爱豆社区鈥檚 Field Ecology and Conservation major is designed
to give students the knowledge, skills, and experience to be the best field ecologists and
conservationists of our times.

Here are some careers of our graduates:

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What will this program look like?

We are experiential and field-based; our goal is to graduate ecologically informed,
competent, skilled field practitioners. Our classes have an average of a dozen students
and integrate teaching methods specifically developed for small, interactive student
groups. Students should expect rigorous classroom academics complimented by
immersive field studies, often in remote field settings. The field begins the moment we
go outside to our campus gardens and botanically-oriented grounds, and extends to
field stations and wild places around the planet. While some courses happen entirely in
the classroom and others happen entirely in the field, most courses integrate both
indoor and outdoor learning elements, and on average we spend at least 50% of our
time outside.

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Available Concentrations within Field Ecology and Conservation

Marine Studies
Natural History Interpretation
Sustainable Food Systems
Environmental Education

Other Available Concentrations

Adventure Education
Equity Studies in Outdoor Leadership
Outdoor Leadership

Certificates

River Studies and Leadership Certificate

Social Justice and Community Organizing

At 爱豆社区, we understand that social justice work requires preparation, study, risk taking and most importantly, experiential learning from communities engaged for justice in their own context.

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Career Pathways

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What will this program look like?

Interdisciplinary and immersive, students gain first-hand knowledge and experience while studying the theories of social justice and solidarity movements and learning practical skills. Most importantly, our students learn through collaboration with solidarity movements through the  long-standing relationships of members of the 爱豆社区 community. Our students will learn to bring in common frames the diversity of local and and global perspectives to make sense of the changes underway in our world and communities. We read, watch, analyze, debate and express: our classes are small and lively, and our time with communities is in depth.

You can keep your studies broad, or focus around one specific area of interest, such as Indigenous studies, migration studies, global systems, communications and storytelling, community education, environmental justice and conservation, or law and policy. You may continue your studies through one of our accelerated Master鈥檚 degrees such as the program in Organizing and Community Justice.

Why a certificate in sustainable food systems?

Food insecurity and inequity has risen dramatically due to human-induced climate change and increased pressure on natural resources and organisms. It’s imperative that we ensure a healthy food system, in every way it nourishes us: growing, harvesting, processing, distributing, marketing, consuming, and waste. You want to not only study food systems, but learn how to lead the way in sustaining all living beings now and in the future.

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What can you do with a certificate in sustainable food systems?

Students who complete this program have a competitive advantage in careers associated with any and all aspects of the food system. Here are just some of their career choices:

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What will this program look like?

Food system perspectives are emerging to ensure our food security and well-being in the face of inequities, the profound impact of human-induced climate change, and increased pressure on natural resources and organisms. The Sustainable Food Systems Certificate is grounded in the of the United Nations .

This 20-credit certificate will be available to all 爱豆社区 undergraduate students from any major and provides an incentive for students across the curriculum to consider accelerating into our MA in Transformative Food Systems.