Major Departures, Double Majors, and Minors

In addition to majors, there are also major departures, double majors, minors and concentrations to consider. This page aims to demystify these options and provide you with sufficient details to make your choices.

Click on one of the links below to jump to more information on the option of interest to you.

• Major Departures: majors in Course 21 other than CMS, 21A, 21F, 21H, 21L, 21M or 21W.
  
  
• Double majors: an option for a second major.
  
  
• Minors: less comprehensive courses of study than a major (approximately 72 units).
  
  
• Concentrations: courses of study that have fewer requirements than a minor (approximately 36-48 units).

Major Departures

A Major Departure is a major in Course 21 other than CMS, 21A, 21F, 21H, 21L, 21M or 21W. It results in an SB in Humanities (such as those courses listed below). These majors are not declared via the course selection form; they are arranged by special permission of the Dean of the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. A student interested in a 'Major Departure' must submit a proposal, signed by a Faculty Advisor in the field of the Major Departure, to the HASS office for the Dean's approval.

Students interested in a major departure should contact Dr. Bette Davis in the HASS Education Office for guidelines and procedures.

The current list of Faculty Coordinators for each of the major departures listed below can be found on the SHASS website at: http://shass.mit.edu/undergraduate/mmj/majors.

• American Studies: You may be interested in American literature, folklore or popular culture; in black history and culture; in women's studies; in American history, politics, or law; in the history of science and technology; in American art, architecture, or music -- whatever the special focus of your interests, American Studies may be the right major for you. American Studies gives you a chance to thoroughly study American society and culture through its history, literature, art, politics, science, music, etc., by constructing interdisciplinary programs, made up of subjects drawn from different disciplines, centered on your particular interests. One aim of American Studies is to help you understand the underlying system of beliefs that informs every aspect of American culture -- its myths, institutions, politics and literature, its characteristic dreams and rituals. Another is to understand the uses and limits of different methods and intellectual disciplines as tools for exploring the complexities of a culture. And a third, no less important, is to understand the American present in relation to the American past. To these you will add your own objectives
  
  
• Ancient and Medieval Studies: The major departure in Ancient and Medieval Studies offers students an opportunity to develop knowledge and understanding of the more distant past, both for itself in its uniqueness, and as an object of specifically modern questions and methods of inquiry. Study is devoted to the structure of institutions and social systems, and to relationships between the social order and learned traditions, values, ideologies and ideas. Ancient and medieval societies from a wide variety of geographical regions draw a special claim on our interest from the fact that the historical record is so full and multiform and that much of it is of exceptionally high quality at once in substance and form. Subjects in the major are drawn from a number of disciplines distributed across the humanities, arts, social sciences and languages, allowing students to explore topics which range from the history of ideas and institutions to that of material artifacts, literature and certain of the original languages. The chronological span of the program includes some 6,500 years between 5000 BC and 1500 CE, while the geographical spread covers three continents. Students will be expected to demonstrate proficiency in either Greek, Latin or a medieval vernacular, but they need not concentrate their other subjects on the area associated with that language.
  
  
  
• East Asian Studies: The Major Departure in East Asian Studies is designed for students interested in serious intensive research on the language, history, politics, and culture of Asia. East Asia, strictly defined, includes the countries which share a common background in the Chinese classical tradition: the present-day People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, but the core offerings at MIT cover China and Japan. The goal of the Major program is to provide balanced coverage of language, humanistic, and contemporary social science offerings on the region and to expose students to some comparative perspectives within the region. The MIT Departments of Foreign Languages and Literatures, History, and Political Science offer a substantial number of subjects on East Asia. All Major Departure students must write a senior thesis on a topic of their choice to be determined in consultation with an MIT faculty member whose specialty falls within East Asian studies. The thesis research may include knowledge of an East Asian language.
  
  
• Latin American Studies: Latin American Studies is designed for students interested in the language, history, politics, and culture of Latin America. The classes concentrate mostly on those areas formerly colonized by Spain, although students are not required to focus their study exclusively on these areas. Students are encouraged to develop a program that is both international and comparative in perspective and that takes into account the heterogeneous cultural experiences of people living in the vast territory loosely termed Latin America, as well as those people living in the United States who identify themselves as Latino.
  
  
• Psychology: For more information on this major departure, please contact Alan Hein, Ph.D., Professor of Experimental Psychology, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Building NE20-350, hein@mit.edu.
  
  
  
• Russian Studies: At the beginning of the eighteenth century Tsarist Russia began to come into its own as an Empire and a major European power. By the time of its collapse in 1991 the former Soviet Union encompassed a geographical area that covered one-sixth of the Earth's land mass. It spanned 11 time zones and contained over 100 distinct nationalities, 22 of which numbered over one million in population. The major departure in Russian Studies allows students to take courses in Russian history, politics, language and literature. Through these studies the student can gain an inside understanding of one of the most important countries in the world. Students may also use this major departure to concentrate in East European studies, though they must be willing to take courses at Harvard in order to make that happen.
  
  
• Theater Arts: The MIT Theater Arts Program is committed to fostering the intellectual and artistic development of MIT students. We look at theater from the past and present with an eye to theaters of the future. MIT Theater Arts works in such diverse forms as scripted plays, actor-created theater, musical theater, and theater of identity; a broad range of styles and genres characterizes the interests and skills of the faculty and the MIT community. Every student's individual and cultural perspective is welcome in a collaborative working environment. Faculty, staff, and students strive together to master the art of theater as a means of expression as well as a discipline. MIT Theater Arts encourages inquiry as the cornerstone of both personal and intellectual growth
  
  
• Women's and Gender Studies (WGS): The MIT Program in Women's Studies is an interdisciplinary undergraduate Program which provides a framework and community for scholarly inquiry focusing on women, gender and sexuality. Exploring the roles of gender cross-culturally, historically, and artistically, Women's Studies subjects strive to help MIT students better understand various constructions of knowledge and value, and to realize the range of personal and intellectual discoveries made possible by using gender as a category of analysis. Note: Women's Studies can be declared via the Course 21E or 21S options, see those Course Profiles or the WGS departure profile for full information.)

See the On-line MIT Bulletin for additional information on majors and major departures within the School Humanities Arts and Social Sciences (HASS). For additional information on Major Departures, contact Bette Davis in the HASS Education Office, 14N-408, 3-4443, bkdavis@mit.edu.

Double Majors

To learn more about the double major option and application process, please see: http://web.mit.edu/doublemajor

• For information on Pre-Med, go to the Career Development Center page at: http://web.mit.edu/career/www/preprof/premed.html.
  
  
• For information about Pre-Law, go to the Career Development Center page at: http://web.mit.edu/career/www/preprof/prelaw.html.
  
  
• For information about Pre-Dental, go to the Career Development Center page at: http://web.mit.edu/career/www/preprof/predental.html.
  
• The MITCO site also provides information on other health related fields that may be of interest.

Minors

At MIT a minor is a less comprehensive course of study than a major (approximately 72 units). Below is a list of Minors that you can declare in Science, Engineering, or Architecture Field and in Humanities, Arts, or Social Sciences

Click on the minor of interest to you below in order to jump to the information on the minor. Note: this information is not housed on this site, these links will bring you to the minors web page or the MIT Bulletin description.

For more information and specific procedures for declaring a minor see the Minor Programs section of the MIT Bulletin.

A Concentration is a course of study that has fewer requirements than a minor (approximately 36-48 units). All students must have a HASS concentration as part of their HASS requirement. See http://web.mit.edu/hass/www/conc.html for more information on HASS concentrations. Many majors require concentrations in area(s) within the department; see individual Course Profiles for details.

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