CSUMB offers new major: Interdisciplinary studies

By Mark Muckenfuss

Cal State Monterey Bay is adding another bachelor’s degree to its offerings this fall. Interdisciplinary studies, a new program in the College of Education, is being overseen by Scott Waltz, a professor and chair of the Liberal Studies department. 

Waltz said the recently approved major has been several years in the making and is targeted, in part, at students who may be struggling in a traditional degree path, but want a strong set of employment skills like creative problem-solving that thinking across disciplines can provide. 

In addition to providing an increasingly popular major for undergraduates, Waltz said, it’s a way to “open up the university to working adults who have taken courses, but who need a more flexible pathway to complete their degree."

"Unlike the multidisciplinary liberal arts degree, which emphasizes learning the content in each of the subject areas that elementary school educators will be teaching, an interdisciplinary studies degree requires an in-depth focus across two disciplines." 

“Students draw from problem-solving tactics in both of those disciplines to tackle complex problems,” Waltz said. 

He gave the example of a Sonoma Valley vintner who reenergized his flagging winery business by recognizing he wasn’t reaching the significant local Latiné community. By re-theming his marketing and incorporating cultural elements into his decor, his business improved.

“He solved a business problem, in part, by being aware of a market, but also by employing cultural awareness,” Waltz said.

Similarly, he said, students who want to work in a healthcare field but don’t want to pursue a nursing or medical degree, might combine such disciplines as public health (another new major for Fall 2026) and business administration. 

Waltz said the program already has 15 registered students, and he expects more to come on board. CSUMB is one of a growing number of universities to offer the degree. 

“It is a growing trend, but I don’t think it’s in the national eye yet,” he said.

A recent study by Data USA found the major is growing nearly 3% nationally each year.

It’s a unique program, Waltz said, in that it isn’t tied to any single college or department.

“It’s a campus offering because we’re working across all departments,” he said. “By definition, this is a silo breaker. It is about networking across the university.”

It not only opens up new connections but also creates new opportunities.

“The focus areas are really up to the students,” Watlz said. “What they’ll choose, I don’t know. It’s kind of exciting that way.”