Hi everyone! I’m CJ, a junior at Scripps studying neuroscience and dance! When I tell people what I’m studying, I’ll often get something like: “That’s an interesting combo!” And it’s true! When I was applying to college, I knew I wanted to pursue both these areas quite intensely in college. I found Scripps to be the perfect place for this: not only can you pursue very different fields of study, but Scripps really encourages you to! This is seen in the general education requirements and also in the combinations students have in terms of what they’re studying. Most of my friends are double/dual majors or have a major and minor. Often these are in typically very “different disciplines” like math and art or physics and dance.
One of my favorite parts about being at Scripps is seeing all the fascinating ways people combine their seemingly separate interests. Personally, I’ve been able to combine my interests in a research project I’ve been working on since my first year. I look at how we can study cognition through a movement analysis system used by dancers. The ability to engage in interdisciplinary research has really inspired me to continue down this path. The professor I conduct this work with was very encouraging of my interdisciplinary interests, even though I started with little to no neuroscience experience.
Scripps is an awesome place to pursue multiple interests, and even combine them if you wish (culminating in a dual major thesis– one thesis for two majors). I hope this gave you some insight into interdisciplinary studies at Scripps!