Major

Major

An academic major is a curriculum component that enables students to make an in-depth inquiry into a discipline or a professional field of study. It is organized around a specific set of goals, objectives and student learning outcomes that are accomplished through an ordered series of courses whose connections define an internal structure. A major that focuses on a discipline typically draws its courses predominantly from one department. One that encompasses a professional field of study or is interdisciplinary usually obtains its courses from more than one department or school.

Departments or dependent schools have the responsibility for administering majors within their unit and for approving particular programs of study and appropriate course substitutions for students. Those departments involved with interdisciplinary majors perform the same functions as individual departments. Courses taken to fulfill other academic requirements (e.g., minors) sometimes are specified within the requirements for a degree; however, students may not declare a major and a minor in the same discipline.

One important aspect of a major is the opportunity it affords students to study a field in depth. A major introduces students to a discipline or field of study through a foundation of theory and method, which serves as a basis for further study. It exposes them to the gamut of topics examined and the analytical devices used in the study of the subject. It contains a core series of courses of advancing levels of knowledge and understanding. Study in depth provides students with an understanding of the fundamental problems and arguments of a discipline or field of study, as well as its limits. It affords students practice with the tools of the subject, introduces them to its historical and philosophical foundations and gives them a clear sense of its boundaries and its effectiveness as a means for understanding or serving human society.

Per the Ohio Department of Higher Education guidelines, a major must comprise a minimum of 30 credit hours of specialized study leading to both breadth and depth in a particular discipline. A technical major within the applied associate degree (A.A.B., A.A.S.) must include a minimum 12 credit hours of coursework and constitutes an area of specialization.