New interdisciplinary degree enables job flexibility and understanding of the region
Very few people in today’s working world do not, over the course of a working life, change jobs multiple times and even have multiple careers. This new economic reality is one of the operating principles behind Shepherd University’s newest Interdisciplinary Appalachian Studies BA/BS undergraduate degree, a degree unlike any other at Shepherd or across the region.
With degree core courses and required electives trimmed or streamlined and courses specifically to teaching both ethical values and thinking creatively outside the box, students pursuing this new degree have the opportunity and flexibility to explore a radically different approach to preparing themselves for a contemporary working world. This approach to learning provides focus on acquiring the knowledge and skills to enter an array of fields, with a solid understanding of the unique region of Appalachia where they live, while giving them the confidence and flexibility to negotiate the complex economic world they will face upon graduation.
Shepherd University’s newest degree is like no other in the nation. While it prepares students to enter fields in the working world, such as business, the environment, leisure and service industries, politics, recreation and nonprofits, it also gives students a profound understanding of the Appalachian story, a powerful and authentic story often distorted and stereotyped.
This degree prepares students to look both inwardly to understand their own cultural roots and identity, but also to look outwardly through the Global Appalachia and Celtic Roots component of the program, gaining a larger world-view essential in the complex and global economy that young people face today.
The most exciting features of the new BA/BS Interdisciplinary APST degree are the two required minors, which expand the graduate’s toolbox for the working world, the Global Appalachia and Celtic Roots components of the new degree, the flexibility for students to choose either a BA track (graduate school preparation) or BS track (working-world preparation), and an optional semester abroad at the University of West of Scotland and other curricular partners in lieu of the required electives in the degree.
The two different curricular tracks in the new interdisciplinary degree program prepare students to move forward either to pursue a graduate degree in law, history, education or business if they choose the BA track, or to enter the practical, working world directly in fields associated with business, the environment, local and national politics, the parks and leisure studies, publication and editing if they choose the BS degree track and two specialized minors.
Both degree tracks encourage students to contribute to and become engaged in community service, with the goal of remaining and working in the Appalachian region after graduation.
For information about the new degree and the opportunity for scholarships at Shepherd University, visit https://www.shepherd.edu/appalachian or contact the Shepherd University Admissions Office at admissions@shepherd.edu or 304-876-5212.
Sylvia Bailey Shurbutt is the director of the Center for Appalachian Studies and Communities at Shepherd University. She can be contacted at sshurbut@shepherd.edu.