New College, comprised of an Interdisciplinary Studies program for on-campus students and its LifeTrack program for distance students, is The University of Alabama’s commitment to providing personalized higher education. It is an interdisciplinary liberal arts program where highly motivated undergraduate students craft individualized courses of study, or "depth studies," consistent with their interests, aptitude, temperament, and skills. Each student, with the assistance of a dedicated advisor, builds a depth study that includes coursework from across the University, supplemented by study abroad, community-based learning, research opportunities, and independent or self-directed study. Both on-campus and distance students in the Interdisciplinary Studies programs have the opportunity to learn in highly interactive seminar environments. New College also is home to the Applied Liberal Arts and Sciences degree, a multidisciplinary degree-completion program for on-campus students who have earned at least 80 credit hours.
Programs
The major objective of New College is to create an opportunity for a highly individualized education that allows students to draw from the resources of all University classes and faculty. New College's Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum has two principle elements. The first element is the depth study, which is the student’s area of concentration. The second element is the New College seminar component, which provides students with opportunities to explore integrative themes spanning the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. The interdisciplinary experience in New College affords excellent preparation for students with ambitions for graduate study or for professional careers in various areas, including law and medicine. The Applied Liberal Arts and Sciences program provides an opportunity for students to complete the requirements of two existing minors to earn their B.A. degree.
Faculty
Director
- Cherry, Julia A.
Assistant Director
- Miller, John C. H.
Assistant Director, Applied Liberal Arts and Sciences
- Espy-Brown, Amanda S.
Professors
- Brickman, Barbara J.
- Cherry, Julia A.
- Dewar, Andrew R.
- Miller, John C. H.
- Roach, Catherine M.
- Steinberg, Michael K.
Associate Professors
- Hopson, Holland G.
- Willis, Vincent
Assistant Professors
- Byg, Reed L.
- Elliott, Emily A.
- Espy-Brown, Amanda S.
- Pirkle, Amy L.
Instructors
- Caputo, Jennifer L.
- Connell, P. Leah
- Dzhurova, Albena
- Colburn, Kimberly R.
- Jones, Scott P.
Professors emeriti
- Blewitt, Harry L.
- Spears, Ellen G.
Courses
A freshman compass course familiarizing first-year students with University requirements and resources. Course also covers integrative learning across the liberal arts to maximize opportunities in undergraduate programs. Encouraged for undecided students and those considering an Interdisciplinary Studies major through New College.
Idea Lab is an interdisciplinary research incubator that challenges and empowers students to engage in a collaborative, semester-long research project. In addition to learning best practices in interdisciplinary research, students will learn broadly applicable research skills to approach problems or questions from a range of perspectives.
American society today features more cultural acceptance and legal protection than ever before for sexual and gender diversity, but we don’t always know how to live out these changing norms and how to talk about controversial sexual material in the public sphere. This course engages debates around sexuality as central to human behavior and to social structures, in both America and the world. It provides an overview of the “new sexual revolution” and the growing interdisciplinary field of sexuality studies. The course adopts a consent-based model of sexual wellbeing. Its approach is sex-positive—aiming toward sexual justice, responsibility, and pleasure—within a classroom that functions as an open and affirming space for discussion and learning. Students gain the knowledge, critical thinking skills, and cultural competence to evaluate for themselves issues of sexuality in society.
This interdisciplinary seminar uses creativity as an organizing principle. Emphasizing history and appreciation rather than performance, this course explores human culture and consciousness through reading, writing, the arts, projects, studios, and discussion.