Role call!

[BlueSwedeShoes]

I figured a good way to start off the interdisciplinary section would be to see who is studying what (or would like to study at least).

My degrees are in cognitive science, an interdisciplinary field that includes computer science, psychology, linguistics, philosophy, neuroscience and anthropology. My focus (i.e. my Masters) is in risk and accident analysis, human factors (aka ergonomics aka systems engineering aka engineering psychology aka applied cognitive and industrial psychology aka a lot of other names) and cognitive systems engineering.

I haven't seen anyone else in my field (or even close to it) on these boards yet

So I get by by talking psychology with the psychologists (I'm even a member of Psi Chi!), computer science (HCI to be specific) with computer scientists (I've published HCI papers!), neuro with neuroscientists (I'm a member of SfN and have had posters at the annual meeting!), anthro to anthropologists, linguistics with grammar nazislinguists and so on...but if there's any HF/CSE/Ergonomics people out there, come out, come out wherever you are...

[hellopsy]

Yay for interdisciplinary -- I love it that we get to talk to people with such differnt backgrounds!

I'm doing decision making research in a human factors lab, with undergrad degrees in psychology and information systems. Most of the programs I'm applying to are in traditional psych, with a couple from cognitive science and org behavior -- realize the profs I'm interested in are all over the place, which made applying rather difficult because they all had different requirements.

[Victorianna]

American History, UK History, and Women's Studies here.

[missesENG]

I've applied to a combination of programs for English and Women's studies (see my sig) and one in American Civilization. I've already done an MA in English with a concentration in Women's and Gender studies.

[coyabean]

Awesome! I'm also on the Anth boards but I have several Interdiscp. programs on my list and, ultimately, my research interests cross all kinds of boundaries.

I am somewhere at the intersection of higher education, history and sociology of education, complex societies, urban and policy studies, ethnography and critical race studies. My project would employ a mix of ethnography and quantitative analysis to determine how neighborhoods and colleges share space and participate, respectively, in knowledge production both formal and informal. And GAH if I'd had that succinct line four months ago when I sent off my first app I'd be feeling a lot more confident. LOL My UG is in English and Poli. Sci.

Anyone here apply to USC's ASE program? I think it would be a dream.

[UnlikelyGrad]

Although geochemistry is usually lumped into the earth sciences, at my school it's considered an interdisciplinary program which includes a lot more chemistry stuff than most programs.

My thesis is going to be a mish-mash of chemistry, geology, and environmental engineering.

[liszt85]

Completed a masters in Physics. Then decided to shift to Cognitive Psychology. (Want to be studying music cognition). Working on mathematical modeling of human memory at the moment (My adviser is from the Computer Sciences background, our collaborators are in the Computer Sci dept here). Also about to start working on a side project in music cognition with a professor at the music dept. Will use concepts from Physics in the former. Its all working out well and I'm happy.

[BlueSwedeShoes]

Completed a masters in Physics. Then decided to shift to Cognitive Psychology. (Want to be studying music cognition). Working on mathematical modeling of human memory at the moment (My adviser is from the Computer Sciences background, our collaborators are in the Computer Sci dept here). Also about to start working on a side project in music cognition with a professor at the music dept. Will use concepts from Physics in the former. Its all working out well and I'm happy.

That sounds really interesting

Also, if I may ask, why did you shift from physics to psych? And how did you go about it?

[repatriate]

Completed a masters in Physics. Then decided to shift to Cognitive Psychology. (Want to be studying music cognition). Working on mathematical modeling of human memory at the moment (My adviser is from the Computer Sciences background, our collaborators are in the Computer Sci dept here). Also about to start working on a side project in music cognition with a professor at the music dept. Will use concepts from Physics in the former. Its all working out well and I'm happy.

Funny, my primary field of interest is cognitive/social psychology (with some anthropology, religious studies, experimental philosophy thrown in), but I tell people my backup plan is to switch to physics--though physics is totally unrelated to my current research area.

[t_ruth]

Completed a masters in Physics. Then decided to shift to Cognitive Psychology. (Want to be studying music cognition). Working on mathematical modeling of human memory at the moment (My adviser is from the Computer Sciences background, our collaborators are in the Computer Sci dept here). Also about to start working on a side project in music cognition with a professor at the music dept. Will use concepts from Physics in the former. Its all working out well and I'm happy.

check your PM box

[Sparky]

Funny, my primary field of interest is cognitive/social psychology (with some anthropology, religious studies, experimental philosophy thrown in)

Sweet. It's not anywhere on my academic radar, but reading about so-called 'neurotheology' is a hobby of mine.

I study/want to keep studying, please, medieval Christianity, which is at the intersection of religion/theology, history, philosophy and literature. Like yusername's case, the departments I'm applying to are all across the board, so you can imagine how much fun writing five almost completely different SOPs has been.

Oh, and my undergrad degree is in African politics, of all things. I am convinced I only got into a religion MA program b/c the adcom was like OMGAFRICA!!11!

[Febronia]

I focus on Syriac studies and the other traditions of the Christian East (Coptic, Armenian, Ethiopian, etc.). Most of my programs are in religion/theology, but my coursework and faculty supervisors seem to be all over the place. (NELC, East Asian studies, Eastern European studies, classics, history, Byzantine studies, etc.)

I confess one of my ultimate dreams would probably be this:

http://www.gsas.harvard.edu/current_students/ad_hoc_degrees.php

Harvard awards "ad hoc" degrees outside of any one department. In other words, you can do a doctorate in "The Various That I Like Because They're Cool"! I designed an independent major as an undergraduate, so that's just the sort of thing that I *love*. (Of course, first you have to get into Harvard, and then you have to get accepted into that program, but still...it looks awesome.)

[coyabean]

I confess one of my ultimate dreams would probably be this:

http://www.gsas.harvard.edu/current_students/ad_hoc_degrees.php

Harvard awards "ad hoc" degrees outside of any one department. In other words, you can do a doctorate in "The Various That I Like Because They're Cool"! I designed an independent major as an undergraduate, so that's just the sort of thing that I *love*. (Of course, first you have to get into Harvard, and then you have to get accepted into that program, but still...it looks awesome.)

That does, indeed, look awesome. I'm like you. If I could I would get a PhD in Everything.

Really, knowing to me is too big for disciplines. I want a little econ, a little cognitive theory, a little public policy, urban studies, education, and sociology and religion and history.

[piccgeek]

Oh my goodness...can I come out hiding now? Awesome.

I'm applying to a science writing program, which basically means I will be doing the reading/textual research in areas of science, rather than being in a lab and producing any exciting new research myself, and then making that information accessible and palatable to an audience of non-scientists. The program encourages biographical research of key scientists and innovators, and also (my favorite) looking at the cultural importance and impact of science and technology. I'm hoping to look at hearing loss in young adults, with all the biological, technological, and sociological goodies you can think of to go with that (8 years of marching band means I know LOTS of twenty-two-year-olds with the hearing of people four times their age. It's sad). So, my program is like a hard science-soft science-MFA burrito. (You know, unless I don't get in. Then I guess I'm back to being a boring old literature student.)

Edited January 12, 2010 by piccgeek

[coyabean]

Oh my goodness...can I come out hiding now? Awesome.

I'm applying to a science writing program, which basically means I will be doing the reading/textual research in areas of science, rather than being in a lab and producing any exciting new research myself, and then making that information accessible and palatable to an audience of non-scientists. The program encourages biographical research of key scientists and innovators, and also (my favorite) looking at the cultural importance and impact of science and technology. I'm hoping to look at hearing loss in young adults, with all the biological, technological, and sociological goodies you can think of to go with that (8 years of marching band means I know LOTS of twenty-two-year-olds with the hearing of people four times their age. It's sad). So, my program is like a hard science-soft science-MFA burrito. (You know, unless I don't get in. Then I guess I'm back to being a boring old literature student.)

That sounds incredible. Never heard of it but I can so tremendous opportunity with that degree. One of the problems life sciences' have, I think, is effectively communicating what they do and how it matters for popular audiences. Cool.

[piccgeek]

That sounds incredible. Never heard of it but I can so tremendous opportunity with that degree. One of the problems life sciences' have, I think, is effectively communicating what they do and how it matters for popular audiences. Cool.

I think it sounds incredible too! I had never heard of it until I was already in grad school for the lit stuff, which means I think my app is seriously lacking in hard science because I didn't think I would ever actually, you know, USE hard science. I've always been an amateur enthusiast in biology, and I've done stuff on philosophy/history of science, but now I'm kicking myself in the ass about only taking one bio class.

My SOP actually talked a lot about how important it is for the life sciences to be communicated and understood properly, and one of my writing samples was about the popular mythologization of science...basically the layperson perspective that lab coat + graphs = science = facts = truth. There's actually a whole scholarly journal called "Popular Opinions of Science" (I think...) which is a scholarly look (mostly sociological, but it's definitely interdisciplinary) at how non-scientists/non-scholars think about and use science in their lives. Very insteresting stuff!!

[Sparky]

My SOP actually talked a lot about how important it is for the life sciences to be communicated and understood properly

Had I applied for this program, my SOP would have included, "I plan to spend my life translating back issues of Scientific American into English..."

[palindrome]

I'm applying to Cognitive Science programs, with primary interests in psychology & linguistics and a quantitative/computational bent (I was a math & econ major in college). Good luck!

Edited January 24, 2010 by palindrome

[palindrome]

I focus on Syriac studies and the other traditions of the Christian East (Coptic, Armenian, Ethiopian, etc.). Most of my programs are in religion/theology, but my coursework and faculty supervisors seem to be all over the place. (NELC, East Asian studies, Eastern European studies, classics, history, Byzantine studies, etc.)

Cool stuff! It's crazy that the Nestorians once rivaled the Roman Church in extent and influence (Nestorian churches in China! Priests in Genghis Khan's court!). The spread of Syriac Christianity is a really great example of how globalization is not a modern phenomenon, and of how West and East have come to terms with each other throughout history.

Good luck!

[Infinite Monkeys]

Hi all!

I'm definitely more on the interdisciplinary end of things. I'm happiest working with the intersection of American lit, religion, and pop culture; however, I'm fine with just calling it religion and American lit. All eight programs I applied to allow for or require a significant amount of working outside the specific department, with one program (Comparative Studies) depending on the ability to work comfortably with multiple fields.

I study the way religion and literature feed off of one another: religious trends inform our literature (not just novels and such, but other media often "read" as lit), and, in return, the literature reflects or critiques the religious trends. It's this crazy push-pull that has, since the Puritans, worked itself into one big fascinating knot. We can't completely escape it, and the reasons and the patterns and the depictions are just so much fun to consider.

...or maybe it's just me. Hopefully, me and whatever programs let me in.