*Available to students with a catalog year of 2023 or prior* This concentration enables students to understand and assess society within international, human and social contexts. Students can focus on business, conflict transformation, or a specific geographical area.
Catalog Year: 2023-2024
Banner Code: LA-BA-INTS-INST
The Bachelor of Arts in Integrative Studies brings together research, theory and practice across numerous disciplines. Integrative studies majors select a multidisciplinary concentration or work with student services staff to develop their own concentration, uniquely suited to their academic and career goals. Integrative studies majors explore new topics and experiences while gaining the knowledge and skills needed to enter the workforce. Required coursework is offered in small classes with ample room for discussion, collaborative learning, and experiential learning, including in-community projects, volunteer opportunities, field work, internships and work with faculty on research that directly engages current social and global challenges.
The University Catalog is the authoritative source for information on program requirements and courses. The Schedule of Classes is the authoritative source for information on classes scheduled for this semester. See the Schedule for the most up-to-date information and see Patriot web to register for classes. Requirements may be different for earlier catalog years. See the University Catalog archives.
Total credits: minimum 120
Students should be aware of the specific policies associated with this program, located on the Admissions & Policies tab.
Students pursuing a BA in Integrative Studies must complete a minimum of 30 credits of (INTS) coursework, with at least 15 credits at the 300 and 400 levels.
Integrative studies students complete INTS 391 Understanding Integrative Studies and INTS 491 Senior Capstone and choose a concentration from the options below. Before registering, students should see an advisor to help plan their degree program to meet Mason requirements. The advisor also can help students choose electives or a minor.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| INTS 391 | Understanding Integrative Studies | 1 |
| INTS 491 | Senior Capstone | 3 |
| Total Credits | 4 | |
A concentration is the equivalent of a major in a traditional degree program. Concentration coursework combines integrative studies (INTS) classes with coursework from other Mason units (departments, schools, and colleges). While fulfilling the concentration requirements, students are also responsible for completing a minimum of 30 credits of INTS coursework. Any INTS courses required for the concentration will apply. Students must present a minimum GPA of 2.00 in courses applied to the concentration.
Addresses world issues, examining the natural environment, globalization, media and technologies, and war and violent conflict, while deepening understanding of an increasingly interdependent world. This concentration prepares students for:
Students complete the following coursework:
All students must demonstrate language proficiency at the intermediate level through coursework (a Mason course numbered 202) or proficiency testing.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| INTS 303 | Introduction to International Studies (Mason Core) | 3 |
| INTS 362 | Social Justice and Human Rights (Mason Core) | 3 |
| INTS 435 | Leadership in a Changing Environment | 3-4 |
| or INTS 406 | Global Leadership (Mason Core) | |
| Total Credits | 9-10 | |
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select one course from the following: | 3 | |
| Spirituality and Healing (Mason Core) | ||
| Religion and Politics | ||
| Religion, Values, and Globalization | ||
| Women in Religious Traditions | ||
| Comparative Study of Religions (Mason Core) | ||
| Total Credits | 3 | |
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select one course from the following: | 3 | |
| Global Environmental Hazards | ||
| Geography of Resource Conservation (Mason Core) | ||
| Population Geography (Mason Core) | ||
| Economic Geography | ||
| Total Credits | 3 | |
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select one course from the following: | 3 | |
| Civilizations | ||
| Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Globalization (Mason Core) | ||
| Globalization and Culture (Mason Core) | ||
| Introduction to Global Affairs (Mason Core) | ||
| Digital Futures | ||
| Globalization and Society (Mason Core) | ||
| Globalization and Social Change (Mason Core) | ||
| Total Credits | 3 | |
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select one course from the following: | 3-6 | |
| Sustainable World (Mason Core) | ||
| Environmental Justice (Mason Core) | ||
| Conservation Biology (Mason Core) | ||
| Plants and People - Sustenance, Ceremony, and Sustainability | ||
| Global Environmental Ethics (Mason Core) | ||
| Total Credits | 3-6 | |
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select one course from the following: | 3 | |
| Political Anthropology (Mason Core) | ||
| Political Geography (Mason Core) | ||
| International Relations Theory | ||
| Total Credits | 3 | |
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select one course from the following: | 3-6 | |
| Law and Justice (Mason Core) | ||
| Social Movements and Community Activism (Mason Core) | ||
| Conflict, Trauma and Healing | ||
| Spirituality and Conflict Transformation (Mason Core) | ||
| Refugee and Internal Displacement (Mason Core) | ||
| Human Trafficking and Smuggling | ||
| Race and Ethnicity in a Changing World (Mason Core) | ||
| Total Credits | 3-6 | |
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select one course from the following: | 3-4 | |
| Global Dance Perspectives I (Mason Core) | ||
| Global Dance Perspectives II (Mason Core) | ||
| Global Voices (Mason Core) | ||
| The Idea of a World Literature (Mason Core) | ||
| World Literatures in English | ||
| Musics of the World (Mason Core) | ||
| Art as Social Action (Mason Core) | ||
| World Stages (Mason Core) | ||
| Total Credits | 3-4 | |
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select three electives 1 | 9-12 | |
| Total Credits | 9-12 | |
| 1 |
Students take three additional courses focused on an international area of their interest with the advice and approval of an adviser. |
Combines a liberal arts curriculum and the practicality of business skills, focused around a central idea: knowing how people react to organizations and how organizations react to people. This concentration prepares students for:
Understanding the interdisciplinary nature of leadership and its application to personal, organizational and societal development
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| INTS 204 | Leadership Theory and Practice | 4 |
| Choose one of the following: | 3-4 | |
| Leadership in a Changing Environment | ||
| Global Leadership (Mason Core) | ||
| Leadership and Organizational Problem-Solving | ||
| Total Credits | 7-8 | |
Developing a heightened sense of self, including: inner knowledge, core values, intersecting identities, well-being, and impact on others
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select one course from the following: | 3-4 | |
| Women and Leadership | ||
| Mindfulness, Meaning Well-Being | ||
| Science of Well Being | ||
| Total Credits | 3-4 | |
Understanding ethical approaches to leadership and change, and applying ethics in personal and organizational processes
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select one course from the following: | 3-4 | |
| Ethics and Leadership | ||
| Business Ethics | ||
| Ethics and Economics | ||
| Total Credits | 3-4 | |
Understanding team and organizational learning
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select one course from the following: | 3-4 | |
| College to Career Skills | ||
| The Nonprofit Sector (Mason Core) | ||
| Social Psychology (Mason Core) | ||
| Total Credits | 3-4 | |
Demonstrating competence in personal and professional communication
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select one course from the following: | 3-4 | |
| Public Speaking and Critical Thinking Skills (Mason Core) | ||
| Small Group Communication | ||
| Issues in Intercultural Communication | ||
| Nonverbal Communication | ||
| Total Credits | 3-4 | |
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select four courses from the following that have not already been taken to fulfill a core concentration requirement. | 12-18 | |
| Survey of Accounting | ||
| Accounting for Decision Making | ||
| Legal Environment of Business | ||
| Business Analytics I (Mason Core) | ||
| Develop Professional Skills II: Advanced Elements | ||
| Business Analytics II | ||
| Financial Management | ||
| Social Movements and Community Activism (Mason Core) | ||
| Conflict Resolution and Transformation | ||
| The Nonprofit Sector (Mason Core) | ||
| Foundations of Resilience and Well-Being | ||
| Leadership and Organizational Problem-Solving | ||
| Global Leadership (Mason Core) | ||
| College to Career Skills | ||
| Principles of Fund Raising | ||
| Introduction to Business Information Systems (Mason Core) | ||
| Principles of Marketing | ||
| Social Psychology (Mason Core) | ||
| The Future of Work | ||
|
Other relevant courses with approval of advisor
|
||
| Total Credits | 12-18 | |
Combines coursework in communication, political systems, criminology, ethics and philosophy, history, and economics to prepare students for the rigors of careers and graduate work in the area of law or legal studies. With advanced planning, students may be eligible for an accelerated law degree through Mason’s Scalia Law School.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| PHIL 173 | Logic and Critical Thinking | 3 |
| INTS 300 | Law and Justice (Mason Core) | 3 |
| CRIM 423 | Constitutional Law: Civil Rights and Liberties | 3 |
| or GOVT 423 | Constitutional Law: Civil Rights and Liberties | |
| CRIM 424 | Constitutional Law: Criminal Process and Rights | 3 |
| or CRIM 430 | Criminal Law | |
| Total Credits | 12 | |
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select one course from the following: | 3 | |
| Research Methods and Analysis in Criminology | ||
| Introduction to Writing and Rhetoric | ||
| Rhetoric of the Essay | ||
| Professional and Technical Writing | ||
| Forms of Nonfiction | ||
| Research for Social Change | ||
|
GOVT 300
|
Research Methods and Analysis (Mason Core) | |
| Qualitative Research Methods | ||
| Total Credits | 3 | |
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select a minimum of 15 credits from the following: | 15 | |
| Legal Environment of Business | ||
| Roman Law and Society | ||
| Case Studies in Persuasion | ||
| Persuasion | ||
| Journalism Law | ||
| Mediating Conflict | ||
| Introduction to Criminal Justice (Mason Core) | ||
| Introduction to Law and Society | ||
| Law and Justice around the World (Mason Core) | ||
| Family Law and the Justice System | ||
| Advanced Topics in Law and Society | ||
| Controversial Legal Issues | ||
| Public Law and the Judicial Process | ||
|
or GOVT 301
|
Public Law and the Judicial Process | |
| Law and Economics | ||
|
GOVT 103
|
Introduction to American Government (Mason Core) | |
|
GOVT 407
|
Law and Society | |
|
GOVT 443
|
Law and Ethics of War | |
|
GOVT 446
|
International Law and Organization | |
|
GOVT 452
|
Administrative Law and Procedures | |
| Healthcare Law | ||
| Family Law and Public Policy | ||
| Public Speaking and Critical Thinking Skills (Mason Core) | ||
| Social Movements and Community Activism (Mason Core) | ||
| Conflict Resolution and Transformation | ||
| Social Justice and Human Rights (Mason Core) | ||
| Poverty, Wealth and Inequality in the US (Mason Core) | ||
| Refugee and Internal Displacement (Mason Core) | ||
| Human Trafficking and Smuggling | ||
| Philosophy of Law | ||
| Religion and Law in the United States | ||
| Criminology | ||
| Sociology of Delinquency | ||
|
Other relevant courses with approval of advisor
|
||
| Total Credits | 15 | |
Examines local, societal, and global issues through both a human rights lens, focusing on the fundamental rights of human beings and how they are secured or denied, and a social justice lens, focusing on societal inequalities and how they are sustained or alleviated. Students develop nuanced understandings of the relationships between individual experience in a local context and global systems of privilege and oppression. This concentration prepares students for:
graduate studies in fields such as human rights education, advocacy, law, and domestic and global justice
careers in legal, nonprofit, educational, and community change organizations and governmental agencies
Students complete the following coursework:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| INTS 334 | Environmental Justice (Mason Core) | 4 |
| INTS 362 | Social Justice and Human Rights (Mason Core) | 3 |
| INTS 337 | Social Justice Consciousness and Action | 3 |
| or INTS 434 | Research for Social Change | |
| INTS 437 | Critical Race Studies (Mason Core) | 3 |
| or INTS 438 | Representations of Race (Mason Core) | |
| Total Credits | 13 | |
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select 18 credits from the following: | 18 | |
| Law and Justice (Mason Core) | ||
| Social Movements and Community Activism (Mason Core) | ||
| Conflict Resolution and Transformation | ||
| Violence, Gender, and Sexuality | ||
| Spirituality and Conflict Transformation (Mason Core) | ||
| Introduction to Childhood Studies (Mason Core) | ||
| Contemporary Youth Studies (Mason Core) | ||
| Poverty, Wealth and Inequality in the US (Mason Core) | ||
| Social Justice Consciousness and Action | ||
| Art as Social Action (Mason Core) | ||
| Gender Representation in Popular Culture (Mason Core) | ||
| Women and Leadership | ||
| Refugee and Internal Displacement (Mason Core) | ||
| Human Trafficking and Smuggling | ||
| Leadership in a Changing Environment | ||
| Social Justice Education (Mason Core) | ||
| Scientific Racism and Human Variation | ||
| DNA, Identity, and Power | ||
| Social Movements and Political Protest | ||
| Race and Ethnicity in a Changing World (Mason Core) | ||
| Conflict, Violence, and Peace | ||
| Sociology of Human Rights | ||
|
Other relevant coursework from AFAM, ANTH, COMM, CONF, CRIM, CULT, EVPP, FRLN, GLOA, GOVT, PHIL, PSYC, SOCI, WMST, and other coursework with advisor approval.
|
||
| Total Credits | 18 | |
Meets the Virginia Department of Education content-area requirements, preparing students for graduate licensure programs in secondary education history and social science. Qualified students have the opportunity to apply for the Bachelor’s/Accelerated Master’s program and obtain both a BA in Integrative Studies and an MEd in Curriculum & Instruction (Secondary Education History & Social Science concentration) within five years.
Students complete the following coursework:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ECON 103 | Contemporary Microeconomic Principles (Mason Core) | 3 |
| ECON 104 | Contemporary Macroeconomic Principles (Mason Core) | 3 |
| GGS 103 | Human Geography (Mason Core) | 3 |
| GOVT 103 | Introduction to American Government (Mason Core) | 3 |
| HIST 121 | Formation of the American Republic (Mason Core) | 3 |
| HIST 125 | Introduction to Global History (Mason Core) | 3 |
| Select one course from the following: | 3 | |
| History of Virginia to 1800 | ||
| Development of Modern America (Mason Core) | ||
| Select 9 credits from the following: | 9 | |
| Teacher: A Historical Perspective | ||
| Temptress: Sexuality and Power | ||
| Select 6 credits of GGS coursework | 6 | |
| Select 15 credits from the following: | 15 | |
| Law and Justice (Mason Core) | ||
| Introduction to International Studies (Mason Core) | ||
| The Nonprofit Sector (Mason Core) | ||
| Social Justice and Human Rights (Mason Core) | ||
| Refugee and Internal Displacement (Mason Core) | ||
| Social Justice Education (Mason Core) | ||
| Total Credits | 51 | |
Exploration of gender in social, political, cultural, and economic life; gender in history; women and the media; feminist theory; the relationship between sex and gender; the impact of sex, race, class, disability, and sexual orientation on people’s lives; and the ways in which gender stereotypes influence the self in relationship to others
Students complete the following coursework:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| WMST 200 | Introduction to Women and Gender Studies (Mason Core) | 3 |
| WMST 208 | Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Studies (Mason Core) | 3 |
| WMST 330 | Feminist Theories of Gender, Sexuality, and Race | 3 |
| WMST 410 | Feminist Research Methods | 3 |
| INTS 437 | Critical Race Studies (Mason Core) | 3 |
| Intersections of Gender, Sexuality and Race | ||
| Select two courses from the following: | 6-7 | |
| Current Issues in Women and Gender Studies 1 | ||
| Current Topics in LGBTQ Studies | ||
| Queer Theory | ||
| Gender, Sexuality, and Disability | ||
| Transnational Sexualities | ||
| Gender, Sexuality, and Human Rights | ||
| Sexuality, Race, and Immigration | ||
| Race, Class, and LGBTQ Communities | ||
| Policing Black Bodies | ||
| Current Topics in Women and Gender Studies 1 | ||
| Critical Race Studies (Mason Core) | ||
| Representations of Race (Mason Core) | ||
| Black Social Movements: Gendering of Violence and Activism | ||
| Women During the Enslavement Era | ||
| Women's Activism: From Jim Crow to Black Power | ||
| Gender, Race, Sexuality, and TV | ||
|
Other WMST special topics courses with advisor approval
|
||
| History and Culture | ||
| Select one course from the following: | 3 | |
| Gender, Race, and Class in the Media | ||
| U.S. Women's History | ||
| Women in Islamic Society (Mason Core) | ||
| Temptress: Sexuality and Power | ||
| Philosophy, Race, and Gender | ||
| Women in Religious Traditions | ||
| Women and Work | ||
| Black Social Movements: Gendering of Violence and Activism | ||
| Women During the Enslavement Era | ||
| Women's Activism: From Jim Crow to Black Power | ||
| Gender, Health, and Culture in the United States | ||
|
Other WMST special topics courses with advisor approval
|
||
| Transnational Perspectives | ||
| Select one course from the following: | 3 | |
| Social Justice and Human Rights (Mason Core) | ||
| Refugee and Internal Displacement (Mason Core) | ||
| Human Trafficking and Smuggling | ||
| Global Representations of Women (Mason Core) | ||
| Transnational Sexualities | ||
| Gender, Sexuality, and Human Rights | ||
| Sexuality, Race, and Immigration | ||
| Electives | ||
| Select one course from the following: | 3-4 | |
| Asian American Women Writers (Mason Core) | ||
| Topics in Communication and Gender | ||
| Topics: Women and Literature | ||
| Cultural Constructions of Sexualities | ||
|
HEAL 327
|
Women's Health | |
| Images and Experiences of Childhood: Social Construct, Literature, and Film | ||
| Issues in Family Relationships (Mason Core) | ||
| Contemporary Youth Studies (Mason Core) | ||
| Parent-Child Relations (Mason Core) | ||
| Women and Leadership | ||
| Psychology of Gender | ||
| Contemporary Gender Relations (Mason Core) | ||
|
THR 424
|
Contemporary Women Playwrights | |
|
Courses in above areas not already taken
|
||
| Special Topics 2 | ||
| Feminist Research Methods 2 | ||
| Feminist Theories 2 | ||
| Transnational Issues of Gender and Race 2 | ||
| Total Credits | 30-32 | |
| 1 |
Various special topics courses with the approval of the undergraduate advisor. |
| 2 |
Six credits of WMST 600 Special Topics, WMST 610 Feminist Research Methods, WMST 630 Feminist Theories, or WMST 640 Transnational Issues of Gender and Race may apply to elective requirement for students accepted into the accelerated master's degree in interdisciplinary studies (MAIS) with a concentration in women and gender studes. |
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| With approval of the executive director, students may construct an individualized concentration. | 30 | |
| Total Credits | 30 | |
Any remaining credits may be completed with electives to bring the degree total to 120.