Independent scholars break the mold Designing your own major brings rewards and headaches

Author: Rachael Jennings

Information about the Independent Scholars Program at Middlebury is hard to come by. Most students at the College are unfamiliar with the process of applying to design your own curriculum, and many are unaware that the program even exists. But for the few brave souls who choose to follow the unchartered path, the experience is liberating and rewarding.

"It's kind of the ultimate liberal arts degree," said Becky Bierman '08, an Independent Scholar pursuing a "major" in Linguistics. "It allows you to focus on what you want to focus on, without having to fulfill department requirements that may not really interest you."

Morgan Peach '09, also studying Linguistics, believes that the program is best suited to students who, as "explorers" of the academic terrain, wish to "take their own bearing, and follow it, passionately, fervently and courageously."

For these student crusaders to enter into the program, they must complete three crucial steps - devising an intricate plan of which courses they will take from the beginning to the end of their four years, writing an essay detailing why no other majors fulfill their scholarly pursuits and finding an advisor willing to work with them on their thesis. No minimum GPA requirements exist for independent scholars and no classes are mandatory.

The path to becoming an independent scholar can be trying, especially when seeking out an advisor to help push through the proposal stage. "Faculty are often uncomfortable working with independent scholars because it is never their area of expertise," explained Caitlin Vincek '08. "If it were, you would just be majoring in their department."

Hannah Washington '08 agreed that one must be "willing to jump through the bureaucratic hoops it takes to design your own major."

The only formal review that independent scholars receive is an evaluation at the end of each semester, so students interested in this program must be determined and extremely self-sufficient to maneuver through four years at Middlebury without any additional regulation. Most independent scholars agreed that the most challenging aspect of their course of study was this need for "self-regulation" that is inherent in any system that allows students to be their own administration.

Washington noted that she often felt "lost in the system, majorless, advisorless, without any notice or help from the powers that be."

In fact, some students believe that, given the lack of advertising for the program, those "powers that be" are intentionally trying to keep the program under the radar.

"They don't provide any institutional support other than letting you do it, and there is no cohesion with other independent scholars," said Austen Levihn-Coon '08, who is studying Poverty, Social Inequities and Potential Solutions.

Despite the administrative hassles involved, most independent scholars stress the benefit of exploring their own passions and assert that they could not have imagined spending their time at Middlebury any other way.

"For me it means that I will not have wasted a ton of money for some ink on my diploma that I didn't necessarily want," said Chuck Bradley '09.

That freedom from cumbersome requirements was commonly cited by independent scholars as what they loved most about their experiences. Peach called her academic study at Middlebury "incredibly empowering and enlivening," though she did express a fear that others in the academic sphere have forgotten what a true liberal arts education entails.

"Much of society has lost sight of the true nature of the liberal arts, their vision being clouded by an overarching and constantly preoccupying obsession with success and achievement," Peach said.

The Independent Scholars Program, on the other hand, embodies what liberal arts can and should be: individualized, unrestrained by regulations, open to self-expression and targeted at passion, not standardized success.

Bradley said that he was glad that "Middlebury trusts its students to be driven enough to grasp at what they want, even if the way isn't shown."

Even if one decides not to become an independent scholar, those in the program offered advice for stepping off the beaten path and forging out on one's own.

"Revive the liberal arts," advised Peach, "if not 'officially' then do so simply and powerfully in the comfort of your own mind, in the comfort of a cozy chair with an unassigned book in hand, or in the company of your favorite professor, questioning and listening."