At COA interdisciplinary studies means that biologists, philosophers and artists commonly teach classes together -- and it just might be in a history class. Think of the perspectives you'll get.

Interested in land use policy? You'll understand it up close when you take a course like COA's River Conservation/River Ecology class, which was team-taught by a lawyer and biologist.  Students assessed the health of a river's banks and the quality of its water, while also learning to white-water canoe -- and to understand how local land use law operates to keep one section pristine, and another, well, not so pristine.

Our faculty is a diverse group who use a wide range of teaching techniques. As at almost any college, you will find yourself writing papers, doing problem sets, working on lab projects, and practicing music. But at COA you will also do projects in the community and present to a city council as part of a community development class; visit local high schools and elementary schools in a philosophy of education class; do an extended role-playing exercise to better understand how United Nations environmental treaties are negotiated; or spend a weekend canoeing on remote Maine lakes as part of a class on wilderness. Almost all classes at COA are small and are taught in a seminar style.

COA's academic program is also highly interdisciplinary. Since all students design their own majors, there is no distinction between classes for majors and for non-majors. For example, there is just one Chemistry I class, not one of pre-med students and one for everyone else. At COA, we think that future medical doctors, elementary school teachers, and lawyers would all benefit from the same sort of chemistry that is taught to future research scientists.

Many individual classes also take an interdisciplinary approach. One class, team taught by a biologist and an artist and titled "Biology Through the Lens," combines photography and biology. Yet another class combines the history and philosophical implications of quantum mechanics with a solid mathematical treatment of the topic. Faculty expect students to synthesize material not just from their classes, but from other classes as well, to come up with new approaches to old and new problems.

"Other schools talk about being interdisciplinary", says Sarah McDaniel '93, who went on to study at Yale's School of  Forestry and Harvard Law School, "but COA really achieves an interdisplinary education: the professors are engaged with each other and with students in a real and practical way. As a student, I always felt that the education I got at COA was stellar."

The world is not compartmentalized. And neither are our classes.