That’s a more common question than you might think! One of my majors is formally titled “International Letters and Visual Studies.” When I first saw it on the departmental listing when I started as a freshman, I was curious because I thought that the major was studying handwriting and calligraphy. (Yes, I’m crazy and didn’t think too much of it.) When I did more research, though, I found out more about it; still, it’s impossible to describe to my friends. The easiest way to describe it is this – the study of international relations through the lenses of the arts and humanities instead of the social sciences. ILVS majors look at books, films, and works of art from various countries and cultures around the world as a window into societies other than our own. Each student has a different track within the major (either literature or visual arts/film) and then chooses one particular idea or overarching theme to examine within their studies. The coursework for the ILVS major is divided in two. Half of them are the courses that cover your thematic concentration and the others make up the theory coursework.
One of the many things I love about the ILVS program is the flexibility it affords me with regard to what courses I actually take for the major. Many of my drama courses count as theory courses, but I can also take English seminars, Sociology, Art History, and Political Science courses that actually amount to something — a truly interdisciplinary major! To me, it really epitomizes the well-roundedness of a liberal arts education in the arts and humanities (with a bit of the social sciences) within one program. For more information about ILVS, visit the program’s website.
