Got your major all picked out, but still not sure what to minor in? Sometimes minors can be even trickier to choose than majors; you want something interesting and unique, but you don’t necessarily want to take eighteen hours of one subject. What many students don’t know is that MTSU offers a wide variety of interdisciplinary minors or minors that include courses from multiple departments. Taking one or two of these minors can be a great way to make your resume stand out, keep your class schedule interesting, and make sure that you don’t burn out on any one subject. Read below for eight cool interdisciplinary minors and some of the courses they include!

Medieval Studies

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Go back to ye good olde days with the Medieval Studies minor! Courses include Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales (English), Renaissance Europe (History), and Women in the Middle Ages (Humanities). It can also include classes in Latin, French literature, and a Senior Interdisciplinary Seminar.

The advisor for this minor is Dr. Louis Haas of the history department. If you’re interested in Medieval Studies, contact Dr. Haas at louis.haas@mtsu.edu

Musical Theatre Performance Minor

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This one is definitely for all the Broadway fans out there. This minor includes courses such as Acting I and II (Theatre), Dance for Theatre (Dance), Opera Theatre (Musical Ensembles), and History of Popular Music in America (Music History & Literature). While this minor would be very complementary to theatre or music majors, it’s open to students across any major field. There is no specific advisor listed for this minor, so contact your main academic advisor or click here to go to the theatre department’s page if you’d like to learn more. 

Great Books

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This minor has the biggest number of course options to choose from: 55, to be exact! All these courses are unified by the theme of “great books”, and although many of them are English classes (as might be expected), there are also offerings such as Existentialism (Philosophy),

American Political Thought (Political Science), Operant Conditioning (Psychology), Theatre History (Theatre), and Topics in European History (History). This is one interdisciplinary minor that truly has something to offer everybody, and the possible course combinations are endless. The advisor for the Great Books minor is Dr. Michael Neth of the English department. If you’re interested, contact Dr. Neth at michael.neth@mtsu.edu

Media, History, and Culture

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This minor offers a wide variety of courses relating to popular culture and American history. Students have 31 classes to choose from, including options such as Everyday Life in America (History), Survey of Popular Culture (English), Films and Filmmakers (Electronic Media Communications), and Philosophy and Film (Philosophy). The advisor for this minor is Dr. Kristine McCusker of the history department. If you’re interested, contact Dr. McCusker at kristine.mccusker@mtsu.edu

Urban Studies

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This unique minor combines seemingly unrelated classes into a holistic study of the urban environment, its physical attributes, and its effects on human behavior. Course options include Community Relations and Minority Problems (Criminal Justice), Urban and Sports Turf Soils (Plant and Soil Science), Social Movements and Social Change (Sociology), and Race and Place: The Struggle for Fair Housing Since 1900 (History). The advisor for this minor is Dr. Sekou Franklin of the political science department. If you’re interested, contact Dr. Franklin at sekou.franklin@mtsu.edu  

African-American Studies

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This minor includes courses such as Civil Rights Policy and Politics (Political Science), History of Black Gospel Music (Music History), and African-American Literature (English).

The advisor for this minor is Dr. Louis Woods of the history department. To find out more about this minor, contact Dr. Woods at louis.woods@mtsu.edu Also, be sure to check out MTSU’s other minority-focused interdisciplinary minors, such as Asian Studies, Native American Studies, and Middle Eastern Studies.

Entrepreneurship

College of Business Start It Up! Conference in Embassy Suites featuring Vinh Giang and Daymond John of ABC’s “Shark Tank”.

Have you always dreamed of running your own business? Prepare yourself to go for it with a minor in Entrepreneurship! Courses such as Principles of Marketing (Marketing), Entrepreneurship (Business Communication), and Small Business Management (Management) will help prep you for a real-life business venture, and will look stellar on any resume.

The advisor for this minor is Dr. Stephen Lewis of the department of marketing and business education. To find out more about this minor, contact Dr. Lewis at stephen.lewis@mtsu.edu .

Film Studies

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This one is for all the movie buffs out there! The minor in Film Studies allows students to choose from movie-focused classes across 10 different departments, and includes course options such as The Grail Legend in Film and Literature (Humanities), Politics and Film (Political Science), and History of Modern War in Film (History).

The advisor for this minor is Dr. Robert Holtzclaw of the English department; contact him at robert.holtzclaw@mtsu.edu to find out more about taking this minor.