When your interests are so vast they won’t fit into a master’s thesis – or even a Ph.D. dissertation – what can you do? Antonie “Tonie” Bodley’s solution is an individual interdisciplinary doctoral degree (IIDP) through the Graduate School at WSU.
More than 75 percent of WSU IIDP students who have graduated within the last 10 years are in faculty positions nationwide. Universities appreciate their ability to make connections across disciplinary boundaries, so IIDP graduates are highly sought after.
Bodley thought when she earned her master’s degree and could teach, she’d be content. But when she submitted her master’s thesis topic to her major professor, he told her it was far too big – more of a dissertation topic.
She pared the focus to gothic literature and steampunk film, but the original “big” topic wouldn’t go away. After teaching for a year in the WSU English Department, it became clear that she needed to pursue an IIDP. Her research? Science fiction and future studies: An exploration of artificial intelligence and androids.