Ryan Downs’ Meaning of Work Portfolio

Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies: Arizona State University

 

 

Welcome

My name is Ryan Downs; I am a senior at Arizona State University.  In this website you will find out more about me, a little bit about my journey at ASU, and hopefully gain an understanding of what a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies (BIS) degree is and what advantages this degree has over other majors.

 

 

What is BIS?

The BIS program is one of ASU’s largest majors with roughly 1,700 students.  The principle idea behind BIS is the integration of two disciplines working together to provide a unique and valuable perspective in achieving your goals. 

 

 

Why I chose BIS

I did not start my college experience as a BIS student; I came into ASU as business major.  My sophomore year the semester before I was to apply to the College of Business at ASU I started taking sociology classes.  This soon became my passion I considered becoming a sociology major but I didn’t want all of my business classes to go to waste.  About this time my roommate told me about the BIS program and it sounded like the perfect fit, I could combine my business background with my love for sociology and gain an invaluable degree.  My BIS degree makes me more marketable when I graduate because the BIS degree is about change and being flexible while giving me that unique perspective of sociology and business, that cannot be provided by someone with a single discipline, like just business.

 

 

My BIS courses

BIS 301

This is the first BIS course you take.  In this class you really learn what BIS is all about and the advantages this degree provides.  You begin to think like an interdisciplinarian; (outside the box) you begin seeing how your two disciplines work together into something uniquely you.  In this class we worked in groups to come up with solutions to world problems, using our two disciplines in a solution that was being integrated with everyone’s two disciplines.  It was interdisciplinary thinking on every level.

 

BIS 302

The title of this class was “Interdisciplinary Approaches to Human Inquiry.”  This class was very similar to a research methods class.  We learned the different methods of analysis qualitative, quantitative, and textual in research.  We learned about everything from surveys to observational analysis.  Our final project was to observe a park and analyze its activities without talking to anyone; it was a very interesting project.

 

BIS 401

This is the applied studies course, sometimes called the internship.  In this class we were to combine what we learned in our disciplines along with our BIS knowledge and apply it in a real world setting. 

 

BIS 402

The senior seminar which is the final course in BIS, and for me the final course at ASU.  This was an internet class which focused on money meaning.  In this class we looked at what money really means in life, does it bring happiness or sadness, etc.  I learned a lot about myself in this course as far as what really makes you happy, is it money?  I figured it out for myself maybe you should take this class and find out if money is that important to you.