Organizing Theme majors nurture their curiosity across disciplines

Corinne Simisky ’08 is studying issues that affect humanitarian services, globalization and international aid.

Amy Gold ’09 is focusing on “Health and the Whole Self.”

Wyatt Heard ’09 is assessing the moral and ethical implications of property.

All three are Organizing Theme majors who designed their own program of study based on their passion for their topics. They are combining disciplines and taking classes from three or more different departments.

“These are students whose interests are too broad to settle upon one major, who really have a compelling question they want to figure out,” says Melinda Lawson, assistant director of advising for Union’s OT program. “The Organizing Theme major is designed to accommodate those students who have a strong, well-defined intellectual or scholarly curiositythat goes beyond typical boundaries.”

While double majors and inter-departmental majors continue to be popular options at Union, the Organizing Theme major is a different breed altogether.

“The chosen theme defines not only the students’ theses, but the courses they take,” Lawson explains.

Lawson, who is a visiting assistant professor of History, and a number of the 14 current OT majors got together recently for an end-of-year dinner at Hale House. They were joined by Dean of Studies Kimmo Rosenthal and Dean of Interdisciplinary Programs and Special Programs Doug Klein.

“I love being an OTM and having the freedom to study subjects beyond the boundaries of one single major,” said senior Nancy Borowick of Chappaqua, N.Y. “I took advantage of this opportunity the moment I learned about it, and it has truly changed and enhanced my educational experience at Union beyond my expectations.”

Borowick combined her passion for photography, foreign culture and anthropology to probe “Representations of Culture and Identity.” Her study of Schenectady’s thriving Guyanese community resulted in her senior thesis, “Maintaining Traditions in America: The Guyanese of Schenectady,” which included a Steinmetz Symposium photo exhibition.

Borowick’s classes were concentrated in the Anthropology, Modern Languages and Visual Arts departments.

For Corinne Simisky, of Shrewsbury, Mass., the path to an OT major began with the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. Simisky was in the original group of Union students who joined relief efforts in New Orleans in December 2005.

“The New Orleans trip helped me figure out what I wanted to do with my life – become an administrator in international relief organizations,” said Simisky, who also has retained the English major she started out with. “Originally, I was looking into medicine, but I was always more interested in the social aspect of medical policy and practice. When this OT major fell together, I decided to go for it. As soon as I came back, I started taking classes that were geared toward sociology and political science.”

Lawson and advisors Melinda Goldner and Byron Nichols “really encouraged me to do an OT that had to do with humanitarianism,” Simisky said. Nichols suggested she include philosophy “to give me an ethics base. That’s really helped.”

Last spring, Simisky and another student presented the importance of a “pay it forward” approach to community service and humanitarian aid at Steinmetz Symposium. Simisky has since helped draft the proposal for Union’s community service mini-term.

Simisky spent the winter term in Barbados (with OT major Elizabeth Mazzota), where she taught English to local girls and organized a seminar on issues related to HIV, AIDS, relationships, positive body image and family life.

“Another part of my OT is the impact that globalization that has on humanitarian aid and vice versa – to what extent is humanitarianism the new excuse for nationalism and imperialism?” Simisky said. “It’s something that’s come up in all my classes.”