Interdisciplinary Cluster Initiative
Graduate students in the humanities and related fields are encouraged to participate in the Interdisciplinary Cluster Initiative, a program designed to help graduate students during their academic career at Northwestern by fostering connections with students and faculty in other programs with whom they might have natural intellectual affinities. Interdisciplinary clusters in different areas of intellectual inquiry have been developed by faculty across schools and programs and will provide a second intellectual home for incoming and current graduate students. Clusters offer their own discrete courses as well as sponsor a number of activities and events for students and faculty. Students interested in pursuing dedicated interdisciplinary study should visit the Graduate School's Cluster and Certificate Programs page for more information about the intellectual activities of these programs. On their application for admission, prospective students have the opportunity to select the cluster with which they would like to affiliate, though choosing a cluster is not a requirement for admission. In some cases, applicants to clusters may have access to additional sources of funding for their research. Students may affiliate with a cluster at any point during their study at Northwestern.
Current interdisciplinary clusters are:
- African Studies
- Asian Studies
- British Studies
- Classics
- Comparative and Historical Social Science
- Comparative Race and Diaspora
- Critical Studies in Theatre and Performance
- Critical Theory
- Gender and Sexuality Studies
- Jewish Studies
- Latin American and Caribbean Studies
- Medieval Studies
- Middle East and North African Studies (MENA)
- Poetry and Poetics
- Rhetoric and Public Culture
- Science Studies