This past semester, when Dr. Barbara Stock asked the freshmen in one of her courses about their academic plans, she got an unexpected answer. Three of them announced that they wanted to major in criminal justice. The issue? While Gallaudet has a new minor in criminal justice, that is not an existing major.

Luckily, Stock had good news for these students. She is coordinator of the new Liberal Studies (LST) major that is debuting this fall. It is designed to allow students to link up two minors, so they can create an individualized plan of study. 鈥淕allaudet can鈥檛 offer every major a student would want,鈥� Stock says. 鈥淏ut we have a lot of minors, and the idea is to use these existing units.鈥�

So, in this situation, Stock notes that students could build their Liberal Studies major out of minors in criminal justice and ethics 鈥� or sociology or government. For other students, different pairings would make sense. Maybe someone hoping to do graduate work in linguistics would want to link up minors in linguistics and ASL. Stock suggests that a budding entrepreneur interested in opening a daycare center might want to pursue education and business administration.

The goal is not to lure students away from Gallaudet鈥檚 established majors, but to give them flexibility if they do not find the right fit. It also provides an option for students whose interests are pulling them in multiple directions. 鈥淚f you like two things, you can do two things,鈥� Stock says.

Gallaudet also offers a Self-Directed Major (SDM), but Stock notes that there are a few key differences between LST and SDM. SDM students develop and propose their own curriculum, rather than relying on the structure of two minors. Plus, SDM requires a minimum 3.0 grade point average. LST students must instead meet whatever grade point average is required for their selected minors. Doing a double major is another option, but it may not be feasible if each of the majors requires a large number of credits.

To help meld the two minors into a cohesive program, LST requires a few courses that promote key skills. Students choose one course from each of these categories:

• Analysis of reasoning/rhetoric: PHI 104 Critical Reasoning or ENG 375 Media Literacy
• Data analysis: DAS 101 Introduction to Data Analysis, ASL 304 ASL Data Analysis and Applications 1, or SOC 334 Intro to Methods of Social Research
• Global awareness: FRE 111 Basic French 1, SPA 111 Basic Spanish 1 (or higher), REL 320 Religions in Africa, WLC 101 Mexican Deaf Culture and Language 1, WLC 102 Mexican Deaf Culture and Language 2, WLC 315 Contemporary African Issues, or a COIL class or study abroad experience

Stock says that this background will ensure that LST students are able to think through complex issues, understand how to read data, and be open to different perspectives and experiences. Many of these courses satisfy Core EXPLORE area requirements, so it is a manageable load, she notes.

LST students must also complete an internship and pull together everything they have learned into a Capstone. 鈥淚t could be a thesis, a presentation, or some other kind of project that integrates the two minors,鈥� Stock says.

Stock is excited to see how LST develops and evolves. The Faculty Senate recently approved two microcredentials 鈥� Bioethics and Interfaith Engagement 鈥� that will launch in 2026. These are units made up of three related courses that build on each other, providing expertise in a specific area. LST will allow students to use two microcredentials to substitute for a minor, and there may soon be several more of those options available.

If students have any questions, Stock says they are welcome to contact her.