Interdisciplinarity

November 13, 2025

In the last year, as my course subjects became more specialized, they also became more connected. My courses in English literature involved the historical events that determined the mindsets of authors and readers. My History courses involved prominent figures that masterfully employed meticulously crafted rhetoric for the mass mobilization of hearts and minds, for good and evil. Both disciplines started to discuss the evolution of medicine, scientific racism, and most surprisingly, the philosophy and ethics of what people should do, as we continually push what we can do. While I was aware that people are complicated, that History and English naturally reflect the best and worst of human nature through their preservation of thought and action, each of my courses has discussed this subject at length. 

This web of ‘why’ and ‘how’ of human actions led me to the selection of my HONR 300 course this semester: the Rhetoric of Darwinism, tandem taught by the English and Biology departments. This course establishes scientific and historical understanding of Darwin’s contributions to evolutionary theory and genetics, but also analyzes how these ideas have been interpreted, expanded, and misused in various cultural and political contexts. While deeply historical and scientific, we’ve examined rhetorical responses to Darwin’s work across time (including religious, popular, and scientific voices) and we’ve investigated how biological theories have been used to justify deeply problematic ideologies. This course has fed a secondary material interest of mine, leading to my declaration of a Medical and Health Humanities minor in my senior year. This course is a single example of how my education has been woven together through the liberal arts experience and my personal interdisciplinary research interests. Whenever I have desired to learn more, expand into another region of study, or add another major or minor, I have found only encouragement and assistance from my professors, departments, and the administration that I have encountered. Interdisciplinary studies have allowed me to examine human nature and expand my mind on academic, spiritual, and social levels that certainly prepare me for graduate school and my forthcoming career. 

Sophee Engle
XU 2026
History & English Literature
Classics & Medical and Health Humanities