Interdisciplinary Options

Environmental Toxicology

If you are interested in more advanced toxicology graduate education and research related to the harmful health effects of environmental or other chemicals, you can enroll in a multidisciplinary dual-PhD program in Environmental and Integrative Toxicological Sciences (EITS). The EITS program is administered through MSU's Institute for Integrative Toxicology (IIT) and, in conjunction with our graduate program, offers outstanding training in basic biomedical science coupled with training and credentials in the discipline of toxicology that can open additional career opportunities. Before enrolling in this program, students must first be accepted for graduate study in a cooperating program such as animal science.

To find out more about this cooperating program, visit the website link above, call 517-353-6469, or e-mail tox@msu.edu.

Food Safety

The graduate specialization in food safety is designed for students who are interested in enhancing the focus of their study on food safety to help societal problems. The specialization is available to students enrolled in a master's degree program.

Ecological Food and Farming Systems

The Ecological Food and Farming Systems (EFFS) graduate specialization is designed to foster understanding of biogeochemical, socioeconomic, and policy concepts critical to sustainable agriculture and food systems. The program provides a foundation of agroecology and community food systems principles that allow for cross-disciplinary consideration of multifaceted agricultural sustainability issues. Shared courses provide the opportunity to meet students from other programs and better understand work and research that includes multiple perspectives. The EFFS program is administered through the Crop & Soil Sciences Department. The EFFS Steering Committee includes faculty from several social and biogeochemical fields related to agriculture who work to expand the learning opportunities and constantly enhance the courses for the specialization.

Animal Studies: Social Science and Humanities Perspectives

The Graduate Specialization in Animal Studies: Social Science and Humanities Perspectives, which is administered by the Department of Sociology, provides graduate students with basic knowledge of relationships between humans and other animals and how they are linked together in a fragile biosphere.

The graduate specialization is available as an elective for students who are enrolled in master's or doctoral degree programs at Michigan State University. With the approval of the department and college that administers the student's degree program, the courses that are used to satisfy the specialization may also be used to satisfy the requirements for a master's or doctoral degree.

Students who plan to complete the requirements for the graduate specialization should consult the graduate advisor for the specialization in the Department of Sociology.

CANR Certificate in College Teaching

The MSU Certification in College Teaching Program (CCTP) is an initiative of the Graduate School in partnership with departments and colleges. The program is designed to assist and prepare graduate students interested in entering academia or other professional programs where communication of ideas is required. The program includes course work, attendance to workshops and seminars, mentored teaching experience and the creation of a teaching portfolio to showcase the participant's teaching philosophy and pedagogical growth.

Other Interdisciplinary Options at MSU