Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies Niagara University, USA

Design your own curriculum, pick the courses you like from the online courses offered at Niagara University and complete your master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies (MAIS) at your own pace, based on your own academic and career interests.

• MAIS program has recently been approved to be offered fully online as well as the in-class format.
• Now even more flexible to fit your needs, interests, and schedule!
• Design your own curriculum, pick the courses you like from the online courses offered at Niagara University and complete your master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies at your own pace, based on your own academic and career interests.

Check out our two areas of focus!

Disaster/Emergency Management and National Security

The purpose of this interdisciplinary program is to enable and empower a new generation of leader practitioners focused on: Disaster and Emergency Management and National Security. The candidates’ core competencies will include leadership, decision making, and policy development.

This program proceeds from what is transparently a clear and critical need in the face of 21st century challenges.  The gap between current knowledge and practices in these fields and effective responses as witnessed by the widespread failures associated with disasters and crises (e.g. COVID 19 pandemic) at the global, national, and institutional levels.

This focus’ intent is to meet these failures with graduates who will be defined by their pursuit of effective development of real and future situational awareness, employment of timely intelligence practices, analysis of current and emerging trends and threats, and planning and preparation for the management of these trends and threats.  Their responses will be based on the application of evergreen best practice plans effectively exercised in multi-agency response environments by way of graduates who will be trained in both field knowledge and in real world preparatory environments.

Social Justice

Challenges in social justice and equality are all around us. From racism to women’s equality, economic inequalities to failing schools, multiple levels of social injustice persistently plague our communities. There are systemic cultural and economic disparities that are deeply rooted in historical, political, and economic practices. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of current issues of social justice with all its dimensions requires an interdisciplinary and analytical study of these issues.

Framed in its mission, Niagara University has a strong commitment to addressing issues of social justice. This commitment leads to a variety of opportunities to study social justice through on-campus and online programs. MAIS-Social Justice is an excellent opportunity to engage all that NU offers towards a graduate degree focused on social justice.

MAIS-Social Justice, fully online or in-class, enables students to approach issues of social justice from a variety of disciplinary and academic perspectives. The interdisciplinary graduate program offers students to study social justice through its historical, political, religious, economic, and philosophical dimensions.

Students in this program will have the opportunity to engage in social justice issues such as

• Race and ethnicity
• Religion and social thought
• Diversity in the workplace
• Sociology of poverty
• Representations of women in media and culture
• Diversity in the classroom with English language learners or students with special needs
• Cultural and social change
• Black rights movements
• Social justice activism
• Criminal justice management and sentencing
• Environmental law and its evolution