Working Adult College + Open Minded Mentor = Interdisciplinary Brewing Degree!

I'm finally going to try to finish my degree, and I'm availing myself of the "adult" college of the State University of New York: Empire State College.

This is a working-persons' oriented university that is very flexible in its degree plans. About 3 weeks ago when I was accepted, I told my wife "I think they design degrees. I'm going to ask if I can create a brewing degree."

She laughed at me.

Today I went to see my "mentor" to get the ball rolling, and the first thing she explained was that the history curriculum can be structured towards any topic that includes college-level learning possibilities. I sheepishly asked, "Any way that can include beer brewing?" We talked about it for 10 minutes and came to the conclusion that not only was it an AWESOME idea for my studies, but one that should take multiple paths to include the business, political, scientific, and technological aspects of brewing.

So about 45-50 credits from now, I will have an Interdisciplinary Bachelors Degree in Brewing History and Science (exact title pending) from the State University of New York, Empire State!

awesome if you need source material for anything, don't forget my beer history sites thread. It even has historical links on brewing techniques.

I have that thread bookmarked actually

My mentor actually hinted that I may be able to earn credit based on the knowledge I have already attained. When I started explaining some of the principles of lagering, she asked if I was interested in going a purely brewing science route.

Obviously it's not Siebel, but I'm really excited about this!

There are some awesome old brewing books on Google Books.

Sounds really cool and flexible.

How do they decide the requirements and prepare test material for the courses you choose?

DregAddict said:

How do they decide the requirements and prepare test material for the courses you choose?

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I'm not 100% sure yet, but basically, they pair you up with a professor with some experience in the course material and the student comes to an agreement with that professor on what will fulfill the requirements. My mentor said that if she cannot find someone who has dealt with brewing before, we will focus purely on the history aspect, which is her discipline, and proceed from there.

The way she broke it down, its not as crazy as I first thought. For example, the business department head would design any courses related to professional brewing and entrepreneurship, a chemistry professor would work with me on brewing science, etc.

Independent study degrees won't get your prestigious, high paying jobs, I understand that, but having an accredited diploma that says "brewing" on it is technically more than one can get from Seibel itself!

I will definitely update this as I move further through the program.

Sweet deal! Good luck in your studies!

Thanks!

If you're going to college, maybe they can learn you on what constitutes a drunken rambling.

_

Sounds like a fantastic opportunity. Congratulations.

Started putting my degree plan together today. I'm looking for ideas for areas of study. Where better to find inspiration than here?

I need to put together 45 high level credits to finish my degree. I'm thinking 25 in Brewing History, 10 in Brewing Science, and 10 in Business.

History is going to be broken down regionally, politically and socially.

Science is going to focus on principles of fermentation, ingredients and styles.

Business is going to focus on laws, marketing, and structure of brewing companies/corporations.

From there, I have to choose specific areas of study that are worthy of high level college credit. I know this sounds crazy, but it is legit. This school offers much more traditional degree paths, but to get something that says "brewing" on it, I have to create it myself and have it approved.

Any suggestions?

wildwest450 said:

If you're going to college, maybe they can learn you on what constitutes a drunken rambling.

_

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You're right

I'm actually going to re-post this in a different section because I want to use this thread as a part of my degree planning.