The Interdisciplinary Concentrations Program, or the ICP, has been a fixture at MBS since the 2021-2022 academic year. The program was designed so that a student’s participation on campus falls into a certain category, not an academic one, such as science or math, but one that is more all-encompassing. The areas of focus include Arts and Innovation, Data Analysis and Research Methods, and Ethics, Leadership, and Justice.
The ICP aims to have students see the school, and the world at large, through this lens, while propelling students toward a final project during their senior year to help improve an issue they identify that relates to their discipline. However, despite the relatively short lifespan of the program, it has evolved quickly.
Mr. Brad Turner, an ICP advisor and science department faculty member, said, “we kind of tried to jump into the individual projects [at first], which was challenging, because they were sophomores.” More time is now given to the students enrolled in the program to learn what it is they want to explore. Sophomores rotate through the concentrations so that they can choose one to focus on during their junior year. This all culminates during their senior year with an intensive project. This change allowed for less pressure on the students and more freedom to find how they fit into the ICP. Mr. Matt Martino, an ICP advisor and design arts faculty member, said, “as teachers, it’s important that we take stock of what we do and just look at how it’s impacting students.”
Despite these changes, the program’s overall goal of allowing for the development of a theme outside of academic areas has remained a constant of the program. Chief Innovation Officer and ICP Director Mr. Darren Burns said, “The intersection of disciplines has always been a place where students find interesting conversations.” Those intersections allow students who might not have otherwise interacted to share ideas and interests. ICP participant Alice McNamara ‘24 said, “I valued the opportunity to hear from speakers and engage with other students.” It is the desire to be more than only students, to be multifaceted citizens as well, that unites so much of the campus
While it’s impossible to predict the exact path of the ICP’s development, the School eagerly anticipates witnessing its evolution. ICP participant Sloane Fiverson ‘25 said, “one of the most exciting pieces of this is knowing how much [the ICP] has changed and how much it will continue to. The ICP is something really original, and I’m proud to be a part of that.”
