In response to: Independent Majors Say This Is the End of an Era
Current issue
November 2026
History is in Terri Sewell ’86’s hands; campus mental health culture; the two Princetons.
History is in Terri Sewell ’86’s hands; campus mental health culture; the two Princetons.
I was an independent major in Medieval Studies, graduating in three years in 1973 and then going on to earn the MA, M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees in Medieval Studies from Yale Graduate School. Over my lifetime, I have combined my interests in all things medieval with both my career as a lawyer for the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum, and other nonprofits and with the wonderful vacations my husband, Hank ’72, and I have taken. In fact, we’re going to Iceland in January 2027 to see the new exhibit of saga manuscripts that my independent major first allowed me to study in 1972 in Princeton Graduate School in Icelandic with professor Hans Aarsleff. I don’t know how I would have been able to have such an ambitious and broad academic program without the independent major option.