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Diane Luckow 604.291.3219

One of the happiest grads at the October convocation ceremonies is likely to be Mondo Secter who receives his doctorate in interdisciplinary studies, as he says, "by the skin of my teeth."

Secter, an accomplished sculptor and Oriental brush artist, took nine years and three thesis supervisors to complete his degree. The interdisciplinary studies program is designed for students whose subject crosses the boundaries of several faculties. Secter began his thesis in the faculty of business administration and completed it in the school of communication. He will get his degree from the faculty of applied sciences.

As an interdisciplinary student "you are like a ronin - a samurai without a lord and with no real home," explains Secter.

"When I began my thesis, my first supervisor in the business faculty thought I should be finished in two or three years," Secter recalls with a chuckle. He recently discovered that people working in similar fields take six or seven years to complete a thesis.

Secter's thesis focuses on the typology of the deep structure of culture. "This is a very elusive subject that I approached by combining organizational culture and international business with semiotics and Chinese philosophy," he explains.

In his thesis, Secter sets out to demonstrate that the I Ching, written more than 3,000 years ago, was not just a book of divination, as it is popularly perceived. Before starting his doctoral studies, Secter, a Brandon Manitoba native, had studied art in Jerusalem, Milan and New York where he had solo and group shows.

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