The Mount Holyoke College Biological Sciences Department has existed as a formal academic department at the College since the 1964/1965 academic year. Prior to this time, and since the inception of the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary in 1837, courses had been taught in Botany, Physiology, and Zoology. In the 1941/1942 academic year, the College offered to students an interdisciplinary course of study called "Biology," combining courses and laboratory and field work in the three biological sciences offered: Botany, Physiology, and Zoology. This interdisciplinary major was offered until 1963/1964. In the following academic year, the courses from the Botany, Physiology, and Zoology Departments were grouped together to form the Biological Sciences Department.