I just copied and pasted what NCSU has on their site for it. They do a much better job at explaining it of course:
The Bachelor of Arts Degree in Design Studies is a non-studio, liberal arts program that provides an interdisciplinary orientation to the history and theory of the design disciplines, material culture and design thinking. Design Studies focuses on the properties of objects and environments as reflections of the social, historical, technological and physical contexts in which they are produced. It presents the formative role of design in shaping human values and experiences. This major is for students whose interests and talents in design are more general, cross-disciplinary, and span the five disciplines offered in the College of Design. Source: http://majorsandcareers.ncsu.edu/major/design-studies
Essentially, I feel as if I am getting broad spectrum of design information and a lot of theory which gives me a different point of view on design, in a positive way. I feel as if I approach problems differently than most designers in the sense that I am learning about culture and contexts and how these things are incorporated. I’m almost thankful that I was not accepted into Industrial design because I am getting this broad view before I narrow my view.