The Interdisciplinary General Education (IGE) curriculum provides an integrated approach to learning about literature, humanities, social sciences, and the arts. Founded in 1983, one of the longest running university GE programs in the state, IGE offers students a unique and stimulating choice to fulfill their general education requirements. At the heart of IGE lies the concept of an integrated core: a curriculum that explores human experience across the multiple perspectives of different disciplines. The IGE Program introduces participants to different ways of examining concepts and ideas, fostering a connective ability–a power to see all knowledge as interrelated. Ernest Boyer explains: “As students see how the content of one course relates to that of others, they begin to make connections, and in so doing gain not only a more integrated view of knowledge, but also a more authentic view of life.”
IGE is an alternative pattern to satisfy 32 units of the University GE requirements. Students should see an advisor for specific GE coursework required by their major. Students must be exempt from or score at least 147 on the EPT to qualify for IGE.
The eight course sequence has the following common goals:
Learning Outcomes
- Communication skills and critical thinking.
- Historical and social consciousness.
- Multicultural understanding.
- Understanding aesthetic experiences.
- Articulation of values.
- Information literacy.
- Active student learning.
Students must complete an IGE yearly sequence, beginning with the first year, to earn general education credit. Single IGE classes do not fulfill GE requirements. Students who choose to leave IGE and complete the University General Education pattern should do so only at the end of a yearly sequence, e.g. after IGE 122 or IGE 222 . Students leaving IGE should seek advisement on how to fulfill remaining general education requirements.
The IGE program is open to any qualified student or undergraduate department wishing to adopt it as an option, and is the recommended pattern for Engineering, Architecture, and Liberal Studies majors. Students may substitute AP credit for up to 2 courses in the IGE Program. For more information, see departmental advisors or the IGE Program Chair.
Please refer to the University Programs section in this catalog for IGE course descriptions.
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