What is IGE?

Founded in 1983, the Interdisciplinary General Education Program (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.  

Students enter IGE as first year college students.  While participant cohorts proceed through IGE's six Lower Division courses, IGE becomes a small learning community within the larger University.  Instructors engage students in active learning by asking them to discuss texts and ideas, explore themes and questions, and collaborate on projects.  Some sections each semester are team-taught by faculty from complementary fields, giving students an introduction to the complexities of different academic disciplines as well as exposure to various teaching styles.  IGE classes introduce students to diverse ways of examining ideas and events, fostering the ability to make original connections and appreciate complex inter-relationships.  In addition, IGE provides an Arts Package of music, theater, museum, and other cultural experiences to augment the classroom experience and build the community.  The program concludes with a capstone course where students complete an individual research and reflection paper on an original topic that synthesizes their IGE learning experience.