Integrative Studies

Integrative Studies at Michigan State University currently includes the following departments:

• Arts & Humanities (Currently Visiting)
• Biological and Physical Sciences (website)
• Social Sciences (website)

Undergraduate Education at MSU

At MSU each undergraduate student's program of study includes courses in general education and also in a major, or more specialized education.

• General Education, or learning in breadth, is achieved through completion of MSU's Integrative Studies Program. It also includes Writing, Math, and in many cases, Language.
• Specialized Education, or learning in depth, is accomplished through completion of an MSU major and also related minors or specializations.

Integrative Studies is MSU's unique approach to general education, offering courses that integrate multiple ways of knowing into an enhanced appreciation of our humanity, creativity, knowledge, and responsibilities for ourselves and our world. Integrative Studies courses introduce students to college level work and important new ways of thinking.

Academic Goals of Integrative Studies

Courses in the Integrative Studies Program help students to:

• Become more familiar with the ways of knowing in the arts and humanities, the biological and physical sciences, and the social sciences.
• Develop a range of intellectual abilities, including critical thinking, logical argument, appropriate uses of evidence and interpretation of varied kinds of information. (quantitative, qualitative, text, image)
• Become more knowledgeable about other times, places, and cultures as well as key ideas and issues in human experience.
• Learn more about the role of scientific method in developing a more objective understanding of the natural and social worlds.
• Appreciate the role of knowledge, and of values and ethics in understanding human behavior and solving social problems.
• Recognize the responsibilities and opportunities associated with citizenship in a democratic society and an increasingly interconnected, interdependent world.

The Integrative Studies Curriculum

Students must complete at least eight (8) credits in each of the three broad knowledge areas:

• Arts and Humanities (IAH)
• Biological and Physical Sciences (ISB/ISP)
• Social and Behavioral Sciences (ISS)

IAH Requirement (8 Credits Total)
ISB/ISP Requirement (8 Credits Total)
IISS Requirement (8 Credits Total)

A Closing Word

We live in a changing, increasingly interconnected world that is linked with multiple pasts. Economic, social, cultural, political, technological, and scientific changes are having immense impacts everywhere. Such changes pose tremendous challenges, yet we need not be ill equipped to meet them.

We need to acquaint ourselves with how others in other times have coped with change and are coping today. We need to learn about human diversity. We need to build our intellectual and communicative capacities. Finally, we should become aware of our values as well as the values of others so we can meet our responsibilities effectively as citizens and human beings. By learning powerful ideas, developing scientific reasoning and interpretative abilities, expanding historical and cultural perspectives, and strengthening our thinking and communications skills, we will equip ourselves to act more effectively and sensitively in the world. These are some of the tasks of Integrative Studies at Michigan State University.