Michigan State University | College of Arts and Letters

Welcome to the Center for Integrative Studies in the Arts and Humanities (CIS-AH) at Michigan State University. Integrative Studies is Michigan State University's unique approach to liberal general education, offering a core curriculum that complements specialized work by students in their majors.

Our Mission

To provide excellence to students by introducing them to multiple ways of knowledge in an integrative approach, to support interdisciplinary arts and humanities teaching and research that engages with the community inside and outside MSU, to integrate instructional technology and active service learning in teaching in the arts and humanities, and to facilitate cross-disciplinary intellectual and scholarly interaction.

Goals of Integrative Studies in the Arts and Humanities

Integrative Studies in the Arts and Humanities at Michigan State University seeks to assist students to:

• Become more familiar with ways of knowing in the arts and humanities and to be more knowledgeable and capable in a range of intellectual and expressive abilities;
• To engage critically with their own society, history, and culture(s);
• To learn more about the history and culture of other societies.

IAH courses focus on key ideas and issues in human experience by:

• Encouraging appreciation of the roles of knowledge and values in shaping and understanding human behavior;
• Emphasizing the responsibilities and opportunities of democratic citizenship;
• Highlighting the value of the creative arts of literature, theater, music, and arts;
• Alerting us to important issues that occur among peoples in an increasingly interconnected, interdependent world.

The Center for Integrative Studies in the Arts and Humanities works cooperatively with faculty and departments in the College of Arts and Letters, the College of Social Science (Department of History) and the College of Music to deliver the arts and humanities component of MSU's Integrative Studies Program.