Integrative Arts and Humanities (IAH)
Integrative Arts and Humanities (IAH) courses are an opportunity for students to explore exciting arts and humanities questions while also earning credits toward the Integrative Studies graduation requirements. Each IAH section has a specific course focus, which can be seen on the Schedule of Courses, and so students can choose from a wide variety of topics based on their own interests!
IAH courses are generally reading- and writing-intensive, and students should consider their comfort and confidence in taking a class with this amount of reading and writing as part of their overall schedule when deciding when to take IAH.
The arts and humanities play a vital role in the lives and careers of MSU students of any major. For example, what students learn in IAH might help whenever they need to:
- Think creatively to find a solution
- Find out more about the nuances instead of basing decisions on superficial knowledge (e.g., understand contexts)
- Communicate effectively
- Know about different cultures, identities, frameworks, and experiences
- Figure out which information to trust
- Think through the ethical considerations of a complicated situation
IAH Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Nearly every accredited college or university in the US requires some arts/humanities learning to receive a bachelor’s degree. Why? Because a college graduate needs well-rounded knowledge and capabilities in order to make an impact on the world.
The Mission and Goals of IAH also align with MSU’s Undergraduate Learning Goals, which identify the capabilities that every MSU graduate should have. Both the IAH Program Goals and the MSU Undergraduate Learning Goals help students to succeed in their careers and in their other pursuits or passions, to effectively contribute to society, and to apply their knowledge and critical and creative thinking to a wide variety of situations.
IAH courses integrate different arts and humanities fields of study, such as art, music, literature, theater, film, history, philosophy, religious studies, language and linguistics, and/or others. Even more importantly, these courses help students integrate arts and humanities knowledge with their own lives, their careers or majors, their other college courses, and/or their interests and passions. IAH courses can help students discover for themselves how the arts and humanities can inform and enhance what they do outside of the IAH classroom, both in college and after graduation.
Any IAH course might have several different sections in a semester. Each section might have a different course focus. For example, recent sections of IAH 207, which has the course title “Literature, Cultures, Identities,” have had sections with a course focus such as “The Plague in Literature, History, and Film”; “Michigan: The Life and Times of Where You Are”; “‘Race’ and ‘Culture’ in the US”; “Cultural Fear and Identity in Dystopian Fiction”; “Global Identities in Contemporary Literature and Film”; or, “The Technology of the Zombie.”
The course focus varies from section to section, so it is not found in the course title or description; the specific course focus can be found by browsing the Schedule of Courses.
Yes, IAH offers many exciting IAH classes in summer, primarily online courses. See the Schedule of Courses.
Please see: overrides policy page, transfer credit page
You might consider taking other courses in arts and humanities departments or programs! You can ask your IAH instructor for recommendations or consider exploring online.