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Table of Contents Academic Life Academic Regulations The Academic Programs International and Off-Campus Studies Special Programs Admissions and Financial Aid Life Outside the Classroom People Facts and Figures College Calendar |
Center for Integrative Studies http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/cis/ Director, 2000-2001: David Booth, Religion Faculty, 2000-2001: Rebecca Judge, Economics; William Sonnega, Communication and Theater In the CIS, "integrative studies" refers to learning that intentionally combines diverse methods, experiences, learning styles, subject matters, departmental resources, or off-campus resources. The college has a long-standing commitment to integrative studies, evident in its many successful interdisciplinary majors and concentrations, in the 30-year history of the Paracollege, and in our faculty's ability to combine diverse approaches to course subjects. The CIS's principal activity is to support students pursuing individualized, integrative majors, but it also offers a small curriculum of courses and seminars exemplifying and encouraging integrative learning and identifies and nurtures existing opportunities for integrative learning on and off campus. In all these activities, the CIS's goal is to enhance the coherence of students' academic careers by encouraging them to make meaningful connections among the many parts of their educational experience and by helping them build bridges between the college and other communities. The Individualized Major The CIS certifies student-designed, integrative majors. A student may propose any sequence of courses, seminars, independent studies, or experiential learning as the means of pursuing an individualized major. Among other things, the student's proposal must include (1) a description of the proposed subject matter; (2) a list of 10 or more proposed courses and other learning experiences, and an explanation of how each contributes to the major; (3) an initial proposal for a two-credit senior integrative project; and (4) a summary of the student's preparation to carry out the proposed major. The proposal must have the support of a faculty academic adviser. The coherence, depth, and feasibility of each proposal is evaluated by a faculty review committee convened by the CIS. If the proposal is approved, the student may pursue the individualized major with the support and encouragement of the Center. When the student's work is complete it is presented to a faculty certification committee for review. Proposals for individualized majors may be submitted any time during the sophomore year and at the beginning of the junior year. Illustrative examples of possible individualized majors include:
To help students with individualized majors to build meaningful connections among the various parts of their undergraduate careers, each maintains a web portfolio of their work. A web portfolio presents and preserves important achievements. It is maintained in an electronic hyper medium (like the World Wide Web) that allows students to demonstrate meaningful links among the parts of their work, to the work of other students, or to other sites of public discussion. The web portfolio is presented to the faculty certification committee as part of the work of the major. For specific requirements for the individualized major, or for information about other activities of the Center for Integrative Studies, please contact the director or program coordinator. COURSES INTEGRATIVE SEMINARS Faculty in the CIS offer integrative seminars on selected topics, open to students in the sophomore year or later. These seminars model the integration of tools and resources from various disciplines in new approaches to their subjects. Seminars in 2000-2001: 202 Environmental Justice: Alternative Perspectives As environmental quality becomes increasingly perceived as a scarce good, questions arise regarding how environmental quality is allocated among communities and groups both within this country and across the world, and whether the resulting allocation is indeed just. This course uses material from economics, sociology, philosophy, and political science to consider the issue of environmental justice as it is perceived and debated in national and international arenas. Offered Fall Semester, 2000. Theater critics employ formal terms and concepts for analyzing dramatic performances. This seminar explores ways these terms and concepts can be employed to analyze other behaviors outside of theaters. In particular, legal and political practices, cultural rituals, activities of family life, and perhaps many other interactions, may all be construed as performances and interpreted through models traditionally used to analyze formal theatrical performance. How many of our activities follow more or less explicit scripts? How many of our activities require us to play a role? Is "real life" something like a theatrical performance? Offered Spring Semester, 2001. THEMATIC COLLOQUIA In Spring 2001, the CIS will pilot the thematic colloquium, open to juniors and seniors. Colloquia allow students to examine a broad topic or question using tools and knowledge from their majors. Students will meet once a week to make presentations and discuss some aspect of the topic from the perspectives of their majors. The theme of a colloquium will be connected to lectures, performances, and other public events during the semester. Topic to be announced. Integrative Senior Project Students with individualized majors register their senior integrative projects in each semester of the senior year, listing their adviser as the instructor. The first semester, generally used for research and other preparation in consultation with the student's adviser, receives a P/N evaluation; the second semester, and final presentation of the project to the faculty certification committee, receives a grade and narrative evaluation that appears on the student's transcript. 391 Senior Project I 392 Senior Project II LINKED COURSES Beginning in Spring 2001, the CIS will coordinate a program of linked courses. These are courses in different departments, offered in the same semester, whose syllabuses intersect at the point of some shared theme. Students who register for a pair of linked courses benefit from each course as a self-contained departmental offering, but also from the integration of cross-disciplinary approaches afforded by the course linkage. Linked courses and their thematic connections are listed in the Class/Lab Schedule. |