Who am I? What is my passion?  Where do ideas come from?  These are some of the big ideas that Integrated Studies students and faculty have tackled over the last three decades.  The Integrated Studies Program is celebrating its 30 year anniversary, and to mark the occasion, a Socrates Café will be hosted by the department and all are welcome to attend and engage in deep discussions of meaningful ideas. The event will be held Homecoming week on Friday, Oct. 14, 11a.m., O’Kelly room 260.

The Integrated Studies Program, or ISP as it’s more commonly known, began educating freshman UND students in 1986 under the guidance of co-founders Pat Sanborn and Gerry Lawrence and funded by a significant grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

30 years later, ISP continues to provide high-impact educational experiences for students. The program emphasizes questioning and critical thinking and engages students to think in ways they had not considered, as well as encouraging them to challenge their preexisting ideas and build strong communication skills.

The program aims, even from its roots three decades ago, to get students thinking outside of the traditional education box and fosters an environment that helps students grow, all while encouraging students to take an active role in their own learning while understanding why ideas and their education matters.

ISP classes do not typically rely on lectures, relying instead primarily on small group, student-centered discussion and activities. This process lets students consider what’s really important to them and explore ideas with each other. Faculty in ISP believe that one of the best ways to learn is through being challenged with complex situations and hearing multiple perspectives on issues.

Integrated Studies uses themes to provide a starting discussion focus each semester. Some of the themes have been “The City,” “Home,” “Winners and Losers,”  “Feared and Forbidden,” “Awakenings,” and the most recent, “The Walking Dead.” The aim of these themes each semester is to get students thinking about a particular topic as it occurs throughout a variety of readings, films and other texts, as well as in contemporary, real-world issues.

Over 3,700 students have had the opportunity to participate in this unique and nationally-recognized program, while over 40 UND faculty members have taught in ISP, with one professor staying through as many as 44 consecutive semesters.

Faculty have come from a variety of disciplines including biology, American cultural studies, honors, English, physics, nursing, geology, communication sciences, humanities, theatre arts and many others.

The driving philosophy of ISP is that learning occurs best in the context of a compelling problem and substantial interaction both with peers and faculty.

Curious about what this means for you? Join us for our Socrates Café and get a taste of what ISP is all about as we celebrate our 30th anniversary on Oct. 14!

Antonia Kalal- Contributing Writer for The Dakota Student