What is an integrated curriculum?
Most subjects are connected to each other, conceptually, imaginatively, historically and culturally. In an integrated curriculum, subjects are not studied in isolation from each other. Instead, concepts across all subject areas are drawn together, linked to central themes, questions and ideas, and organized in each grade through its designated historical period. The material learned in one course is relevant to the other courses. Our teachers have interests and knowledge in related, and apparently unrelated, fields. The model is a living web, not a straight road.
The Honors Program fulfills the university’s general education requirements with an integrated curriculum. Unlike the conventional approach to general education, which consists of a set of discrete or independent courses that do not necessarily relate to each other, our integrated curriculum is a set of courses that are connected and interdependent. Each course links to and builds on others in the curriculum. In most instances, we believe, a student derives a maximum benefit from taking the courses as a package. This statement is provided to make our curriculum more comprehensible to our students and to help them see the connections between and among the various Honors courses and understand the relevance of specific courses to the goals of general education.
