Otterbein College Integrative Studies Program

Tradition and Change: A New Direction for the IS Curriculum

Traditionally, the curriculum has had a unifying theme of human nature. All courses in the curriculum have revolved around this thematic and have focused on the following common goals:

To understand human nature and the many facets of our being more fully.
To think critically and creatively.
to communicate your thoughts accurately and effectively in writing and speaking.
To develop competencies in a broad range of disciplines in the liberal arts and sciences.
To make integrative connections across disciplines, helping you to engage complex problems with interdisciplinary knowledge.
To identify your beliefs and extend your knowledge of ethical and spiritual issues to create a broader understanding and tolerance.
To know how to access and evaluate information, resources, and technology and apply them in the appropriate context.

With the opportunity of semester conversion in 2012, Otterbein has begun to chart a new direction for the IS curriculum. While the commitment to interdisciplinary and integrative learning remains, the new curriculum will be grounded in the principles of global education. With the new curriculum, a new mission statement and five core goals have been established:

Mission:

The Integrative Studies program aims to prepare Otterbein undergraduates for the challenges and complexity of a 21st century world. It foregrounds interdisciplinary and integrative skills, competencies, and ways of knowing and is committed to the premise that one's learning should serve and shape one's chosen responsibilities in and to the world.

Goals:

To inspire intellectual curiosity about the world as it is and a deeper understanding of the global condition.
To assist students in cultivating intercultural knowledge and competencies.
To promote active and critical reflection on the human self and its place in the world.
To challenge students to critically examine their ethical responsibilities and choices in both local and global contexts.
To encourage purposeful public engagement and social responsibility.

Voices from the Past: Messages from Previous IS Chairs

Amy Jessen-Marshall

Amy Jessen Marshall, Chairperson 2007-2009

Integrative learning is about making connections. It's about the relationships between the liberal arts and the disciplines. It's about the growth from a first-year students to a graduating senior. It's about building an inquisitive and open mind and discovering who you are both in your own community and in the world...

Lyle Barkhymer, Chairperson 1994-2007

Our program of Integrative Studies is the product of outstanding creative inspiration and hard work at the time of its development and implementation more than 30 years ago. It is also the product of intense evaluation, revision, and development that has occurred since then and that continues to take place year by year...

Allison Prindle

Alison Prindle, Chairperson 1984-1994

The change from Common Courses to Integrative Studies underlined the program's goal of making connections across disciplinary lines; we seek to integrate that breadth of knowledge earned by students in a liberal arts college... Our differences, questions, and knowledge can be integrated only "through dialogue," as the planners of this liberal arts core stated in 1967...

Integrative Studies Honors

Ohio Board of Regents 1989: "Independent College Challenge Program for Liberal Arts Excellence," $106,000. One of six programs honored by the Regents in a statewide competition for excellence in liberal arts programming. (Resulting grant supported revision of first-year Western Experience course and development of upper-level Global Perspectives requirement.)
AAC&U: Chosen twice from more than 100 applicant institutions to receive grants for participation in American Association of Colleges and Universities multi-year programs
- 1990-93 Engaging Cultural Legacies (led to development and implementation of the Senior Year Experience Program)
- 2004-07 Shared Futures: General Education for Global Learning (led to organization of six faculty learning communities, infusion of global learning into targeted I S courses, global learning as one of Strategic Plan Cardinal Experiences)
2004: Chosen as a benchmark program by Plymouth State U (NH) as it redesigned its general education program. Included an onsite visit to Otterbein by Plymouth State faculty team.
National Science Foundation 2006: Received $113,522 National Science Foundation grant, "Increasing Scientific Literacy for Non-Science Majors through Team-Taught Interdisciplinary Lab-Based Courses" (supported development and implementation of sophomore year science curriculum)
McGregor Fund 2008: Received $250,000 grant, "The McGregor Fund Transformation Project: Supporting Students' Ability to Integrate Learning." (Purposes: re-envision, re-invigorate, and reinforce an integrative curriculum that invites students to explore questions relevant for today's global society, to focus on the structured integration of students' core curriculum, their disciplinary major and their co-curricular experiences at Otterbein College, to develop the possibility that Otterbein students will have the opportunity to earn both a disciplinary major and a major in Integrative Studies, giving them a unique position in a competitive world.)
US News and World Report: It seems fair to say that Otterbein's peer-based ranking as 9th in academic reputation in our US New and World Report group is influenced by the national reputation of the Integrative Studies Program.