Mission and Overview

The Institute for Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies is a center for innovative teaching and scholarship that draws upon the diversity of Emerson's faculty and students, and the different disciplinary, intellectual, and creative interests they represent. Its mission is to promote the interdisciplinary study of the liberal arts, to support faculty development and collaboration leading to curricular innovation, and to advance students' theoretical and ethical understanding of the fields of communication and new communication technologies. In all of its endeavors, the Institute seeks to foster global and multicultural perspectives.

Institute programs and offices include First Year Seminars and Upper Level Courses in Interdisciplinary Studies, the Honors Program, the New Pathways Program, and the Office of Service Learning and Community Action. Through the Institute, students may pursue Individually Designed Interdisciplinary Majors (IDIP's) as well as minors in selected fields of interdisciplinary study

The Institute Advisory Committee

The permanent advisory body of the Institute for Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies is the Institute Advisory Committee (IAC).  The IAC advises the Executive Director on matters pertaining to policy, curriculum and staffing.  The membership of the membership of the IAC includes faculty representatives from each of the College's Academic Departments and faculty and administrators representing the programs and offices associated with the development of programming at the Institute.

    IAC Members, 2007/2008

Mary Ellen Adams	IDIP Committee Chair
Karl Baehr	Marketing and Communications Representative
Sam Binkley	Organizational and Political Communications Representative
James Capobianco	Library Representative
Deirdre Conlon	Scholar-in-Residence, Institute
Nigel Gibson	Director, Honors Program
Eric Gordon	Visual and Media Arts Representative
Jennifer Greer	Coordinator, Office of Service Learning
Steven Himmer	Coordinator, New Pathways Program
Roger House	Journalism Representative
Wyatt Oswald	Communication Science and Disorders Representative
Magda Romanska	Performing Arts Representative
Diana Sherry	Scholar-in-Residence, Institute
Mirta Tocci	Artist-in-Residence, Institute
John Trimbur	First Year Writing Program Representative
Wendy Walters	Writing, Literature and Publishing Representative
Richard West	Interim Executive Director, Institute
Elizabeth Whitney	Scholar-in-Residence, Institute
Erika Williams	Scholar-in-Residence, Institute