One of the strengths of the University of Iowa’s CLAS Core general education curriculum is that it provides students with an opportunity to explore topics they are passionate about outside of their major and to discover new interests through the wide range of courses offered.

To effectively communicate that message to students, the CLAS Marketing and Communications team and the General Education Curriculum Committee have collaborated to design a web page where students can explore gen ed course offerings based on their interests.

• The web page highlights several topics or themes of interest to students and identifies gen ed courses they may enjoy related to those themes. 
• The page also walks students step by step through how to use the keyword search on MyUI so they can find courses that not only fit their schedule but that also cover topics they find exciting or that give them an opportunity to try something new. 
• The MyUI keyword search feature is based on the text found in course descriptions, and so specific courses may or may not show up in the search results based on the wording of the course description. 

CLAS advisors are encouraged to introduce students to the new web page as a tool for exploration, and faculty should also be aware of this tool and encourage students to use it to discover the variety of gen ed courses offered at the university.

If you are a faculty member and have an exciting idea for a gen ed course that could inspire students’ curiosity and sense of exploration, go over the different gen ed categories and learning outcomes to see which would be the best fit, then follow the steps for putting together a course proposal. 

You can email Matt Shadle, the CLAS Academic Assessment Coordinator, with any questions about the new web page or about the gen ed course proposal process at matthew-shadle@uiowa.edu.