The Integrated Studies Honors Program (ISHP) is an invitational program designed to help high-achieving students integrate knowledge from various fields of study and learn in a small classroom environment. It emphasizes the first year of a student's time at Davis as an opportunity to learn about the campus community and prepare for research in later years. Students take three four-unit classes and two one-unit seminars over the course of their first year. They all have less than twenty-five students, so it provides a different perspective from most freshman classes. ISHP is a part of the University Honors Program (UHP), along with the Davis Honors Challenge (DHC). Program offices are located in 1342 Surge III.
The Integrated Studies Honors Program is a part of the University Honors Program.
Miller Hall: the living/learning community of first-year Integrated Studies Honors students.
Examples of ISHP courses: The Scientific Study of Consciousnes; Inequality; Science in the Renaissance; Storytelling (a popular choice!); Americans Debate Their Rights; Globalization; Biophotonics; Documentary Photography (1-unit seminar).
Carrie Devine and Lolita Nelson-Adkins at the 2013 ISHP New Student Welcome!
Freshman Year
- Fall Quarter: IST-8A/B/C; IST-9 - Seminar
- Winter Quarter: IST 8A/B/C
- Spring Quarter: IST-9 Seminar
Research Preparation Year
- Fall Quarter: IST-90 - Faculty Interest Seminar
- Winter Quarter: IST-94 - Introduction to Research
- Spring Quarter: IST-190 - Faculty Interest Seminar
Research Year (can be repeated if appropriate)
- Fall Quarter: IST-194-AH - Student Research
- Winter Quarter: IST-194-BH - Student Research
- Spring Quarter: IST-190 - Faculty Interest Seminar
For more information, please visit: http://integratedstudies.ucdavis.edu/
For years IS was located in Tercero B Building, nearest neighbor of the campus dairy. It was quite the fragrant location on warm evenings. Ever since the 2003-2004 school year, though, they've enjoyed newer, nicer digs in Segundo North, in Miller Hall. They left behind some great murals on the walls of B Building, though (though the letter buildings were demolished in March 2012).
Rumor has it that the Campus Crusade for Chaos and Confusion grew out of IS people run amok, if it ever existed. However, this story is likely the work of the Illuminati.
Davis Honors Challenge may be more challenging (I do not know, I have not been in it), but Integrated Studies provided me many fond memories and friends, and I don't think Davis Honors Challenge would have done the same (different structure).-ChristyMarsden
2010-02-02 01:46:54 I do wonder if students who do not get into this program are studying Disintigrated studies...? —IDoNotExist
2012-10-01 13:33:49 IS was a great program. I was in it in 02-03, and my wife was in it 03-04. We both loved it. For one thing, you really get to know the people in your dorm. I was back in B building, when the program was a little smaller, so I got to know everyone in the program quite well. My wife was in it the first year in Miller, when it was substantially larger; at that point, it sounds like people connected a bit more floor-by-floor. Regardless, you have a much smaller group of people with whom you share classes and living space. It's a great social experience and a great way to get connected. I remain very close friends with many of my fellow ISers to this day, and it's a broader group of friends than I think I would have developed in a different dorm situation.
You also wind up with excellent instructors. The classes that wind up in the program, and the professors who teach them, are superb. While the education may not directly contribute to your major (if you've chosen one), you will be a better person for it. The classes I took were fascinating, generally very entertaining, and developed skills and interests that I might not have otherwise developed.
I took a debate course focused on American rights fall quarter, taught by Jay Mechling. While I didn't realize it at the time, that class was the foundation for my interest in the law. It's probably what started me down the path to my career as an attorney.
A storytelling class taught by John Boe was incredibly entertaining and taught me a lot about public speaking and how to engage an audience, as well as teaching me a lot about my classmates.
Science of the Renaissance approached science from a historical and philosophical perspective, following the development of the scientific method and a number of different areas of study over the course of centuries.
If you have an opportunity to join IS, you should take it. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life, and many of the friends I made in the IS dorm remain close to this day. I made connections with some of the professors in a way that's hard to do with huge classes, and Professor Mechling was a reference for me for years. I've since been back to speak to one of his classes, and I hope I can remain involved in the future. —TomGarberson
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