Our Mission

Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington, Tacoma is an evolving, culturally relevant course of study grounded in a respect for diversity and a responsiveness to the needs and desires of the communities and the environment around us. We work to create an atmosphere in which we promote academic excellence by encouraging students to think, write, and speak in ways that enhance their own development, their sense of community, their ability to deal with problems of injustice and equality, as well as their dedication to positive change.

Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences hopes to prepare students for the demands of a multicultural society within our own country and to provide them with a global perspective that will permit them to succeed in the increasingly international arenas of industry, government, and the professions. We take this as a mandate to maintain an interdisciplinary approach to knowledge and inquiry and to serve as the cornerstone of a University dedicated to education in the liberal arts and sciences.

We believe that the exploration of diversity is essential to the establishment and maintenance of unity in an increasingly complex society and world. It is through a respect for and a deep understanding of differences that an appreciation of what is essentially human arises. We are convinced that the study of personal, social, political, economic and cultural differences will produce the outstanding leaders, business people, professionals, and citizens necessary in the global society of the twenty-first century. Learning how we differ must also help us understand how much we have in common.

We seek both traditional and non-traditional students from varied cultural, social, and ethnic backgrounds. While responsive to the needs of younger students, we also provide older students an opportunity to integrate their experience with an understanding of significant academic traditions in the liberal arts, and to carry out this work in an atmosphere of respect for their other major roles, responsibilities, and commitments. Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences provides opportunities for students of all ages to succeed.

We invite you to join us in building a new university for the twenty-first century.

—The Faculty of the Program of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences

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