About Us

Integrated Sciences Student Association(ISSA) was founded in an effort to create a sense of community for students in the Integrated Sciences Program. Students in ISP come from varying disciplines of science and consequently share a diverse range of interests. We hope that ISSA will bridge students together through their interests as well as their vision for education at UBC. We strongly believe that our passion in interdisciplinary learning will reach out to other students in the fields of Arts and Sciences and strengthen the spirit of interdisciplinary learning in our community.

About the Integrated Sciences Program

"The Integrated Sciences Program (ISP) is an alternative to a traditional Major or Honours program for students whose interests cross disciplinary boundaries within the Sciences. The program gives 3rd or 4th year students the opportunity, and the guidance, to design their own curriculum.

Students in Integrated Sciences design their own upper-division curriculum, which must bridge at least two disciplines within science or beyond. These custom curricula must include Integrated Sciences "core" courses (ISCI courses) that are explicitly interdisciplinary. When applying for admission to the Integrated Sciences Program after their second (or third) year of undergraduate science, students must accomplish several things. They must demonstrate in essays and during conversations with their ISP mentor that they are developing a vision of their own education that encompasses http://pages.google.com/a/www.ubcissa.com/edit/about?authtoken=4e7988e11dcea434aead013591ff723cfcd527ddmore than one discipline, and that it is more valuable for them to explore those fields as a set rather than independently. They design a 2-year interdisciplinary curriculum that embodies that vision and satisfies University and Faculty requirements for graduation, as well as additional requirements. For example, students must take fourth-year courses in more than one discipline. Students graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Integrated Sciences if they complete the curriculum they propose. This flexibility and the mentoring that accompanies it are very valuable. ISP encourages students to review their programs periodically. "

The above is an excerpt from:

Benbasat, J. A. and Gass, C. L. 2002.