1. Introduction to the INT Program

2. What Integration Means at Mercer
“If you are trying to solve a big problem like nuclear weapons, it doesn’t fit into any particular discipline. It’s physics, and it’s economics, and it’s biology, it’s philosophy, and it’s political science.”
Goal: give students the tools of integrative learning for the 21st century world, where information changes rapidly and they will need to work with others whose background and perspectives differ from their own.

3. INT 101: Understanding Self & Others
Transitions first-year students to Mercer:
Teaches them how to read, write, and think critically at college level.
Writing instruction emphasis.
Developmental emphasis on getting to know yourself and life purpose.
Wrestle with challenging questions from multiple perspectives.
Debates, field trips, local theatre, musical concerts.

4. INT 101: Understanding Self & Others
Sample Themes:
What Does It Mean to be Human?
Race & Identity
Food Politics
Free Will
Humor & Laughter
Fairy Tales
Freedom to Ask Questions & Courage to Seek Answers

5. INT 101: Understanding Self & Others
All sections involve a signature assignment analyzing a community problem & proposing solutions. Examples:
Writing a Letter to an Editor on the ethics of eating meat in USA
Researching local energy producers on solar-power initiatives & water conservation
Contacting a college student in another country on views of American education system

6. INT 201: Building Community
Purpose-driven writing for a variety of audiences, in a variety of genres, in context
Reflection as a tool for understanding and integration
INT 101: emphasis on analytic writing
INT 201: emphasis on writing for a public audience (letter to the editor, opinion pieces, policy papers, grant applications)

7. INT 201: Building Community
Focus on critical community concerns such as
poverty
education
racism
homelessness
criminal (in)justice system
impact of housing and urban planning policies
what divides us and what mechanisms bring us together
in Macon, in students’ home communities, online, in the US…

8. Innovative, Engaging Pedagogies
Service learning in our schools, parks, homeless shelter, community gardens, online spaces (Yik Yak)
Reacting to the Past games
Poverty simulation
Inside-Out Prison Exchange
Integrative learning throughout
On the horizon: e-portfolios, an online space for integrative reflection & multimodal communication

9. INT 301: Engaging the World

10. INT 301: Engaging the World
Sample Themes:
(Re)Constructing Latin American Identity
Apocalyptic Movements in the Middle East
Understanding China in a Global Context
Globalization: Africa's Experiences
Arab Spring
Cosmopolitanism and Its Discontents

11. How the INT Program has improved oral communication skills

12. Mercer Integrative Education in Action