Northern Illinois University offers a variety of courses that cross disciplinary lines and enrich traditional curricular offerings. Among the opportunities students may explore are interdisciplinary majors housed within colleges, interdisciplinary minors within academic colleges and centers, and study abroad programs offered by the Division of International Programs.

UNIV 101
Of particular importance is University 101: University Experience, a course designed for students during their first semester of enrollment at Northern Illinois University. Faculty advisors may wish to encourage newly enrolled students to take UNIV 101 because courses of this nature have been shown to assist students in obtaining the knowledge and skills necessary to reach their baccalaureate goals. Moreover, this course can provide an opportunity for students to learn and adapt methods to be successful in college and beyond. Topics in this course include the nature of a liberal arts education, communication skills, study skills, study techniques, question-asking skills, library use, personal issues that face many college students, and career planning.

ILAS 101
ILAS 101: Preceptorial is a one-hour introduction to the ways in which the three divisions of our college approach questions fundamental to a liberal education. ILAS 101 introduces students to the structure of the academic material that shapes their current and future studies. In small sections offered only to first-semester freshmen, students read primary texts, attend lectures taught by master teachers, and write reaction papers examining the readings and lectures.