WHERE CURIOSITY DRIVES IMPACT

Change begins with curiosity.

From exploring new ideas to solving the world’s biggest issues, LAS empowers thinkers and doers to transform curiosity into measurable impact.

We believe that education is more than lectures and textbooks. It’s about cultivating minds that question, explore, and act with purpose. And we know that when curiosity meets opportunity, innovation follows—and the impossible becomes possible. 

Explore where curiosity drives impact

LAS News

Students forming a Block I on the football field
College of LAS announces 2026 teaching and advising awards
 The College of LAS has selected 19 professors, graduate students, lecturers, and advisors as the recipients of this year’s teaching and advising awards.“It is a privilege to celebrate these remarkable educators and advisors who fulfill our educational mission within the College of LAS,” said...
The Trail of Time at Grand Canyon National Park
How does politics influence interpretive signs at National Park Service sites?
 The Trump administration recently ordered the National Park Service to remove interpretive signs that discuss slavery at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, following an executive order issued last year stating that public monuments should not “inappropriately disparage...
Jasmin Patrón-Vargas
Working for educational justice
 Meet Jasmin Patrón-Vargas (BA, '11, Latina/Latino studies and gender and women's studies) an assistant professor of teaching, learning, and culture at Texas A&M University. She earned her MEd in education...
An aerial view of the Main Quad on a sunny spring day
LAS celebrates leadership, alumni achievement
The College of LAS will recognize seven individuals during the 2026 alumni awards celebration in April. This year's honorees are researchers, philanthropists, and political thinkers who have made incredible impacts in their fields and communities.
David Wilson and book cover
Smart cities, Dracula urbanism
 City development is increasingly associated with creating “smart cities” that use technology for managing city services, home construction and attracting resources. But those strategies come with negative consequences to a city’s poor residents, said...
Susan Koshy, Jason Mazzone, David Sepkoski, and Rosalyn LaPier
Mellon Foundation awards Sawyer Seminar grant to Illinois faculty
 A multi-disciplinary team of faculty researchers from the University of Illinois has been awarded a Sawyer Seminar grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to study the challenges to democracy and academic freedom confronting US universities now. This is the first time in the 30-year...
A crowd gathers in the Ralph Kiam Economics Learning Center
The Raphael Kiam Economics Learning Center hits its stride
 The Raphael Kiam Economics Learning Center was recently renovated to be more inviting and accommodating to students.Located in the lower level of David...
Astronomy on Tap gathering in a bar
A decade of astronomical curiosity
 As one might expect on a bitterly cold Thursday evening, the bar fills up early. Conversations overlap, beer is served, glasses clink. Then things get interesting. Someone sets up a projector. As the crowd jockeys for a good view, in walks Charles Gammie, an Illinois...

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