You will take foundational courses during year one and two that provide a broad understanding of science, technology, and society. You’ll learn key concepts in quantitative reasoning (calculus and statistics), physical sciences (physics and chemistry), life sciences (biology and environmental science), technology (computation and modern production), and social sciences. 

These are not typical STEM courses. Courses focus on applying and integrating foundational concepts to understand and solve important problems and include hands-on labs. You’ll apply what you learn from the beginning.

Most courses are capped at 24 students per class and are taught by our full-time faculty, so you’ll receive personalized attention and help to be successful. 

We offer concentrations in six high-demand and growing fields. 

• Applied Biotechnology
• Applied Computing
• Energy
• Environment and Sustainability
• Industrial and Manufacturing Systems
• Public Interest in Technology and Science

During the first two years in ISAT, you’ll be introduced to all concentrations through foundation-level coursework. In year three, you’ll choose two concentrations for deeper study. In year four, you’ll specialize in one concentration. This allows you to try different things and select areas of study that best fit your interests. If your interests don’t fit neatly into our six concentration paths, you can work with a faculty advisor to tailor a concentration just for you. 

In years three and four, you will work closely with a faculty advisor to complete a capstone research project of your choice. Students work individually or in teams on projects that address real-world problems and often team up with local industry or governmental sponsors to address an area of need. 

Any student who has a GPA of 3.5 or higher can transform their regular senior project into an honors thesis.  An honors thesis will give students greater recognition from potential employers and graduate schools (the honors designation goes on a student’s official transcript).  It also opens up an opportunity to get potential funding to support your project from the Honors College.

Seniors present their work to sponsors, faculty, students, family, and friends each spring at the annual ISAT Senior Symposium. Projects can range from designing autonomous vehicles to studying mercury pollution in a river ecosystem, optimizing pharmaceutical manufacturing, and expanding wind and solar energy. See the capstone archive.

The holistic problem-solving course sequence is an element of the ISAT curriculum that sets us apart from other integrated science programs. As an ISAT student, you will systematically develop your problem-solving skills over four years. 

You'll learn to train and practice the "ways of thinking" that lead to innovative and systemic solutions. While most disciplines teach the "ways of thinking" specific to that discipline, ISAT teaches holistic problem-solving skills that transcend disciplinary boundaries. These are the intangible skills employers seek and the skills necessary for addressing society's greatest challenges. 

 Examples of holistic problem-solving explicitly infused throughout the ISAT curriculum:

• Systems Thinking – We seek to understand the systems from which problems emerge, including technical, institutional, cultural, and natural systems.
• Long-Term View – We adopt a long-term perspective by understanding the historical evolution of a problem and how that history influences the future.
• Stakeholder Engaged – We actively engage relevant and diverse stakeholder perspectives. 
• Interdisciplinary Bridge – We know when and where to seek outside experts on a topic and how to communicate between experts from different disciplines.
• Self-Aware and Reflective – We are self-reflective about problem analysis and careful to articulate assumptions and subject them to scrutiny.

A complete listing of all core and elective courses is available in the ISAT program section of the JMU Undergraduate Catalog.

Have questions? Contact our ISAT student advisor, Paul Henriksen for more information on our curriculum.