College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

Contact Information

Website: www.uis.edu/class/
Email: class@uis.edu
Office Phone: (217) 206-6512
Office Location: UHB 3000

Lan Dong, Interim Dean

Tena Helton, Interim Associate Dean

The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences represents many of the fundamental building blocks of human knowledge. These disciplines are traditionally clustered into the arts, humanities, and social sciences. 

What binds all of these varied ways of knowing together is the common intellectual skills they stress — the ability to think deeply and systematically about significant questions, to communicate effectively, and to reach well-researched and sustainable conclusions. The liberal arts and social sciences adhere to the central academic value of education as freeing the human mind from prejudice and parochialism through reasoned discourse.

The College contributes many of the courses in the UIS general education curriculum, which offers opportunities for personal enrichment and exploration, and promotes engaged citizenship. College faculty are dedicated teacher-scholars. Teaching is a central focus and many faculty have been recognized for their excellence in the classroom. They have produced research in the form of books, articles, exhibits and performances. They are deeply involved also in mentoring undergraduate students in research projects in the classroom, studio, laboratory, and in the field. Courses are taught using state-of-the-art classrooms, computer labs, and dedicated spaces for clinical observation, performance practice, and media production. 

Co-curricular activities are plentiful with the Visual Arts Gallery, Music and Theatre performances, and a variety of student clubs and academic honor societies. The College offers a number of the university's online degrees which are taught primarily by full-time faculty and nationally recognized. Support programs for students include The Learning Hub, which offers free academic support services in Mathematics, Sciences, Writing and Academic skills in one-to-one tutoring, workshops, presentations, and online tutoring.

In addition to a university-wide emphasis on student-centered educational experiences, the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences has a mission to provide a broad education for success by encouraging student participation in an interdependent, diverse, and rapidly changing world where learners may become leaders and citizens of transformation in their local and global communities.