Interdisciplinary Big Questions Colloquia (IBQC) are topical seminars (one credit hour; A-F grading scale) designed by faculty to introduce new students to interdisciplinarity and the liberal arts intellectual experience. Students take one IBQC during their first year at Spelman College. Most colloquia are fifty-minute class sessions.
The spirit of the Interdisciplinary Big Questions Colloquia is one of intellectual generosity, curiosity, and respect with an emphasis on:
- Understanding how one question or topic can be explored by different disciplines.
- Creating safe, supportive and rigorous spaces for students and professors to engage ideas by thinking, reading and writing both freely and precisely.
Woman of African descent have a rich intellectual tradition, and some of the colloquia draw heavily on this tradition to explore Big Questions.