Signature Course Stories: Transforming Undergraduate Learning

This compendium of student and faculty essays, augmented with the history and details of the Signature Course program, paints a colorful picture of the Signature Courses that have transformed the undergraduate core curriculum at the University of Texas at Austin. These groundbreaking courses embrace the mission of connecting every first-year student at one of the nation’s best research universities with distinguished faculty members utilizing innovative teaching techniques in unique learning environments. The professors’ areas of expertise and passion are the vehicle for this rigorous intellectual experience, in which students develop a common set of important college-level skills in research, writing, information literacy, communication, and discussion through an approach that is interdisciplinary, collaborative, experiential, and contemporary. Ultimately, the courses teach effective and critical thinking that transforms young participants into adults ready for their academic experiences, their disciplines, their careers, and their contributions in the world.