The University Studies Program traces its roots to a 1970–71 effort by the College of Engineering to provide social sciences/humanities courses to engineering majors. University Studies 3010: Technology and Society was approved in August 1971 to be offered in spring 1972. University Studies 4010: Energy Needs and Our Environment was added for 1973–74. The program became a standing committee of the Undergraduate Council in February 1980, was located in the College of Arts and Sciences, and developed a course, University Studies 1000, to be initially offered in fall 1981, designed to orient students to UT and link them to a faculty member.
Learning Communities—groups of students who took three courses together in fall quarter—developed. Two existing courses with sections reserved for Learning Community members and a third team-taught course were initiated in fall 1984 with funding from the Evening School. The function moved to reporting to the Provost’s Office in 1986, and in 1987 the Learning Community initiative was terminated. A vestige of the program was then operated by residence halls.
The monthly faculty Centripetals luncheons joined University Studies, narrowing the focus of the program to that of faculty development. The program continues its emphasis on facilitating crossdisciplinary interactions of faculty through colloquies, through which interdisciplinary groups of faculty meet together regularly to explore a topic of mutual interest; collaborations, which encourage interdisciplinary partnerships and often take the form of undergraduate courses; and Centripetals, the luncheon faculty presentation and discussion series.