What happens when you bring together two (or more!) outstanding professors, from completely different disciplines, and one BIG IDEA? Add a room full of bright Berkeley undergraduates and let the spirited discussions begin!
Big Ideas Courses fulfill breadth requirements, are designed with non-majors in mind, do not have prerequisites, and are taught by some of our most engaging instructors. Each Big Ideas Course takes up a question, concept, or topic, a key intellectual and societal challenge, that cannot be adequately addressed by the perspective or methodology of one discipline alone. Big Ideas Courses are co-taught by two or more faculty from different departments, who expose students to multiple approaches to the central focus of the course, and teach them the excitement of grappling with a big idea, as well as the rich, nuanced, and illuminating results that arise when disciplines come into contact around a topic of mutual vital interest.
There are no Big Ideas Courses being offered in fall 2025. Check back in October for Big Ideas Courses that will be offered in spring 2026!
This course challenged the way I look at problems. I realized that when people from different disciplines come together, they bring more creative and innovative thoughts to the table.
The Big Ideas Courses program is administered by the College of Letters & Science’s Division of Undergraduate Studies and serves students in all colleges and schools across the UC Berkeley campus. The program is generously supported in part by donors to the L&S Leadership Fund.