Some students enter Washington University knowing that IPH is ideal for them. They start on the Text & Tradition track, and the small classes and rigorous engagement with texts from Homer to Borges convince them that they want to continue in such an intellectual environment.

Others begin a FOCUS program as freshmen -- say, the program on European Nationalism, or Shakespeare Unlimited, or Cuban Transitions -- and decide to join IPH because they've come to love an interdisciplinary approach to their studies.

And other students find the program a bit later. Students have joined us as sophomores -- those who entered the university on the pre-medical track, transferred from other universities, or come from Engineering, the School of Fine Arts, or the Business School. They find they have catching up to do. It's worth it to them and to the IPH community.

• Any member of the IPH faculty would be happy to confer with you about interdisciplinary work in the humanities. And if you'd like to talk to one of our current majors, Amy Lehman can put you in touch with one of them. Contact Amy at iph@artsci.wustl.edu or 314-935-4200.