The Conservative Corner: About the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI)

This article has been edited to make it more applicable to the readers of this blog. It is the second edition of my column, The Conservative's Corner, and I hope you enjoy it.

Greetings to all. When I was thinking about what to talk about for the next edition of this column, I wanted to bring attention to something of which I am quite active in and that students should take advantage of. I am talking about the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI). ISI is an organization founded in 1953 with the motto “To Educate for Liberty”. Its goal is to provide students with the tools and knowledge to get the most out of their college experiences, and to allow students to learn about topics and ideas that they may not normally learn in their classes, like classic conservative thought.

Now you are probably thinking, what is so great about this group? The best thing about ISI is that membership is FREE for students and faculty members. And we all know you do not get many things free. With ISI membership, you will receive a subscription (again free) to the ISI’s major publication The Intercollegiate Review: A Journal of Scholarship and Opinion. The Intercollegiate Review, or IR, which offers many great articles; from the history of Western civilization to articles on J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Lord of the Rings.

In addition to the IR, the ISI offers other publications. These include The Students’ Guides to the Major Disciplines, which offers students answers on how to get the most from their majors and the liberal arts. The majors covered in these guides include U.S. History, History, Economics, Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Classics, Psychology, Liberal Learning, the Core Curriculum, Literature, etc. In addition, ISI publishes books on varying subjects, which can be accessed at www.isibooks.org. Author's note: At this time ISI is having a 60% off sale on all ISI Books until March 31, 2007, so take advantage of the lower prices and build a great library.

For those looking for a deeper educational experience, ISI also offers an honors program where you can study in prestigious institutions for a week in the summer and learn about important topics relating to the ISI. If you are near the end of the road in your time at IC, ISI offers graduate fellowships to assist students in their studies. Information for both of these programs can be found on the group’s website www.isi.org.

If ISI sounds like an organization for you, please consider joining as many campuses have ISI affiliated groups, which will meet to discuss topics of interest from books and other sources as well as arrange for ISI speakers to come to campus. If you are interested in membership, please contact me, as I am ISI Campus Representative for the University of North Dakota, but can assist you in joining ISI via email and leave me your name, address (both home and school), email, major and graduation date, and it will be sent to the ISI membership division, or you may also join ISI using the following link: Join ISI Now. I encourage as many of my fellow students to take advantage of ISI, a wonderful organization with many great things to offer students. I am Daniel Sauerwein, and this has been the Conservative Corner. God Bless, and have a great day.