WHERE CURIOSITY DRIVES IMPACT

Change begins with curiosity.

From exploring new ideas to solving the world’s biggest issues, LAS empowers thinkers and doers to transform curiosity into measurable impact.

We believe that education is more than lectures and textbooks. It’s about cultivating minds that question, explore, and act with purpose. And we know that when curiosity meets opportunity, innovation follows—and the impossible becomes possible. 

Explore where curiosity drives impact

LAS News

Researchers pose for a photo in the laboratory
Changing the playing field in nickel catalysis
 Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have reported a breakthrough in nickel catalysis that harnesses a rare oxidation state of nickel that has proved challenging to control yet is highly valued for its potential to facilitate important chemical reactions.The researchers...
Major Charity E. Adams and Captain Mary Kearney inspect members of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion in England on February 15, 1945
Uncovering the lost stories of history
 In 1945, 855 women of color (mainly African Americans) in the newly formed 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion were deployed to Birmingham, England, during World War II. Commanded by then-Major Charity Adams, the 6888th’s mission was to clear a massive backlog of mail that had...
Leslie Reagan
"Do what matters to you”
 When history professor Leslie J. Reagan entered her graduate program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison she and the other students in her cohort were told it was unlikely they would ever get an academic job. The field of women's history was...
Cover of "Indifferent Cities" alongside a photo of Ángel García
English professor explores his lost family history in new poetry collection
 Poet Ángel García examines his disrupted family lineage in his new collection of poetry, seeking answers about where he came from and trying to fill the many gaps in his family’s story.“Indifferent Cities...
Christina Kamis stands in a stairwell
Your neighborhood, plus emotional stress, may be aging you prematurely
 While scientists have long known that living in a disadvantaged neighborhood is associated with biological symptoms of accelerated aging, emotional distress accounts for a significant portion of these effects, researchers found in a recent study.“Consistent with a chains-of-risk framework —...
Asef Bayat
Will the mass protests in Iran succeed in regime change?
 Asef Bayat is a sociology professor and the Catherine and Bruce Bastian Professor of Global and Transnational Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with expertise in global social movements and revolutions in the Middle East. A...
Diwakar Shukla stands in a classroom
New computer simulation could light the way to safer cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals
 New psychoactive substances, originally developed as potential analgesics but abandoned due to adverse side effects, may still have pharmaceutical value if researchers could nail down the causes of those side effects. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign used deep...
Kelvin Droegemeier
What’s the state of the research landscape?
 The first year of President Trump’s second term has ushered in host of policy changes to higher education, research funding and priorities. Kelvin Droegemeier, professor of climate, meteorology and atmospheric science at the University of Illinois...

Read more news

 

99.6%
of Illinois students take a class in LAS
70+
majors offered within LAS
33%
of campus' tenure-track faculty members work in LAS
180,000
network of LAS alumni
Full profile
Learn more about LAS

New students: Start your LAS journey

Fuel your curiosity, explore big ideas, and discover what drives you. Designed for new students, LAS First-Year Experience will help you connect, grow, and step confidently into college life.

Learn more

Make your mark

When you support the College of LAS, you play a crucial role in shaping the success of thousands of students and faculty.

Join us in creating a powerful network of influential thinkers and proven achievers—and help us seek a better tomorrow, today.

Give now