Program Benefits
CODES is an alternative general education curriculum that works with all majors and programs at SIUE. Students will take their education beyond the walls of the classroom and into the St. Louis region.
- Collaborative research experiences that reflect innovative working environments
- Small class sizes and a tight-knit learning community
- Consistent mentorship from faculty and community members
- Curriculum and faculty that represent the diverse backgrounds of students in the program
- Community partnerships that involve hands-on learning and critical thinking in an applied setting
Community Partners
Student research teams will work with organizations in each year’s partner community, including Alton, St. Louis, East St. Louis and Granite City.
Alton (Class of 2026)
The first cohort has been working in Alton, Ill., with the theme “Resiliency and Spatial Justice in the Face of Climate Change.” As a Mississippi River town, Alton has a storied past. After the Missouri Compromise, Alton was a key stop for the Underground Railroad and a hub of activity for abolitionists and those escaping from slavery. The city was also the site of racial segregation throughout the twentieth century. Redlining meant that black communities were relegated to parts of the city at the mercy of the river’s frequent flooding. Extreme flooding again hit Alton in spring 2019 leading to concerns about racial justice in the context of climate change. The theme allows students to consider water quality, flood management, housing practices and segregation in the context of history, literature, geography and environmental science. Research teams are partnered with the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center, the YWCA of Southwestern Illinois, and the National Council of Negro Women-Alton Section.
Missouri Botanical Garden (Class of 2027)
The second cohort has been working with the Missouri Botanical Garden. The combined scholarly expertise of ethnobotany and conservation biology, with the historical resources of Henry Shaw's papers and the specimens in the herbarium, make MOBOT an ideal site for the transdisciplinary problem-solving central to CODES. The cohort considers the inclusive theme of reparative justice, an approach centering on those who have been harmed, focusing on healing and repairing past harms to prevent them in the future. CODE Scholars explore the institution's history of enslavement, retrace the erasures of Black and Brown residents who lived in the area that is now Shaw Nature Reserve, and study the indigenous knowledge and cultural context underlying specimens in the Herbarium. CODE Scholars plan to help MOBOT tell these stories with intentionality and sensitivity to welcome more diverse guests to the Garden.
