Liberal Arts & Sciences at Illinois

What can video games really teach us about history?

For classics professor Eduardo García-Molina, playing Rome: Total War sparked a fascination with the Seleucid Empire that's led him all the way to the creation of his newest course, "The Ancient World in Video Games."

The media studies course focuses on classical civilizations in video games, teaching students about history via modern technology, and, "based on the hours logged in the department Steam account," students are truly engaging with it!

Read more: https://las.illinois.edu/news/2026-03-23/video-games-ancient-world-and-higher-level-learning

University of Illinois School of Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics

Just thinking outside the box. 🟧🟦

Classes might be out, but construction on our Altgeld and Illini Hall projects blazes forward!

LAS Facilities and Planning Executive Director Derek Fultz recently gave WCIA the inside scoop on current and future plans for each historic building; check it out: https://www.wcia.com/news/champaign-county/were-super-excited-major-construction-projects-on-u-of-i-campus-to-wrap-up-soon/

(Plus, don't miss our exclusive behind-the-scenes video of progress on the Illini Hall foundation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwH7CsxyEmc)

‘We’re super excited’: major construction projects on U of I campus to wrap up soon CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) — School may be out for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, but construction projects around campus are full-speed ahead, and that includes some majo…

Some LAS students are living double lives.

Double academic lives, that is -- of the 12.5k undergrads in LAS, more than 1,000 are pursuing degrees in more than one major!

The workload can be substantial, but as history and geography and geographical information science major Jess Johnson says, “You come to college to learn things. There’s never been a day where I’ve had classes from both majors where I haven’t, at the end of the day, realized that I learned something.”

Read more about these remarkable students' unique and interdisciplinary paths:

The double life: Students describe pursuing dual degrees in LAS | College of Liberal Arts & Sciences | Illinois At U of I, students whose majors stretch across very different fields say the extra planning and pressure are worth it for the freedom to keep following their curiosity.Written by Fancy Cheng, communication major and LAS news writing intern What happens at the end of science? Philosophy?

In light of the recent passing of renowned author Marjane Satrapi, author of the beloved graphic novel "Persepolis," we're highlighting LAS alum Jarret Dapier (LAS '01).

His own graphic novel, "Wake Now in the Fire," uncovers the story of students from the Chicago Public School system who successfully got an unprompted ban on Satrapi's "Persepolis" repealed.

Of his hopes for his novel, Dapier says, "I would love for teens who read it to see their emotional lives and the things they struggle with reflected honestly, and to see that they’re capable of doing amazing things to protect their own community."

Read more (and read his book!) ⬇️

Fight the Power! In 2013, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) suddenly and mysteriously banned Persepolis, the beloved graphic novel about author Marjane Satrapi’s childhood in authoritarian Iran. In Wake Now in the F…

Construction on the new Illini Hall is underway! 🚧

Illini Hall will be home to our mathematics, statistics, and data science programs, and serve as a world-class facility for learning, innovation, and discovery in the mathematical sciences.

This spring, we stopped by the site to check out the progress so far — watch our update here:

Illini Hall Construction Update: Building a Foundation Construction on the new Illini Hall is already underway! Illini Hal...

A(nother) moment for our newest LAS alumni, please!

We couldn't have posed better ourselves.