Synthetic biology is the application of engineering and mathematical principles to develop novel biological devices and circuits. What separates synthetic biology from traditional molecular biology is the development of standardized interchangeable DNA "parts," just as advances in engineering in the nineteenth century brought about standardized railroad gauges and screw threads. Through the use of these "parts," laboratories around the world can easily exchange and combine biological constructs to develop novel "machines" for a variety of applications, including medicinal chemistry and genetic engineering. A common problem faced by primarily undergraduate institutions is the lack of funding and material support needed to adequately expose students to modern biology, including synthetic biology. To help alleviate this problem, the Genome Consortium for Active Teaching (GCAT) was founded in 2000 by Malcolm Campbell at Davidson College to bring genomics into the undergraduate curriculum. This article presents a report from the Genome Consortium for Active Teaching workshop 2010. This workshop explored how faculty from multiple disciplines could work together to bring synthetic biology to the undergraduate classroom and laboratory. Key themes that emerged throughout the workshop are discussed. (Contains 2 figures.)