Experience
Develop a sense of personal vocation and the skills to pursue it.
The College of Arts and Sciences cultivates an openness to new ideas and experiences that helps students discover enduring interests.
A Valpo education prepares students admirably for a competitive job market — but it does much more than that. It treats students as whole human beings; it empowers them to lead and serve their many communities. Students in the College of Arts and Sciences form close relationships with faculty mentors who encourage students to learn about their own strengths, interests, and passions. The curriculum elicits serious, systematic thinking about how students understand the world and their place in it.
- An exploratory program helps students who have not decided on a major identify their strengths and interests.
- Students in all majors, with the benefit of thoughtful academic advising, create plans of study that allow them to explore a variety of interests before focusing on a major field.
Maximillian Paul ’14
My professors helped me find a way to mesh my interest in the environment with my interest in psychology.
In the classroom and beyond, students in the College of Arts and Sciences encounter compelling learning experiences.
The College of Arts and Sciences encourages students to develop and apply the skills taught by the curriculum. Opportunities begin in the classroom and extend through research projects, internships, and service learning.
- “Inside Out,” a course in which sociology and criminology students join individuals who are incarcerated in a local correctional facility for intense study of topics in criminal justice;
- Field Biology, in which students learn to gather and analyze samples while helping a local land trust reestablish native flora;
- Traditions of Giving and Serving in American Life, an English seminar in which the class project is the selection of recipients for a $10,000 gift.
- Medical clinics in Central America
- State and national parklands, historic sites, and trusts
- Local social-service agencies
- Summer internship programs at research universities
- A rich variety of study-abroad programs
- Several off-campus study programs in the United States that focus on practical experience