Welcome to the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
All of us in the College, regardless of our home discipline,
have a shared belief in a number of central principles.
First and foremost, we believe in the power, importance and
centrality of the liberal arts. Regardless of the major or minor
students select in the College (and we offer 33 majors and 31
minors across 12 departments and over 35 programs in the
humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences), they
will be encouraged and expected to explore different ways of
understanding the world, to experience cultures diverse from their
own, practice critical thinking, to appreciate the value of and joy
associated with learning, and to recognize the power their
education provides them for personal gain and social change. A
liberal arts degree from Butler University, and the hard but
exciting work required to acquire one, positions students to do
almost anything with their lives beyond Butler. As so many of our
graduates have demonstrated, Liberal Arts and Sciences alumni are
able to make a difference in their lives and in the lives of those
with whom they interact. The faculty of the College of Liberal Arts
and Sciences have adopted a statement outlining the core values
associated with a liberal arts education. We hope you will take
time to read our Core Values Statement. (Read the Core Values
Statement in English, Chinese, French, German, Italian, & Spanish.)
Second, we work on a daily basis to strengthen ties between
students and faculty members. Students and their faculty mentors
work closely together both in and out of the classroom. They
conduct collaborative research projects, make joint presentations
at professional meetings and publish the results of their work in
the literature of their disciplines. They talk about ideas, the
future and the world. And they very frequently remain in touch long
after graduation.
Third, we are incredibly proud of the scholarship created by our
faculty. Faculty members in the College of Liberal Arts and
Sciences regularly produce articles, books and reports that add to
the knowledge base in their disciplines. Faculty members regularly
bring the excitement that comes from making new discoveries and
writing new pieces of literature or poetry into the classroom.
Classrooms are livelier and students are enriched because of this
activity.
Finally, we believe that learning takes place in many settings
in addition to the classroom. College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
students participate in internships in Indianapolis and around the
world, and they regularly study abroad and in various field
locations.
Because we believe that the liberal arts matter, we have
undertaken a number of initiatives to explain and promote the
importance of the liberal arts. Please take a look at our Liberal
Arts Matters web pages to gain a fuller understanding of our
perspective on the liberal arts.
Michael Zimmerman
Dean