Experiential Learning

student presenting at butler summer institute

Cultivate a career

LAS students build professional portfolios through involvement in research and internship programs, and through the support of close faculty mentoring and advising and a variety of career services like resume review and job-interview prep. The College’s 97 percent job and/or graduate-school placement rate is a testament to the benefits of its intentional integration of academic rigor with an outcomes-focused mindset.

Conduct relevant research

Research at Butler is tailored to undergraduates. Faculty welcome students to work directly with them on funded projects investigating real issues. Students can graduate with not only hands-on research experience but also having presented at national conferences and published original work in peer-reviewed journals.

A small sampling

  • In the Computer Science and Software Engineering program, the Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) course is required for both major programs. In this course, teams of students, led by students, work on software projects for charity and nonprofit organizations.
  • The History, Anthropology, and Classics department has recently formed a partnership with the Indiana Historical Society, located downtown along the canal, to allow Butler students to intern. The work includes helping patrons with finding research materials, organizing and adding to collections, handling and scanning collection documents, and creating or updating a collections catalog. This is a valuable experience that allows students to work hands-on in an archive and allows them to gain experience handling primary documents and manuscripts.
  • The Department of Biological Sciences has teamed with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama to form a partnership designed to afford Butler undergraduates opportunities to study and conduct research in Panama, including a paid student internship program. In this capacity, students assist with all aspects of ongoing research and also have the opportunity to design and conduct original, related research.
  • Through the Political Science department, Butler students have interned with the Democratic and Republican party caucuses in the Indiana legislature; the Mayor’s Office; the Governor’s Office; and numerous organizations that lobby with the State legislature, as well as activist and community groups and nonprofit organizations.
  • From the area of Science, Technology, and Environmental Studies, students have interned with local agencies, such as Citizen’s Action Coalition, Indiana State Department of Natural Resources, the Indiana Medical History Museum and Library, and St. Vincent’s Hospice.