College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

Get Ready for Anything

In the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, we offer students an array of perspectives to help them think for themselves. You can explore rain forests in Panama or literature in Spain, present your research at national conferences, or intern with businesses, government, and non-profits in Indianapolis and Washington, DC. We help you take your knowledge beyond the classroom and into the world.

Experiential Learning

Many departments within LAS offer collaborative research opportunities with the department’s faculty. Students can engage in semester-long or multi-semester research projects, honors thesis research, and the Butler Summer Institute.

Individualized Majors

Butler’s Individualized Majors program allows students to work with an advisor to create a one-of-a-kind major combining their choice of courses with an approved experiential learning component.

College Highlights

Biology

Biology students can take part in field studies and internships, through LAS’s partnership with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama. Learn more about the Biology Program.

Interdisciplinary Programs

Drawing from our array of programs in the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences, LAS offers rich interdisciplinary programs addressing these compelling contemporary issues: Peace and Conflict Studies; Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies; International Studies, and Science, Technology, and Environmental Studies.

English/MFA in Creative Writing

Award-winning writers inspire students in lectures and workshops offered by the English Department and Efromyson Center for Creative Writing.

Center for Urban Ecology and Sustainability (CUES)

From local food sources and sustainable living to wildlife monitoring and urban agriculture research, students work with faculty and the Indianapolis community on CUES projects that improve the urban environment and quality of life while teaching core concepts in a variety of disciplines.

Did You Know?

LAS’s membership in a global astronomy research co-op lets students scan the universe through remote control of telescopes in Arizona and Chile.
Chemistry students helped the Indianapolis Museum of Art learn how paint pigment changes over time, so aging art can be re-created in original colors.
LAS majors in English, French, international, and peace studies are among the 14 Butler faculty and students who’ve won Fulbright Scholar awards since 2002.