Personal and Professional Development in Real-World Contexts
Through experiential learning, humanities and social sciences students at Carnegie Mellon are able to apply what they've learned in the classroom in a real-world setting, often through fully and partially funded opportunities.
Experiential learning occurs when students are able to draw connections between their coursework and complex, real-world challenges. This may occur through activities like internships, undergraduate research, community-engaged learning, studying abroad or work-based projects. All Dietrich College students, beginning with the class of 2028, are required to complete at least one of these activities prior to graduation.
In order to fulfill this requirement, students will identify an appropriate activity at the start of a semester. The experience should consist of at least 60 total hours and must occur within an authentic context, meaning that it provides the opportunity to utilize academic learning in an environment that has stakes beyond the classroom. Additionally, throughout the experience the student will need to receive meaningful guidance from a designated mentor or supervisor on a regular basis.
"Hands-on, interactive opportunities like undergraduate research, being a teaching assistant and experiential learning opportunities like CMU鈥檚 Prison Education Project have evolved my thinking in academic spaces and helped me to understand the impact I want my work to have."
鈴� Camille Chandler, Class of 2025
Fulfilling the Requirement
Once a student secures an experiential learning opportunity, they will need to engage in the following steps to fulfill the requirement:听
- Submit an Experiential Learning Placement Form via the platform.
- Perform the approved experiential learning activity.
- Complete 66-310: Reflecting on Experiential Learning. This asynchronous, one-unit, pass/no pass course will not factor into a student鈥檚 maximum number of units per semester.
- The Experiential Learning Team will register students for the course based on our approval deadlines.
Pre-Approved Experiences
Some experiences that are facilitated through Dietrich College are pre-approved and do not require a placement form or completion of 66-310. These experiences already include goal setting, mentorship and reflection and will automatically fulfill a student鈥檚 experiential learning requirement on Stellic Degree Audit. They are:听
- Washington Semester Program (84-360)
- Senior Seminar in LCAL (82-580)
- Information Systems Consulting Capstone (67-373)
- Dietrich College Internship Course (66-320)
- Statistics and Data Science Internship Course (36-300, fall or spring only)
Experiential Learning Opportunities
Explore each form of experiential learning to find out more about opportunities and available funding.
Community Engaged Learning
Make a meaningful contribution while enhancing your academic experience.
Internships
Put what you've learned in the classroom to use in a professional setting.
Study Abroad
Learn about other cultures first-hand through international travel.
Undergraduate Research
Gain hands-on experience in a laboratory or large-scale research project.
蚕耻别蝉迟颈辞苍蝉?听
Students with questions about finding experiential learning opportunities or fulfilling the graduation requirement for experiential learning are encouraged to collaborate with their academic advisor and connect with the Experiential Learning team in Dietrich College at dietrichexperiential@andrew.cmu.edu.听