The College of Arts and Letters believes that the application of knowledge and skills whether embedded in courses or pursued outside of the classroom is an essential aspect of a liberal arts education. The College’s 3-credit experiential education graduation requirement is designed to ensure that each student has the opportunity to practice critical thinking, research and writing, initiative taking, creative problem solving, and collaboration skills in an applied setting beyond the traditional classroom learning environment. Experiential learning opportunities entail cross- disciplinary, cross-textual thinking to encourage the pollination of new ideas and solutions.
Students will develop higher order cognitive skills through intention, adaptation, and reflection, which will promote self-awareness in students about their own educational development and capacity for learning as they relate both to their community and professional aspirations and their post-MSU lives. With an emphasis on effective communication, experiential learning prompts students to articulate clearly how the insights and growth derived from these opportunities connect to their broader personal, educational, and professional development. Internships, education abroad, study away, service and community engagement, student research and creative activities, as well as courses that have significant experiential components including external to the classroom as approved by the College Curriculum Committee may count towards this requirement for a minimum of 3 course credits. Students may complete the requirement in one course of 3 credits or can complete it in two or three courses of 1 or 2 credits. The College has approved options for the College’s Experiential Education Graduation Requirement as outlined in the sections below entitled “Graduation Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts Degree in the College of Arts and Letters” Section 2.e. and "Graduation Requirements for the Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in the College of Arts and Letters" Section 2.e.