Category: Teaching and Learning

For a century and a half, Carls have applied their liberal arts education to working in a wide variety of fields, problem-solving and innovating, and pursuing meaningful lives. Today the world needs Carls more than ever.

Leadership giving by trustees and other early donors has given the Every Carl for Carleton campaign a flying start, with more than $300 million raised toward the $400 million goal.

Carleton’s gifted scholars, scientists, artists, and researchers deserve facilities that reflect the advances in their respective fields. Truly outstanding teaching also requires career-long support for our faculty members, fostering innovation and collaboration in the classroom and beyond.

Empowering students to take ownership of their research is a guiding influence of biology professor Rika Anderson’s summer lab mentorship. Her student Elaina Thomas ’18 is heading to Lost City Hydrothermal Field aboard a research vessel called Atlantis.

Internships, externships, research, and community-based learning give our students valuable perspective and open avenues to future careers. We want all students to have access to these learning opportunities regardless of financial status. Robust support for the Career Center, advising, experiential learning off campus, and faculty-student research helps all students explore their possible futures throughout their four years at Carleton.

Among liberal arts colleges, Carleton’s science programs stand out in seven key ways.

Carleton’s new science complex will invite everyone in, putting research front and center.

It’s a testament to Carleton’s liberal arts mission that two of the most generous alumni donors to science education are an English major and a history major.

Even in advance of the new science facility, Carleton faculty members have been forging innovative partnerships between STEM and other disciplines.

Carleton ensures that STEM students from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds can succeed.

On the first day of fall term, Professor Jennifer Wolff stood in front of her Introduction to Biology class and showed an innocuous slide of her research with microscopic worms. “You won’t know what all of this means yet,” she told them, “but it’s the kind of work I specialize in.”

Physics and fitness became workout buddies last fall in first-year seminar The Physics of Phitness, taught by Frank McNally ’09, visiting assistant professor of physics and astronomy.

With only a few music majors in each graduating class, Carleton may not seem like a music powerhouse. But take a closer look—and a long, appreciative listen. You’ll discover that music in all its forms permeates the Carleton experience.

A new music and performance addition will unite music with theater, dance, and cinema and media studies at the Weitz Center for Creativity

Students have plenty of opportunities to study the work of famed European composers in Carleton’s music department. But in true liberal arts fashion, the department pushes beyond traditional courses in Western art music to challenge students’ assumptions and provide fresh perspectives.