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Hamilton Lugar School of
Global and International Studies
Indiana University Bloomington
Experiential Learning

Put what you learn to work

Some of the best learning happens outside the classroom, whether that's studying artifacts up close, working with a client, or spending a semester abroad. Find the experience that fits you, then see where it tends to lead.

Explore study abroad Find an internship
Two students looking at artifacts in a display case
A student holding a camcorder in a city street

Abroad

Study Abroad

Exchange and semester partners across Europe and Asia, plus short-term faculty-led programs, and everything you need to plan a term away. Your aid travels with you on an IU-approved program.

See the programs

Two people talking with the capitol building in the background

Washington

Washington DC Global Policy Program

Four Hamilton Lugar classes at our Capital Campus with an internship alongside them. It runs in the spring and again over the summer.

See how it works

Students dressed up sitting around a table

Work

Internships

Close to fifty organizations host our students across the fall, spring and summer. We help you find a placement and get credit for it.

Find a placement

A student working on a laptop in front of a large globe.

After

Career Development and Outcomes

Advising while you are here, and where our graduates end up. Alumni work at the State Department, the United Nations, Booz Allen and Google.

See where graduates go

  •  
    6
    Faculty-led programs abroad
  •  
    30+
    Organizations that host our interns
  •  
    5
    Exchange partners

Based on 2026 data

Also in this section

Three more ways to get experience

You do not have to leave Bloomington, or wait until your final year.
  • A student delegate raising a placard at a model diplomacy conference, national flags around him.
    Compete

    Simulations, Competitions and Conference

    Model UN, NATO, the European Union and the Arab League, and the conferences where students present their own research. Teams recruit in September.

  • The Hamilton Lugar delegation lined along a glass walkway at the COP29 climate conference.
    Courses

    Experiential Courses

    Classes where the work is the point. Global Development Consulting teams advise a real client, and Diplomacy Lab teams research live questions for the State Department, for credit.

  • A practitioner presenting to a small group of students beside a screen
    Skills

    Global Competencies

    Short sessions taught by serving and retired diplomats. Free, and you book only the ones you want.

Worth doing early

Two things that make the rest easier

Both of these open more doors than they look like they will.
  • A speaker presenting beside a screen of Arabic text.
    Language

    Foreign Language Studies

    Study one of the languages we teach. It decides where you can go abroad and which internships are open to you.

  • Students in gloves working together at an outdoor service project, the Global and International Studies Building behind them.
    Service

    Peace Corps Prep

    A 21-credit certificate for students heading into international service. Apply by November 1 or April 1.