At HLS, we specialize in turning engaged students into engaged global citizens. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to put theory into practice, both locally and internationally.
Learning by doing
Service learning
You can take courses that ask you to roll up your sleeves—sometimes quite literally. Students in a global food security class volunteered in the community gardens of a local food pantry. And in the “Nature in the City” course taught by HLS professor Stephanie Kane, students studied the urban landscape by working with the local parks department.
Diplomacy Lab
You can take special Diplomacy Lab courses that allow you and your classmates to work closely on projects with U.S. State Department officials. Past class members have gone on to secure government internships and even permanent jobs with the State Department.
Courses like “Sprout Diplomacy: Feeding People and Changing Lives in the Lake Chad Basin” or “Immigrant and Refugee Integration” combine policy and practice. Over the course of a semester, faculty guide students in developing research projects that accomplish State Department goals.
At HLS, we’re encouraged to experience the world outside our academic bubble. A lot of the projects we do in classes ask us to go outside—in Bloomington or overseas—and study an issue out in the community.
Dana Vanderburgh, Class of 2018, B.A./M.A., International Studies, B.A., French
Peace Corps Prep Program
You can start getting ready for global service by participating in the Peace Corps Prep Program, a collaboration between IUB and the U.S. Peace Corps. The program allows you to earn a 25-hour certificate and combine your academic coursework with service-learning projects, targeted internships and personalized advice from a Peace Corps recruiter. You will create a career portfolio to showcase your civic engagement and global education and earn a certification from the Peace Corps.
Indiana University has an impressive track record with the Peace Corps. IU is ranked high in the nation for Peace Corps volunteers; 1,675 of our alumni have served around the world since the Peace Corps was created in 1961.
For more information, contact the certificate coordinator at gspcp@indiana.edu.
Research opportunities
Research
Conducting policy and scholarly research while you’re an undergraduate is another terrific way to gain practical experience that demonstrates your global readiness for the next step, whether professional or academic.
There are endless research possibilities at HLS. You can work on the staff of a scholarly journal. You can apply for a research award from one of our academic centers. Or you can take part in one of our yearly Capstone symposia during which undergraduates make presentations on topics like the conflict in Kashmir or human trafficking legislation in Spain.