Student Engagement

When you join the community that is the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, you will find a place of exploration and discovery. Here, you will be challenged to think more broadly and more deeply than probably ever before. You will learn to think critically and to act compassionately, working alongside your professors and fellow students in the classroom, in research settings and in the broader community.

With a major in CLAS, you will find you can:

  • Think critically and analyze complex situations.
  • Solve problems efficiently and effectively.
  • Speak persuasively with a variety of audiences.
  • Translate data into useful knowledge.
  • Write coherent explanations and arguments.
  • Collaborate with teams and lead from within.
  • Do research and analysis using state-of-the-art methods and technologies.
  • Interact with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds.
  • Cast a wide net for career and life opportunities.

student opportunities

Students can find diverse options for academic and personal development, including through learning communities, academic organizations and success seminars. Academic clubs and organizations provide another way for you to become involved. Many College academic departments offer honors programs, in addition to the University Honors Program. Engagement opportunities feature leadership roles, volunteerism choices and special talks and seminars to help you grow your knowledge and skills as you prepare for your future. Among the offerings:

  • Learning Communities
  • Undergraduate Research
  • Internships
  • Honors Programs
  • Education abroad
  • Experiential Learning
  • Service Learning and Outreach
  • Academic Student Organizations
  • The LEADS Program

Student News

Jordan Flynn, a senior criminal justice major from Mebane, North Carolina, is UNC Charlotte’s 2018 Student Employee of the Year. He was honored for his work since fall 2016 as a maintenance assistant in Housing and Residence Life (HRL).

Two College of Liberal Arts & Sciences students have received the first Harper-Thomas Legacy Endowment for Study Abroad awards, presented at an event at the Levine Museum of the New South hosted by the UNC Charlotte Black Alumni Chapter. The Harper-Thomas Legacy Endowment for Study Abroad honors College of Liberal Arts & Sciences emeritus professors Mary Harper and Herman Thomas and is a scholarship of the College.

UNC Charlotte students in Karen Cox’s public history class learned about the magnitude of a historic schoolhouse’s place in history and its value to the local community. Through their hands-on research about the school, built in the early 1900s to educate African-American children, they are contributing to the planning process for the building’s potential preservation.

For couples seeking to overcome infertility, the process can prove emotionally and financially daunting. At the same time, those who care about them can struggle to know how to show support. A new documentary created by graduate students in a visual ethnography class in UNC Charlotte’s Department of Communication Studies offers insights to the couples and their loved ones.

The Helping Hand Project is a student-led and faculty-backed nonprofit organization that uses 3D printers to create recreational prosthetics for children, at no cost. These forward-thinking students are using their innovative, collaborative minds and the equipment in UNC Charlotte’s Makerspace in the College of Computing and Informatics to create the life-changing devices. Read more