
Experiential Learning
Leadership, creative thought, and intellectual risk taking
With a curriculum anchored in the liberal arts and sciences and an approach to learning responsive to an evolving, increasingly complex world, a Middlebury education is as distinct as it is comprehensive.
We offer a 21st-century global liberal arts and sciences education. Scholarship and research are not confined to the classroom or laboratory, nor even to a particular field of study. A robust offering of majors, minors, and academic programs not only provides students with a diverse range of disciplines to explore and to experience, but each discipline is intended to work in concert with another, fostering an evolution of cross-disciplinary collaboration that is at the heart of the academic experience at Middlebury.
Interested in the humanities and arts? STEM? Learning a language? Do you want to explore an interdisciplinary field like environmental studies? Do you envision a career in the social sciences?
The Middlebury curriculum is broad, deep, and flexible. Once here, you may decide to focus on a new area of study. You can engage in extracurricular pursuits like playing sports, writing for the student newspaper, or performing in a musical, and also participate in cocurricular activities, such as volunteering in the community, through our experiential learning centers, and much more.
Such exploration and immersion is the essence of a liberal arts education. Here you have the time, space, and support to pursue the many interests that appeal to you!
From your first-year seminar to your senior work, you can create an academic experience entirely your own at Middlebury. Explore the subjects you love and discover some new ones you’ve never considered. Now is the time to do it, and Middlebury makes it possible.
Academic advising is central to the undergraduate experience. It’s an ongoing conversation between students and faculty, beginning with your earliest days on campus and lasting over the years as you plan for graduation and life after college. You’ll also find the resources you need in other areas—from tutoring and writing help to planning and time management. The Center for Teaching, Learning, and Research is a wealth of peer and professional support. The Registrar’s Office is also a great source of useful information.
An undergraduate education at Middlebury is an immersive experience with the world—a global education—whether in Vermont or at any of our Middlebury schools and programs.
Middlebury has been offering immersion language learning from beginner to graduate level for more than 100 years. Each summer we welcome students from all walks of life and all parts of the world who want to study one of our 13 languages in an intensive and immersive environment.
Middlebury Language SchoolsThe Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California, offers graduate programs that prepare students for professional roles in cross-cultural, multilingual environments. Its career-oriented degrees provide intentional focus on developing skills and implementing practical solutions worldwide.
Middlebury Institute of International StudiesWith 37 schools in 17 countries, students experience total immersion in the language and culture of their choice—an authentic experience at a local academic institution, engagement with the community, and personal discoveries.
Middlebury Schools AbroadCentrally located in Washington, D.C., these offices serve as a place for the entire Middlebury community to gather, learn, and network with experts here in the city, nationally, and internationally. We provide access to academic programming, educational events, and internship opportunities.
Middlebury in DC
Students and the public are invited to attend this weekly nonpartisan discussion of recent political events, hosted by Professor Matthew Dickinson. Held on most Tuesdays from 12:30-1:20 pm EST. Check the calendar for dates. No expertise assumed. All viewpoints welcome.
This is both an in-person and a virtual event. To register to attend via Zoom, please contact Prof. Dickinson.
Robert A. Jones '59 Conference Room
Open to the PublicJoin dance artist jumatatu m. poe for a casual conversation about art making and life over lunch. Lunch provided, but please click on the related url to register! Registration needed by March 15th. Open to Middlebury students, faculty, and staff.
Mahaney Arts Center Lower Lobby
Closed to the PublicMaking video essays can often feel as much of a mysterious process as a scholarly or critical one. Weird things can often happen in the process of editing together sequences from films, television and audiovisual media; curious coincidences, felicitous discoveries, and striking disclosures can often happen because of the technical affordances of the editing platforms we use, or because of the the formal or aesthetic devices, dispositifs or audiovisual interfaces we construct.
Axinn Center 232
Open to the Public
Fela Anikulapo Kuti remains the most critical politically focused artist in African music history. This presentation will examine Kuti’s 1977 album, Sorrow, Tears and Blood, which serves as a focal point for his musical and political development. With Nigeria on the verge of a historic presidential election, this presentation takes stock of the conditions under which everyday Nigerians live through the soundscape and messages of the album.
This event is immediately followed by “The Huddle and The Higher Ground” (see separate listing).
Mahaney Arts Center 221
Open to the Public“This talk will focus on the ideas and processes that went into creation of the multimodal digital monograph A New Vision for Islamic Pasts and Futures (MIT Press, 2022). I will emphasize that successful digital composition requires a close connection between the argument one wishes to make regarding one’s topic (in my case the relationship between Islam and time) and possibilities available in digital representation.
Franklin Environmental Center, The Orchard-Hillcrest 103
Open to the Public