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About
About Puget Sound
Founded in 1888, University of Puget Sound is an independent, residential, and predominantly undergraduate liberal arts college.
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Academics
SOMETHING YOU DO
Part of a Puget Sound education is the opportunity for a wide variety of experiential learning options, including internships, studying abroad, and more.
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Admission
OPENING DOORS
Create your own path and pursue a life of purpose and impact.
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Student Life
We look forward to seeing you!
Learn about our weeklong orientation program that immerses you in campus and the community while preparing you to tackle your academic studies.
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Alumni
Once a Logger...
Always a Logger! Just because you're not still living on campus and visiting the Cellar for pizza doesn't mean you have to be disconnected from what's happening on campus!
Experiential Learning Courses
In this section
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About Puget Sound
- Mission & Values
- Facts & Rankings
- Location & Community
- Leadership
- History & Traditions
- Media Coverage
- Academics
- Student Life
- Annual Events
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Lecture & Performance Series
- Art | Sci Salon
- Brown & Haley Past Lectures
- Clapp Past Artists
- Dolliver Professors, Guest Lecturers, & Residencies
- Jacobsen Series
- Pierce Past Lectures
- Redford Past Lectures
- Regester Past Lectures
- Swope Past Lectures
- Thompson Hall Science & Mathematics Seminars
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Weyerhaeuser Colloquium Series
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Past Events
- Applying Behavioral Research to Entertainment
- Evidence, Knowledge, & Decision-Making in Occupational Therapy
- Exercise Science/Psychology Poster Session
- Physical Therapy Graduate Student Poster Session
- Reconciling Work & Play
- Returning Children to Play & School After Concussion
- Headstrong
- How to Succeed at Losing
- Neural Swatches
- Nourishing the Whole Person
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Past Events
- Academic Calendars
- Emergency
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Marketing & Communications
- MarCom Request
- Brand & Tools
- Channels
- Contacts
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Instructions for Requesting Changes to Existing Courses
- Connections Course Proposal Instructions and Rubric
- Artistic Approaches Course Proposal Instructions and Rubric
- Humanistic Approaches Course Proposal Instructions & Rubric
- Seminars in Scholarly Inquiry Course Proposal Instructions and Rubric
- Mathematical Approaches Course Proposal Instructions & Rubric
- Natural Scientific Approaches Course Proposal Instructions & Rubric
- Non-Core (with KNOW) Course Proposal Instructions & Rubric
- Non-Core (without KNOW) Course Proposal Instructions
Experiential Learning Graduation Requirement Courses
Starting with the class of 2026, undergraduate students will be required to engage in at least one approved experiential learning activity, and enroll in one of the following approved EXLN courses — or other approved course — during their time at Puget Sound.
This course offers an intentional learning structure and cohort model for students who are engaging in community-based learning. The Community-Based Learning (CBL) Experience integrates meaningful, community engagement with reflection and reciprocal learning.
Students who are a part of the CBL Experience will:
- Explore their strengths and values through the context of engagement in the local community
- Explore topics related to citizenship, service, and philanthropy
- Learn about the historical context of Tacoma and the importance of understanding place while engaging in a community
- Complete written reflections to articulate the narrative of their learning experience.
- Present at a symposium event, or comparable presentation.
EXLN 295 fulfills the Experiential Learning Graduation Requirement. Please contact Nicole Kendrick for questions.
Available in the fall, spring, and summer semesters
This course provides students with an academic-oriented learning structure that informs, supports, and complements their internship.
Students in this course will:
- Engage in learning in an off-campus work-related organizational setting
- Extend knowledge acquired elsewhere in the curriculum
- Learn how to create observational field notes that lead to an academic analysis of an organizational experience
- Reflect upon their experience within an academic cohort-based learning context
Students meet throughout the term to reflect on their experience, and will have access to individualized coaching and guidance through the Experiential Learning Program Manager for Student and Community Engagement.
EXLN 296 fulfills the Experiential Learning Graduation Requirement. Please contact Nicole Kendrick for questions.
*Students must have already secured an approved internship program in order to enroll in EXLN 296*
Available in the fall, spring, and summer semesters.
This course offers an intentional learning structure and cohort model for students who are studying abroad or studying away on a Puget Sound approved program.
The purpose of this course is to encourage reflection among students who are studying abroad/away, and to create a shared sense of community based on a common set of reflective questions and practices. By focusing on connections between their academic work and study abroad/away experiences, students develop the skills required to communicate a narrative about their experience to others, including to graduate schools and potential employers.
Students develop a tangible product (e.g., video, podcast, ePortfolio, slideshow, paper) articulating the narrative and value of their learning experience.
EXLN 297 fulfills the Experiential Learning Graduation Requirement. Please contact the Office of International Programs for questions.
*Students must have already secured an approved study abroad program in order to enroll in EXLN 297*
Available in the summer semester
This course offers an intentional learning structure and cohort model for students who are engaging in independent research, scholarship, or creative work.
Students meet regularly throughout the term to share about and reflect on their experience. Students are supported individually by a faculty mentor, in a small cohort with a similar disciplinary focus or project structure, and by engaging with the larger, interdisciplinary community.
In this course, students will:
- Develop a tangible product (e.g., video, podcast, ePortfolio, slideshow, paper) that articulates the narrative and value of their learning experience, which will be shared within their cohort meetings
- Develop a conference-style poster to capture the process and outcomes of their research, scholarship or creative work
- Present their posters at an on-campus symposium
EXLN 298 fulfills the Experiential Learning Graduation Requirement. Please contact Elize Hellam for questions.
*Students must have already secured an approved summer research project in order to enroll in EXLN 298*
Available in the summer semester
Students who have completed an approved experiential learning activity may enroll in the Telling Your Experiential Learning Story
In this course, we engage in a series of reflective conversations where students can articulate and refine their narratives surrounding an experiential learning activity, while learning from each other.
This course offers continued career preparation, professional development advice, and support for students who are applying for their next internship, job, volunteer, or leadership experience.
The seminar culminates with the creation and presentation of a showcase ePortfolio.
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to move confidently toward or away from a chosen career path. They will have the ability to articulate what they have learned through their experience, and how it informs their goals moving forward.
EXLN 301 fulfills the Experiential Learning Graduation Requirement. Please contact Nicole Kendrick for questions.
*Students must have already completed an approved experiential learning activity in order to enroll in EXLN 301*
Available in the spring and fall semesters
Available Credits: 0.25
In addition to the EXLN courses mentioned above, select departmental courses will be approved by the curriculum committee and the Experiential Learning Office to meet the graduation requirement. Currently-approved courses include:
BIOL 472 - Animal Behavior
BUS 380 - Entrepreneurial Mindset for the Arts
BUS 482 - Strategic Management and Consulting
CLJ/REL 307 - Prisons, Gender and Education
CLJ 370 - Prison Archives and Public Memories: Researching the Incarceration of Women and Girls in Washington
EDUC 290 - Making Men: Schools and Masculinities
EDUC 292 - Literacy in Schools: An Introduction
EDUC 294 - Schools & Poverty
EDUC 295 - White Teachers Teaching Children of Color
EDUC 296 - Using Children's and Young Adult Literature to Teach for Social Justice
EDUC 298 - Using Primary Sources to Teach for Social Justice
EDUC 493 - Teacher Research Practicum
ENGL 397 - The Writing Internship
ENVR 200 - Introduction to the Environment
ENVR 210 - Fundamentals of US Environmental Law and Policy
ENVR/GEOL 315 - Energy Resources
ENVR 350 - Puget Sound Environmental Issues Part I: Politics and Public Participation
ENVR 351 - Puget Sound Environmental Issues Part II: Laws and Land Use Designations
ENVR 352 - Sustainability in Everyday Life
ENVR 357 - Environmental Challenge
GLAM 181 - Rome Through The Ages: January in Rome
IPE 331 - International Political Economy of Food and Agriculture
MUS 140 - Music Education in American Schools
MUS 355 - String Pedagogy
MUS 393 - Introduction to Secondary Music Education
MUS 394 - Introduction to Elementary Music Education
PHIL 497 - Public Philosophy
PHIL 499 - Ethics Bowl
SOAN 213 - City and Society
SOAN 299 - Ethnographic Methods
THTR 313 - Directing
Experiential Learning Career Development Sequence
The Career Development Sequence offers an intentional pathway that connects the phases of career development. This pathway prepares students as they pursue experiential learning opportunities, including internships, undergraduate research, community-based learning, and study abroad. It supports students as they move strategically forward in the career planning and development process, and thoughtfully engage in experiential learning during their time at Puget Sound.
Using a liberal arts education as a foundation, this class provides opportunity for intentional self-assessment and reflection. A career is not a destination, rather a developmental process. In this class, we will use a learning ePortfolio and active reflection to build awareness of different career paths and working environments as well as explore options that align best with your values, interests, and personality. We will also work to enhance your communication skills and increase your confidence while building connections, crafting a resume, and informational interviewing. Please contact Maya Herran for questions.
Available in the fall and spring semesters
Available Credits: 0.25
This course aims to prepare students to apply for and engage in career-related experiences through the lens of reflective learning. Students are introduced to tools and pedagogy that will support goal setting and readiness for taking their next step along their career journey. Students participate in a series of personal reflective analysis to uncover their strengths and define their interests in order to have a meaningful career preparatory experience. Students gain individualized support through the process of finding an experiential learning opportunity that is right for them. Experiential learning fosters, among other things, civic engagement, personal growth, and leadership skills -- all key components of a liberal arts education. Ultimately, students build career knowledge in their area of interest and develop the agency to move confidently toward (or away from) a career field. After completing this course, students who complete an off-campus internship or comparable experience are invited to participate in EXLN 301 (Experiential Learning Seminar), where they will articulate the narrative of their experience through a showcase ePortfolio and become strong self-advocates, a skill that will benefit them in college and beyond. Please contact Nicole Kendrick for questions.
Available in the spring semester
Available Credits: 0.25
Students who have completed an approved experiential learning activity may enroll in the Experiential Learning Seminar. In this course, we will engage in a series of reflective conversations aimed to create space where students can articulate and refine their narratives surrounding an experiential learning activity, while learning from each other. This course will offer continued career preparation, professional development advice, and support for students who are applying for their next internship, job, volunteer, or leadership experience. This course will culminate with the creation and presentation of a showcase ePortfolio. At the end of this course, students will be able to move confidently toward or away from a chosen career path and will have the ability to confidently articulate what they have learned through their experience and how it has informed their goals moving forward. EXLN 301 fulfills the Experiential Learning Graduation Requirement. Please contact Nicole Kendrick for questions.
*Students must have already completed an approved experiential learning activity in order to enroll in EXLN 301*
Available in the spring and fall semesters
Available Credits: 0.25
This class provides the opportunity for students to reflect upon themselves and apply this knowledge to career options as well as take active steps toward a future career choice. Designed for individuals who are refining and focusing on career options and ready to take action. An emphasis is placed on career research and developing a professional presence on paper, online, and in-person. Topics include using multiple methods of career research and professional skills that include resume writing, building online profiles, networking, interviewing and salary negotiation. Students will explore how to utilize skills, strengths, and interests in pursuing work, education, or other opportunities that they hope to engage with after graduation from Puget Sound. Please contact Sara Winland for questions.
Available in the fall and spring semesters
Enrollment requirement: junior or senior standing
Available credits: 0.25
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