Engaged Students

Through dynamic class discussions and a variety of out-of-class experiences — internships, paid co-ops, undergraduate research, and service learning — students apply their learning in practical, real-world settings. Through these active learning opportunities, students become enthusiastic participants in campus and community life.

A Community of Learners

• Recent experiential learning opportunities have included building wind turbines for schools in Jamaica; internships at Disney World and the Connecticut Science Center; paid co-ops for United Technologies; and research projects everything from exploring fuel cell technology on a NASA fellowship to researching coral reefs off the coasts of Tahiti and the Bahamas.

• Students can design their own major through Eastern’s Individualized Major option. Students have designed majors such as Digital Multimedia, Psychology and Business Administration, Law and Society, Philosophical Methodology, Multimedia Writing/Production for the Deaf, Behavioral Biology, and French Women’s Studies.

• Students experience learning directly in our planetarium, black-box theatre, Akus Gallery, radio station, all-digital television studio, and the outstanding labs found in the new, 174,000-square foot Science Building.

• Eastern offers more than 50 study abroad programs in places as nearby as Canada and Puerto Rico or as far away as Japan, Poland, Thailand, Australia, England, and Italy. We also encourage students to participate in one of Eastern’s active field study courses. Each year since 1967, Biology students have traveled to the barrier reefs and rainforests of the Greater Caribbean. In 2008 and again in 2010, they journeyed to Costa Rica.  In June 2010, Math and Sociology students traveled to Ghana to research the sanitation systems there. In addition, biology professor Joshua Idjadi and one of his students are conducting marine biology research on coral species in the French Polynesian islands. In summer 2011, students explored Italian landscape architecture; studied public health in Nepal; and visited advertising agencies and news bureaus in London and Paris.

• Eastern’s 2010 placement rate (full- and part-time employment and graduate school) is 91 percent; we have alumni contributing in all sectors of society all over the world. The Office of Career Services has internship and co-op programs that give students the opportunity to test career choices, apply theory to real-work situations, and experience a professional work environment prior to graduation. The following companies are just a few that have offered internships and co-op jobs to Eastern students: IBM, ESPN, Pratt & Whitney, General Electric, Open Solutions, Inc., Price Waterhouse Coopers, Pfizer, Aetna, Lego Systems, Inc., Disney World, The Animal Planet, Little Brown & Company, MTV, VH-1, and Fox News.

• Eastern places an emphasis on community engagement and service learning as part of its public liberal arts mission.  In 2010–11, Eastern students volunteered more than 12,000 hours to the local community — more than $350,000 in donated time — to tutor schoolchildren, volunteer at the local soup kitchen, and otherwise support more than 40 nonprofits and social agencies.

Great Teaching

Eastern’s faculty is dedicated to the teaching profession. Mentoring and facilitating their students’ learning is their primary focus. Students at Eastern have the opportunity to get to know and learn from their professors one-on-one. At the same time, Eastern professors frequently win awards, grants, and fellowships for their own scholarship and research, and assume leadership and service roles in the local community...

A Liberal Education.  Practically Applied.

• Eastern’s professors are experts in their fields – they publish poetry, produce award-winning documentaries; write books; engage in challenging field studies; travel and teach throughout the world; and are top-notch research experts. Six Eastern professors have won Fulbright Scholar and Fulbright-Hays awards since 2005. In addition, an Eastern art professor designed the Connecticut quarter as part of the U.S. Mint series.

• The liberal arts core curriculum uses innovative, interdisciplinary courses to expose students to a broad range of academic disciplines while developing valuable skills in critical thinking, communication, collaboration and independent research.

• Eastern’s Honor Program promotes undergraduate scholarship and complements the University’s liberal arts mission, by providing academically talented students with opportunities to participate in specially designed courses that prepare them to conduct independent research and/or scholarly activity under the oversight of a faculty mentor. Examples of courses include Popular Music in a Global Context; Family in Film, Theatre, and TV; Native American and Ancient Cosmologies in Literature and Culture; and Mass Mediated Political Rhetoric.

• The First-Year Program is designed to give first-time, full-time students a rich and comprehensive introduction to academics and campus life at Eastern. It introduces the students to some of the University’s best teachers, involves them in specifically-designed innovative courses, and helps them to develop bonds with faculty members and peers from the day they arrive on campus.

Majors include: Accounting, Biochemistry, Biology, Business Administration, Business Information Systems, Cognitive Neuroscience, Communication, Computer Science, Early Childhood Education, Economics, Elementary Education, English, English/American Studies, Environmental Earth Science, General Studies, History, History with American Studies, History and Social Sciences, Individualized Major, Labor Relations and Human Resource Management, Mathematics, Music, Physical Education, Psychology, Political Science, Secondary Education, Social Work, Sociology, Spanish, Sport and Leisure Management, Theatre, and Visual Arts.

Vibrant Community

The Eastern campus is a close-knit community of learners who respect each other’s diverse opinions and backgrounds. Student academic life is enriched by more than 65 student clubs and organizations; 17 varsity intercollegiate athletic teams and numerous intramural activities; and hundreds of guest lectures, artist performances, and other cultural and intellectual events each year.

Rich Campus Life

• Eastern offers more than 65 clubs and organizations including print and broadcast media (newspaper, yearbook, campus television and radio stations), cultural, spiritual, leadership and service, activism, professional associations, academic interest, honors, community service, spiritual, performing arts, government and politics, and special interest clubs. Eastern also has numerous intramural sports such as basketball; volleyball; soccer; softball; flag football; and club sports such as rugby; cheerleading; dance team; and tae kwon do.

• The Eastern Warriors are in the Little East Conference (LEC) and are affiliated with the NCAA Division III. The Warriors have won nine national championships: four in baseball and five in softball.  The University provides a well-rounded, broad-based athletic and recreational program, including club sports, recreational activities, intramurals, and intercollegiate competition. It sponsors 17 varsity sports – men’s basketball; cross-country; lacrosse; soccer; indoor and outdoor track and field; baseball; and women’s basketball; cross-country; lacrosse; soccer; indoor and outdoor track and field; softball; swimming; field hockey; and volleyball.
• Attesting to their academic focus, Eastern student-athletes won the first LEC President’s Cup in 2010 for having the highest cumulative GPA in the conference.

• An active Campus Activity Board sponsors numerous out-of-town trips, including shopping and theatre excursions to New York City and Boston, and hiking and river rafting trips, to name a few.

• Eastern’s Student Center (opened in 2007) features a bookstore; wireless Internet access lounge; fitness center featuring the latest aerobic equipment; state-of-the-art meeting and conference rooms; and a food court offering diverse food and beverages.

• Broadening the cultural and social perspectives of Eastern students is an important element of the University’s liberal arts mission. The Arts and Lecture Series brings world-renown authors, artists, and film personalities to campus to enrich the cultural perspectives of students, faculty, staff, and local community alike. Previous guests have included basketball legend Bill Russell, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough, noted author John Updike, CNN Anchor Soledad O’Brien, filmmaker Spike Lee, social activist Gloria Steinem, actor James Earl Jones, author Salman Rushdie and PBS-TV news correspondent Ray Suarez.

Successful Outcomes

Eastern graduates are prepared for a variety of professional careers, while also possessing the life skills needed to adapt to the constant change of today’s modern world. They are able to think for themselves, work collaboratively, and serve as active leaders in their local community and the community at large...

Prepared for Life and Career

• Eastern’s 2010 placement rate (employment and graduate school) is 91 percent; we have alumni contributing to all sectors of society throughout the world.

• Eastern graduates attend some of the finest graduate programs in the nation. Graduate programs accepting Eastern graduates include Harvard University, Yale University, Boston University, Wesleyan University, Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine, Georgetown School of Law, and Columbia University, to name a few.

• The Office of Career Services offers comprehensive career counseling and job assistance to Eastern students and alumni. The office reviews resumes, provides career counseling, conducts mock interviews, and connects students with internships, co-ops, and full-time employment opportunities. They also offer free on-line tools such as Experience, a web-based job posting system, Optimal Resume and Cover Letter, and DISCOVER, a career guidance system for undecided students.

• Distinguished Eastern alumni include Connecticut State Senator Edith Prague (’65); ophthalmologist and eye surgeon Francis Falck ’75, who owns several patents on cataract technology; nationally-recognized research neurobiologist Marc Freeman (’93) who recently received a five-year Howard Hughes Early Careers Award as one of the nation’s top young scientists; and Chimamanda Adichie ’01, internationally acclaimed novelist who won Britain’s Orange Prize in 2007 and received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2008.

• Some distinguished employers who have hired Eastern graduates include Pfizer; Pratt and Whitney; United Technologies Corporation; Associated Press; Aetna; ESPN; U.S. Department of Homeland Security; IBM; Merrill Lynch; Morgan Stanley; Smith Barney; Wachovia Bank; the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA); Bank of America; Cigna; Citifinancial; Electric Boat; Yale Peabody Museum; Price Waterhouse Coopers; Yale New Haven Hospital; and numerous law firms, schools, state, and federal agencies.