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Administrative Operations Coordinator
Tam Rankin-2
Current Students
Current Students
Student Janiyah Davis meets with Stacey Hoffman in the Career Enrichment Network
Student Janiyah Davis meets with Stacey Hoffman in the Career Enrichment Network.

Supporting You

Every step of the way

The College of the Liberal Arts is a community of people with a genuine interest in developing long-standing interpersonal relationships that help you succeed before and after you graduate. 

Funding

Helping you find ways to afford your Penn State Liberal Arts education is one of Dean Lang’s highest priorities. The college offers a variety of scholarships and funding sources to help you afford tuition and out-of-classroom experiences like internships, education abroad, and research. 

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Student Services

The College of the Liberal Arts is a community of people with a genuine interest in developing long-standing interpersonal relationships that help students succeed before and after they graduate. With this goal in mind, Liberal Arts Student Services support and connect students with the resources and opportunities they need to be successful. Our Student Services offices are all centrally located on the first floor of Sparks Building.

  • Academic Advising 
  • Academic Scholarships 
  • Career Enrichment Network 
  • Chaiken Center for Student Success 
  • Office of Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity 
  • Paterno Fellows Program 

Academics

The College of the Liberal Arts is home to nearly 150 undergraduate majors, minors, integrated undergraduate-graduate degrees (IUGs), associate degrees, and certificates.   

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Majors

Minors

IUGs

The college is also home to faculty and staff who are readily available to help you on your academic journey. Learn about academic integrity and recovery, honors education, commencement, and more!  

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Mathias Hanses, associate professor of classics and ancient Mediterranean studies, gives a tour of the Capitoline Museums in Rome.
Mathias Hanses, associate professor of classics and ancient Mediterranean studies, gives a tour of the Capitoline Museums in Rome.

Beyond the Classroom

Learning outside the classroom is an important part of a Penn State Liberal Arts education. Participating in out-of-classroom experiences like internships, education abroad, and research can play an integral role in personal, academic, and career development, offering students the opportunity to set themselves apart.  

Our Career Enrichment Network offers a variety of professional development opportunities for students, including our Alumni Mentor Program, a Living Learning Community, and Liberal Arts Career Week.  

Enrichment FundingInternational ResearchUndergrad Research

Sarah Paterno

’22
Anthropology
|
Psychology
Anthropology
Psychology
Sarah received enrichment funding to spend two months on an archaeological excavation in Bolivia. “This project has taught me how archaeological research is carried out, and I believe it has prepared me for continuing research at a graduate level,” she said.
Sarah Paterno
Career Enrichment NetworkCommunication Arts and SciencesEducation AbroadEnglishEnrichment FundingPaterno FellowsPhilosophyResearch

Daniel Zahn

’20
English
|
Philosophy
|
Communication Arts and Sciences
English
Philosophy
Communication Arts and Sciences
As a student, Daniel, a Paterno Fellow alumnus, participated in a linguistics research project in Bassila, Benin made possible by the Career Enrichment Network, where his research focused on everyday language use.
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SpanishUndergrad Research

Caden Vitti

’23
Spanish
|
Energy Engineering
Spanish
Energy Engineering
Caden spent his summer completing sociolinguistic research in Puerto Rico. He was selected by the Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) program, which is housed in the College of the Liberal Arts. The program provides students who have an interest in linguistics research with funding to travel to a country for six to eight weeks to conduct research.
CadenVitti
Campus LeaderCareer Enrichment NetworkChineseGlobal and International StudiesInternshipsPaterno FellowsPhilosophySustainability

Nora Van Horn

’22
Philosophy
|
Chinese
|
Global and International Studies
Philosophy
Chinese
Global and International Studies
Nora created a lasting change for sustainability at Penn State. She helped establish the University Park Undergraduate Association’s Department of Sustainability and the University’s Environmental Sustainability Fund to support on-campus sustainability efforts.
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AnthropologyCourse SpotlightEducation AbroadEmbedded Course

Lyndsay Rathbun

’22
Anthropology
|
Italian
Anthropology
Italian
After spending time in Bologna and Florence, Italy as part of the Liberal Arts embedded course IT 175/SC 475N Anatomy in Italy, Lyndsay said one of her favorite experiences of the trip was meeting medical students from the University of Bologna.
LyndsayRathbun (1)
Course SpotlightCriminologyEducation AbroadEmbedded Course

Taylor Needleman

’24
Criminology
Criminology
Taylor spent a week in Curaçao as part of CRIM 425, and in addition to experiencing different cultures within a criminology context, she said she appreciated how the shorter trip allowed her to determine if she might enjoy a longer, future education abroad experience.
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Future Students
CURRENT Students
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Rock Ethics Institute research associate Yael Warshel is poised to receive a book award at the International Communication Association’s annual meeting for her pioneering work in the book “Experiencing the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Children, Peace Communication, and Socialization.” Her book, a critical examination of peace communication interventions and their effects on children in conflict zones, has received international acclaim, with this being the book’s second major accolade.

Penn State University Libraries’ Open Publishing program recently launched a new Open Access monograph. “The Future of Foster Care: New Science on Old Problems,” edited by Yo Jackson and Sarah Font, is a collection of expanded conference proceedings from the 2019 conference of the Child Maltreatment Solutions Network, a national leader in research designed to influence public policy that better protects vulnerable children from abuse.

P. Gabrielle Foreman, Paterno Family Professor of American Literature and professor of African American studies and history at Penn State and a 2023 MacArthur Fellow, embarked on a decade-long creative endeavor that culminated in her recently released edited volume, “Praise Songs for Dave the Potter: Art and Poetry for David Drake.”

WPSU uncovers the stories that unveil the triumph, grit, caution and legend that make up the history of the commonwealth in a new digital series titled “Past PA.”

Janet van Hell, a longtime Penn State faculty member in the College of the Liberal Arts’ Department of Psychology and director of the Center for Language Science, was recently promoted to distinguished professor of psychology and linguistics.

Liberal Arts Professor of English and Asian Studies Xiaoye You’s new book on rhetoric in early imperial China offers insights into how ancient rulers built and maintained an empire, and what that may reveal about contemporary issues.

Nearly 100 Centre County high school students visited Penn State’s University Park campus on April 12 to participate in the fourth annual Language and Linguistics Day hosted by Penn State’s Center for Language Science.

The Penn State Consortium on Substance Use and Addiction recently hosted its fourth annual conference in the HUB-Robeson Center at the University Park campus. 

An interdisciplinary team of Penn State researchers have received a $442,750 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, to support a multi-faceted, three-part study that observes how gay and bisexual men search and find HIV prevention information — specifically information about pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, a medicine that when taken as prescribed, is very effective at preventing HIV.

Two Penn State professors — one in history and the other in art history and anthropology — have collaborated on a three-pronged project that will spark conversation and awe about the art, culture, science and history of Andean peoples.