Engaged Learning
At Furman, you will participate in thought-provoking classes that will open your mind to new ways of looking at the world. You will work alongside professors and peers doing research and making discoveries that will contribute to your intellectual growth and develop professional skills. Faculty-led internships help you learn more about yourself and your interests while you gain career experience. Engaged learning is a part of everything we do at Furman, and you'll find that living on campus presents you with plenty of ways to get involved.
- Research—Furman's summer undergraduate research program has the second highest number of student participants among liberal arts colleges, and students' collaborative work with faculty often leads to publications or presentations at professional conferences—an opportunity students normally do not have until the graduate level. Furman students often find themselves better prepared for lab work, statistical analysis and grad school than students from universities several times Furman's size.
- Internships—Get real-world experience through myriad internship opportunities Furman offers around the community, the nation and the globe.
- Service Learning—Commitment to the community is an integral part of Furman's engaged learning philosophy, and countless service opportunities will provide you with some of the most memorable and meaningful experiences of your college career.
- Active Learning —Put your knowledge into practice. Active learning is integrated into every part of the Furman experience. For example,
Students learn to master control of their bodies and minds through "Realizing Bodymind," a philosophy class that teaches students to unify mental and physical experiences through the study of Asian philosophies, Ki-Aikido and meditation
Students from all disciplines present their projects and research in an academic conference-style setting at Furman Engaged!, a campus-wide celebration of engaged learning. This event is open to the public and this year included 48 sessions that included panels, demonstrations, performances and around 200 oral presentations.
Students call it "May X." Through May Experience, a three-week summer program, students gain two credit hours for participating in some exciting projects on campus and around the world like making a documentary, building a replica "Thoreau Cabin," and taking a whirlwind trip to China.
Students participating in summer chemistry research worked on projects like coaxing alginate fibers to sense bacteria (medical implications for wound dressings) and studying how to transfer energy quickly between molecules without losing so much energy in the process.
Study Away
Furman Study Away takes students around the nation and the world with professor-led programs that complement the knowledge students acquire in the classroom and prepare them for leadership in an ever-evolving global marketplace.
- Africa
- Australia
- Belize
- British Isles
- Caribbean
- Chile
- China
- Costa Rica
- Ecuador
- France
- Galapagos Islands
- Germany
- India
- Ireland
- Italy
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Middle East/Eastern Mediterranean
- New Zealand
- Russia and Central Europe
- Scotland
- Spain
- Washington, D.C.
Active Learning Facilities
The most recent addition to Furman's active learning facilities is the magnificent Townes Center for Science, which houses the sciences as well as the departments of mathematics and computer science and includes over $6 million in scientific equipment. The newly renovated James B.Duke Library is home to the Center for Technology and Engaged Learning's Studiolab where students can turn practically any project into a multimedia experience.
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Engaged Learning: Research
Research is an essential part of engaged learning at Furman.
Why Furman for student research?
According to the 2008 senior survey, more than 75 percent of students participated in either an internship or collaborative research project while at Furman. With a research portfolio spanning areas as diverse as nanotechnology, bioinformatics, pharmacology and petroleum, the university receives grants from funds and agencies such as NASA, the Library of Congress, the American Chemical Society, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Mellon Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
- Hands-on Experience—The first step to quality research is knowing how. You will graduate from Furman with a solid foundation of research knowledge, from the technical details of writing and presenting to the essential skills of critical and logical thinking. And at Furman you do more than watch: our more than $6 million in lab facilities are there for your use, giving you access to equipment and opportunities many graduate students will never have. We will provide you with the nuts and bolts of how to prepare and conduct an experiment, the vocabulary, and the processes that will carry you
into graduate school.
- Scientific Freedom—The joy of research is studying what interests you. That's why we encourage and even require you to create your own research projects from start to finish, choosing the topic, creating and conducting the study, reporting on the results, and oftentimes presenting those results on campus, or in regional and national forums.
- Professors as Partners—You may have freedom, but you're never alone. Furman's nationally-known faculty study everything from breast cancer toxicology to voting patterns. And they've chosen to work at Furman because they want to help undergraduate students prepare for successful careers in research.
- Simple Success—More than 70 percent of our students go on to professional or graduate schools within five years of graduating, and our alumni have created successful careers in research positions with the government, major universities, and the private sector.
Summer Research
Furman also offers you an opportunity to dig even deeper through our summer research programs, ranked first in the country for diversity of subjects researched. Whether your working on a project like anti-cancer drug design or product development or improvement for an international company like tire manufacturer Michelin, summer research offers you unprecedented opportunities to work with professors and experts one-on-one and enhance your research skills and abilities. In support of our commitment to undergraduate research, Furman provides competitive fellowships that support more than 150 students pursuing full-time summer internships and research projects.
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Engaged Learning: Internships
Learn music management at the New York home of Interpol, Spoon and Yo La Tengo.Take in the in political scenery in Washington, D.C., or with the Canadian Parliament. Immerse yourself in sports marketing with the NBA. Study computer science in the Czech Republic. Try out the fashion industry with Donna Karan NY. Engaged learning is about putting knowledge into practice. That’s why Furman has cultivated an extensive network of internship opportunities in virtually any field. Stipends are even available so you can look for the internship that’s the best for you, rather than the one that pays the most.
Experience Your Field—Think about an internship like a test drive of your career: we hope you like it, but if you don’t, it’s better to know before you buy. Furman’s internship programs give you a chance to experience your field firsthand to see if it’s a natural fit. And because Furman’s long-established internship programs span the nation and even overseas, we probably have something in our files to match your career dreams.
Develop Essential Skills—Some skills can only be learned on-the-job. That’s what Sally Morris ’10 found while working as an intern for SCETV. "Furman equipped me with skills to succeed in the world of public relations that is a part of television production, but ETV took those abilities and honed them, giving me real world experience. My internship taught me new skills and fresh ways of approaching old problems."
Prove Yourself—One of the best ways to get ahead in the real world is to demonstrate your dedication and abilities to people who might be able to offer you a job. Developing a strong network of contacts will prove a great advantage after graduation.
Build Your Resume—It’s a competitive world out there, but an impressive internship and a good recommendation from your supervisor can make all the difference in securing admission to graduate or professional school or earning that crucial job interview.
Consider how an internship might fit into your plans while at Furman and explore your options by contacting the Internship Office.
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Engaged Learning: Service Learning
Provide critical help to the community, enhance your understanding of the world, and gain valuable experience through Furman’s service learning.
Many of our classes incorporate service learning right into the curriculum,including religion, education, art, philosophy, sociology and political science. Whether it’s teaching reading to disadvantaged youth, planning a marketing event for a local non-profit organization or helping an entrepreneur with a business plan, you will find yourself working in the community for many of your classes.
Volunteering in the CommunityBut service learning doesn’t stop at the classroom door. Each year 800 Furman students volunteer through the student-run Max and Trude Heller Collegiate Educational Service Corps, providing assistance to 45 Greenville agencies ranging from the Salvation Army and the Meyer Center for Special Children to Hispanic Affairs and the Girl Scouts.
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