Mission + Vision

The College is an academic community encompassing three divisions and three schools, with more than 70 departments and programs spanning the arts and humanities, social and historical sciences, and natural and mathematical sciences. We are comprised of world-renowned faculty and highly skilled staff.

The members of the College are:

• Engaged in creative activity, basic and applied research, and scholarship that advance disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge. Our work serves Indiana University, the state of Indiana, the United States, and the world.
• Dedicated to the liberal arts and sciences, and teach our students to question critically, think logically, communicate clearly, act creatively, and live ethically. These acquired skills serve as the foundation for living the examined life and succeeding in an increasingly global and ever-changing workplace.

We live our mission through multidisciplinary initiatives that educate students and generate compelling, forward-looking research and creative activity. 

We create the leaders, thinkers, doers, and citizens who will rise to this century’s challenges.

In the IU College of Arts and Sciences, we believe that helping our students land a first job after college is critically important. We also believe that the liberal arts and sciences offer something more substantial and profound. Here, we equip our students with the skills needed to question critically, think logically, communicate clearly, act creatively, and live ethically. Not only are these the skills that employers say they value most in the workplace, they provide the best preparation for lifelong success in a world of complexity, uncertainty, and change.

This is why a liberal arts and sciences education has never been more valuable.

Today, the College is investing in innovation. We are asking big questions and seeking creative ways to deliver a newly imagined liberal arts and sciences experience—one that is distinctly relevant to 21st-century students. Rather than rest on the College’s impressive legacy, we are hard at work, drawing on our historic strengths and our creative wills to find new and better ways to prepare our students to respond with confidence to the greatest challenges facing our world.

This is our vision.

In addition to broadening and reimagining our academic programs, we’ve created three schools in critical areas of study: the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design, the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies, and The Media School.