Muhlenberg College - Overview
Private Liberal Arts College with Global Connections
Muhlenberg College is a private liberal arts college located on a beautiful, suburban campus in west Allentown, Pennsylvania. For its 2,150 students, the Muhlenberg experience is characterized by a deep sense of community and connection, intense student-faculty collaboration, and powerful outcomes in terms of graduate school and entry-level career placement.
Muhlenberg not only offers a broad selection of academic programs, but also works to expand undergraduates' horizons through international learning experiences and challenging internships locally and regionally.
Affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Muhlenberg College offers a diverse religious environment and a focus on multicultural learning. Students are instilled with a strong sense of ethics and community involvement and are encouraged to pursue lives of leadership and service.
Muhlenberg College's Unique "Theory of Connectivity"
"Theory of Connectivity" is Muhlenberg College's way of describing the college's unique community where professors and students routinely connect ideas, interests, activities, and understanding in new ways. In contrast to institutions that offer interdisciplinary studies in select degree areas, Muhlenberg professors teach all courses in an interdisciplinary style with the goal of instilling a lifelong passion in every student for learning, exploration, and making connections.
Muhlenberg professors implement this approach in all subjects -- including those as seemingly unrelated as literature, history, and math. Dr. Michael Huber, associate professor of mathematics, for example, shows how differential equations, simple logic, algebra, and calculus could be used by the legendary Greek god Hercules to accomplish 12 seemingly impossible labors.
Wide Selection of Majors
Muhlenberg College offers 40 majors in the humanities, fine arts, social sciences, and natural sciences, in addition to strong pre-professional programs in such areas as pre-health, pre-law, pre-theology, business, and education.
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degrees are offered in diverse fields from accounting, music, and Russian studies to business, dance, and economics. Bachelor of Science degrees are available in various fields from biochemistry, computer science, and environmental science to mathematics, neuroscience, and physics.
Pre-professional programs include a 4-4 guaranteed-admission program with Drexel University College of Medicine, a 3-4 dental program with the University of Pennsylvania, a 3-3 B.S./Ph.D. program in physical therapy with Thomas Jefferson University, a 3-2-and-a-half B.S./M.S. program in occupational therapy with Thomas Jefferson University, a 3-2/4-2 combined program in engineering in cooperation with Columbia University, and a 3-2 combined program in forestry in cooperation with Duke University. In addition, students earn elementary certifications and secondary certifications in teaching.
Unique First-Year Seminars
First-Year Seminars are small, discussion-oriented courses that give entering students the opportunity to work closely with a faculty member. All entering students are required to select 8 seminars throughout the year. The seminars are writing-intensive and introduce students to "the life of the mind" by promoting intellectual discussion, critical thinking, and critical reading.
Stimulating Study Abroad Programs
Undergraduates have the opportunity to travel to Europe and beyond and earn college credits as participants in Muhlenberg College's study-abroad programs such as the Semester-in-London Program, the Netherlands Semester, or semesters at more than 60 international universities globally. The Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges (L.V.A.I.C.) also sponsors summer study abroad options in England, France, Germany, Israel, and Spain.
In addition to studying in other countries, Muhlenberg College undergraduates are eligible to take courses at 5 neighboring schools including Lafayette College, Lehigh University, Cedar Crest College, DeSales University, and Moravian College. Like Muhlenberg College, the 5 schools are members of L.V.A.I.C.
Local and Regional Internships
As a result of Muhlenberg's many partnerships in the community, there is an exciting variety of real-world internships available for undergraduates in local businesses, health-care facilities, schools, public agencies, theaters, broadcasting stations, and magazines. Students also work as government interns in Harrisburg, PA, and Washington, D.C.
Baker Center for the Arts
Students majoring in the performing arts and fine arts hone their crafts in the architecturally distinctive Dorothy and Dexter Baker Center for the Arts. Designed by world-renowned architect Philip Johnson, the center's focal point is a 220-foot, glass-covered galleria which serves as a gathering place and art gallery.
The state-of-the-art center includes drawing, painting, and sculpture studios; rehearsal and performance spaces; music studios; and a music listening room. Musical equipment features Steinway grand pianos for performance and teaching, a Schlicker practice organ, numerous practice studios with pianos, and a fully equipped electronic music studio.
Trexler Pavilion for Theatre and Dance
The new home for the Department of Theatre and Dance, the Trexler Pavilion has three performance venues. The Dorothy Hess Baker Theater is an elegant Broadway-style proscenium stage with 350 audience seats on two levels. The Studio Theatre is a 50-square-foot performance space that allows flexible staging for classic and innovative productions of the Muhlenberg Theatre Association's subscription series. The Dance Studio Theatre houses public performances of faculty, guest artists, and student dance concerts, as well as dance master classes and community workshops by faculty and artists in residence.
Vibrant Campus Life
At Muhlenberg, students are active, curious, and involved. They learn about themselves and others through activities such as community service, student government, performance, and athletics.
Students have ample opportunities to pursue their interests with over 100 student activities and organizations. Many students enjoy and participate in Muhlenberg's outstanding performing arts programs. Others are involved in Greek life through the college's national sororities and fraternities.
College sports at Muhlenberg offer plenty of action for team members and spectators. The "Mules" compete in the Centennial Conference in all sports. In addition, students also participate in organized club sports in ice hockey and women's rugby, as well as a full slate of intramural activities.