Co-curricular programming will enrich students’ social and intellectual interactions throughout the program. Networking events, periodic dinners, and service opportunities will be designed to build and maintain cohort community.

Lecture Series

Many of the schools and institutes across Washington University host lecture series through which prominent scholars, businesspersons, and advocates are invited to speak on campus. Students in the Beyond Boundaries Program will have the opportunity to attend many of these lectures. This will allow students insight into the ways that interdisciplinary problem-solving are applied in real-life academic, business, and advocacy contexts.

Spring Break

We recommend a community Spring Break opportunity, in coordination with the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement, for students in their first or second year. Students would receive 1 course credit for their participation, and would apply their interdisciplinary education to major social problems in St. Louis.

Research and Internships

The Program is designed to assist students in obtaining placement at research and internship opportunities at Washington University and in St. Louis, particularly during the summer after their sophomore year. Students might have the opportunity to serve as “student fellows” in some interdisciplinary institutes on campus (including the Interdisciplinary Program in the Humanities, the Institute for School Partnerships, Skandalaris, the Gephardt Institute, the Institute for Public Health, the Office of Socially Engaged Practice, the Institute for Informatics, the Institute for Informational Science, and the Clark-Fox Institute). This program will establish partnerships with corporations and non-profit organizations that value interdisciplinary study, and who are interested in consistently hosting summer interns. Funding for unpaid summer internships will be available through the program.

Career and Graduate School Preparation

The Beyond Boundaries Program is designed to explicitly assist students in their future career and graduate school plans. The faculty lead and project coordinator will work with the career development staff from the professional schools as well as the Undergraduate Career Center to help students design their path after graduation. Particular emphasis will be placed on helping students weave a personal and academic narrative that connects their background, choice of study, and talents to their career interests.