Career preparation is a priority across the University of Iowa. Regardless of discipline, students ask the same fundamental questions: How does what I’m learning translate beyond the classroom? What skills am I developing, and how do they connect to my future?
At Iowa, those connections are built directly into the educational experience. Across the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities, faculty design courses and experiences that help students apply their knowledge, reflect on their growth, and articulate the value of their education with confidence.
The humanities are sometimes perceived as disconnected from workforce preparation, but Iowa is advancing a different, practice-driven model. Across the humanities, faculty integrate career readiness into rigorous, discipline-specific learning. Students develop skills in communication, analysis, research, collaboration, and ethical reasoning while connecting those strengths to professional pathways and real-world experience.
Connecting education with real-world applications
The humanities disciplines at Iowa include a growing ecosystem of initiatives designed to connect classroom learning with real-world applications, without compromising the core intellectual mission of the humanities.
“This isn’t about adding something artificial to the humanities,” says Barry Thomas, associate provost for faculty and strategic operations. “It’s about making visible what faculty have long done—helping students apply their knowledge in the world—and being intentional in supporting and scaling that work.”
My Career Path: Making reflection and planning visible
One of the tools supporting this work across all disciplines is My Career Path, a platform developed by the Pomerantz Career Center that helps students connect their academic experiences to career goals. Since its launch, more than 6,700 undergraduate students have used the platform, with more than 10,000 activities completed and 75 courses integrating its content.
The tool prompts students to reflect on experiences, articulate skills, and translate coursework into language that resonates beyond the classroom. It also supports resume development, interview preparation, and long-term planning.
“Students shouldn’t have to step outside their education to think about their future,” says Tanya Uden-Holman, associate provost for undergraduate education. “When reflection and career exploration are built in, students begin to see the value of what they’re learning in real-time and are better able to communicate that value.”
Bringing the field into the classroom
While My Career Path focuses on reflection and career guidance, the Industry Professionals in the Arts and Humanities program brings the professional world directly into humanities classrooms.
Through the program, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) provides funding for faculty to integrate working professionals, like editors, filmmakers, agents, and writers, into their courses. In the Nonfiction Writing Program, for example, students interact with leading figures in publishing who provide insight into contracts, pitching, and freelance work. This initiative has expanded rapidly, with more than $60,000 awarded so far.
Roland Racevskis, associate dean for Arts and Humanities, sees this as a natural extension of humanities pedagogy.
“The humanities have always been about engaging with the world—interpreting it, shaping it, and contributing to it,” he says. “We’re making those connections more explicit, more sustained, and more accessible to students.”
The power of intellectual community
Beyond classrooms and digital tools, Iowa also invests in spaces where students, faculty, and professionals can come together to think collaboratively about the humanities and their futures.
The Stop/Time Conference, held for the first time in April, brought together scholars, creatives, and industry voices to show students how their creative work can translate into meaningful careers. One student who attended said the event demonstrated the wide variety of career paths open to students in creative fields of study and helped reframe her post-graduation job search.
“What employers consistently value—critical thinking, communication, ethical reasoning, creativity—has always been central to the humanities,” Thomas says. “At Iowa, we’re helping students recognize and articulate that connection.”