Neuroscience lab
Visual Arts Show
Farny in lab
Socially distanced band playing outdoors
Professor Korkin with student

Imagine. Innovate. Impact.

The School of Arts & Sciences touches every aspect of work at WPI. Woven throughout our disciplines, the seamless interactions between and among the arts and sciences—as well as engineering and business—allows sparks of imagination to come to life through scientific, technological, artistic, and humanistic innovation. 

The arts and sciences do not just overcome barriers between disciplines but eliminate them such that the possibilities are limitless. Guided by three concepts—Imagine, Innovate, Impact—our students and faculty work together on projects and in classrooms and labs with the dedicated commitment to promote discovery and communication, advance knowledge, and improve the human condition. 

This is a place where music, art, and design thinking allow our scientists and engineers to have long-lasting impact, inspiring and exciting the imagination to reach their own stars, regardless of what they choose to research or study.  

A Global Leader in Project-based Learning

For more than 50 years, project-based learning has been the core of how WPI students learn and work. No matter what their major discipline is, every WPI student fulfills a humanities and arts requirement where they examine the human experience through nontechnical and complex themes such as art/architecture, history, languages, literature, philosophy, or religion. Team-based projects done at one of our 50+ global project centers open opportunities to see how other disciplines view their work, to examine new possibilities, and to identify the potential for multiplying the impact of ideas. 

Project-based Learning
The Global School
Global Projects Program
Great Problems Seminar
Jeanine Skorinko lecturing students during a class
Education
A cornerstone of a WPI education, our interdisciplinary, project-based approach is hands-on, relevant, and rigorous. Students collaborate with peers and faculty members to expand and build on their ideas so their work makes a difference.
A&S Departments and Programs
WPI Plan
Humanities and Arts Requirement
Next-in-Bio
STARS Program
Students walking along the beach at a project center site
Projects & Learning
Students work on real-world projects with unexpected challenges that foster an expressive creativity and discovery for meaningful application. From artificial intelligence to serious video games to music, A&S students work on projects that help humanity.
MQP Team Combines Talents for Award-winning Result
Virtual Undergraduate Research Showcase 2020
Provost’s MQP Award Winners Recognize Outstanding Work
Unable to Travel, Moscow Project Center Team Partners with Russians to Study Spread of COVID-19
Professor and student working in a lab
Research
Researchers here don’t work in silos—they consider how their work in the arts and sciences can touch work in the School of Engineering, the Global School, or the Foisie Business School to create new possibilities.
Laboratory for Education & Application Prototypes (Photonics)
PracticePoint
Interdisciplinary Groups
Research Experiences for Undergraduates
Luce Scholars
Marni Hall in Washington D.C.
Giving Back at WPI
Philanthropy, community service, and supporting larger society is a big part of the WPI experience and this commitment extends long after graduation. Our alumni are devoted to WPI, and they form connections here that last a lifetime.
Marni Hall ’97 An Authority on Real World Evidence
Be Well Together
It Takes a (Yurt) Village: Class Gift Will Enhance IQP Experience
Alumni
Giving Programs
Professors collaborating in a lab
A&S in the Community
As a STEM school with a heavy emphasis on the arts, we know working together and listening to each other in research labs, classrooms, and conversations expands our collective understanding and makes our students better global citizens.
Network of Global Project Centers
Social Justice
Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies
Global Lab
Gillian Smith sewing
Fusing Art & Science
Students choose WPI because they want to make a difference in the world in their own way. Here, they combine academic paths, work with global communities, and participate in projects to advance their personal growth and their academic research.
WPI Professor Finds Inspiration at Intersection of Gaming and Crafts
WPI Professor and Students Create Robot-Human Sound Fusion Concert
Arts & Creativity in the Time of COVID
Faculty Snapshot: Michelle Ephraim

Announcements

SEE MORE ANNOUNCEMENTS
Community Leadership Experience applications are open!
February 17, 2021
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
2021 Summer Training in Arts & Sciences Research (STAR) Program
February 09, 2021
School of Arts & Sciences
Amity Manning is Part of Team that Identifies Potential Vulnerabilities of Tumor Cells
January 29, 2021
Faculty, Research, School of Arts & Sciences, WPI Today, Biology & Biotechnology
Karen Oates brings biology, immunology expertise to COVID-19 education project
October 07, 2020
Research, School of Arts & Sciences, WPI Today, Biology & Biotechnology

Calendar

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See More Events

Creative Writing Professor Honored with the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction 2020, Book Publication 

Kate McIntyre’s collection of stories, Mad Prairie, was selected as the winner of the prestigious annual literary award and will be published by University of Georgia Press in fall 2021. 

Learn more about Creative Writing Professor Honored with the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction 2020, Book Publication 

Music Professor Hopes Listeners Will Hear Life on Exoplanets Through His First Album 

David Ibbett, adjunct teaching professor of Arts & Sciences, gave us a preview of his first album, Octave of Light, which narrates the stories of exoplanets—planets that orbit a star outside of our solar system—through composed music.  

Learn more about Music Professor Hopes Listeners Will Hear Life on Exoplanets Through His First Album 

Awarded More than $900,000 to Develop Computational Models for Human Cell Division

Two researchers in mathematics and biology received a National Institutes of Health grant to develop computational models for the study of a critical piece of cellular machinery that often goes awry in cancer.

Read the story about Awarded More than $900,000 to Develop Computational Models for Human Cell Division

Student Profiles

Naomi Otoo

Naomi O.

Sophomore, BS in Biochemistry (Pre-Med)

Naomi's work in WPI's Quantitative Neurotechnology and Education Psychology labs gives her the problem-solving skills she'll need to excel as a surgeon.

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Professional photo of Floris

Floris V.

Senior, BS in Robotic Engineering and Computer Science

An international student from the Netherlands reaches new heights with WPI’s project-based curriculum through his IQP and through his undergraduate research experience.

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Student Voice - Michael O

Michael O.

Sophomore, BS in computer science, minor in philosophy and religion

Michael thought he knew what to expect from WPI, but his path is different from anything he imagined.

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Alissa O

Alissa O.

Senior, BS in Computer Science, Mathematical Sciences

Alissa sought out research opportunities with the Math Department that led to her completing an undergraduate research project with Vestigo Ventures—a project that has turned into her MQP and led to the submission of a research paper to IEEE.

Read More
50+

global project centers on six continents

#1

Robotics Engineering most popular program in the nation

College Factual (2021)
#14

Best Science Lab Facilities

The Princeton Review (2019)
#9

Game Design Programs (Undergraduate)

The Princeton Review (2019)

Media Coverage

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ScienceNews
Marie Tharp’s groundbreaking maps brought the seafloor to the world

David Spanagel, associate professor of humanities & arts, was quoted in the Science News article, “Marie Tharp’s groundbreaking maps brought the seafloor to the world.” “That’s why her map is so powerful,” Spanagel told the publication. “It allows people to see the bottom of the ocean as if it were a piece of land, and then reason about it. That’s a transformative thing that she’s able to accomplish.”

Telegram.com
WPI composer travels to the Exoplanets

David Ibbett, adjunct professor of music, sat down with The Telegram & Gazette to talk about his first album, "Octave of Light," which was written based on the more than 4,000 exoplanets that have been discovered in our solar system. Ibbett will debut his album tonight via live stream at the Boston Museum of Science. 

News

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Kun-Ta Wu stands in his lab. alt
Kun-Ta Wu
WPI Researcher Awarded 5-Year NSF Grant to Model How Self-Mixing Fluids Flow at Microscopic Level
February 15, 2021
Portraits of six faculty members honored for achievements.
2020 Annual Faculty Awards Honored Scholars for Teaching, Advising, Research Excellence
February 10, 2021
four students on MQP team standing near their product the Call of Karen in a booth alt
The Call of Karen MQP team (l to r) Kate Olguin, Mikel Matticoli, Diana Kumykova, Thomas Tawadros in a pre-pandemic photo.
MQP Team Combines Talents for Award-winning Result
January 28, 2021
Scarlet Shell alt
Scarlet Shell
WPI Awarded NIH Grant to Identify Sweet Wormwood Plant Compounds Effective Against Tuberculosis Bacteria
January 21, 2021

Women Authors Evening Series

For more than a dozen years, the Women Authors Evening has hosted female authors and artists for a celebration of creativity and community. The event also raises funds for a Worcester-based domestic violence program. 

Read more about Women Authors Evening Series

Arts & Sciences Week

WPI’s annual Arts & Sciences Week offers community opportunities to engage with each other through exploring social issues and new research with open dialogue. Events and activities encourage participation in the arts. 

Read more about Arts & Sciences Week

STEM Faculty Launch

Since 2015, WPI has helped grad students and postdoctoral scholars transition into faculty roles with the annual STEM Faculty Launch. This intensive two-day workshop offers a roadmap for starting a successful academic career.  

Read more about STEM Faculty Launch

Women in Data Science

WPI’s ongoing collaboration with Stanford University and the Global Women in Data Science Conference brings the Women in Data Science (WiDS) conference to Central Massachusetts each year. 

Read more about Women in Data Science

Critical Conversation

In partnership with the School of Engineering, the Foisie Business School, and The Global School, A&S brings key conversation topics to the forefront where they can be examined. These discussions add essential understanding from which new ideas can develop. 

Read more about Critical Conversation
School of Engineering
Foisie Business School
The Global School