UT Opportunities Create T-Shaped Career Skills
Exploring courses, internships, and other activities, Emma Miller is earning dual degrees that are built on her interests and will ensure she stands out in the workforce.
Emma C. Miller is preparing to graduate from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in December with deep expertise and broad understanding, a combination that provides a strong foundation for her career ahead.
That type of T-shaped learning allows people to be leaders in their fields and work across disciplines, with the type of adaptability that is critical in a rapidly changing workplace.
Miller is graduating with dual degrees from UT’s College of Arts and Sciences, a bachelor’s in political science with an international affairs concentration, and a bachelor’s in language and world business, with a concentration in Japanese. She also has a minor in design studies through UT’s College of Architecture and Design, and she plans to pursue a master’s degree in architecture and urban planning.
Recognizing that as an undergraduate her goals could evolve, she embraced opportunities to pursue her curiosities, define herself, and ensure she was preparing for a career field she could enjoy long-term.
“University is a chance for connections to take you into the next steps, and the building blocks are bountiful,” Miller said. “For my generation, and likely those following, career paths aren’t linear, and studying more than one field will be what sets you apart from competing applications in this globalizing world, especially if you’re trying to serve any higher ambitions you might have.”
Unique Academic Plan
“UT is a ‘get-what-you-put-into-it’ institution, which is perfect for students motivated to explore what they want to do,” she said, crediting faculty mentors for their support. “My growth—personally, academically, or professionally—would not have been so expansive had I gone to another university for undergrad.”
Miller entered UT with the idea of becoming a foreign service officer but realized she wanted a more open-ended career as she enjoyed courses that examined sociopolitical influences across history.
“I have my courses in diplomatic history, Japanese literature, Spanish art history, Japanese influence on Western art and design, and, most importantly, the histories of interior, exterior, and landscape architecture to thank for that,” she said. “I realized how cyclical the relationship was between current matters and society’s influence on the world it made, and vice versa.”
Studying international relations was not only fascinating to Miller but also gave her more global awareness. Meanwhile her second major and courses in the humanities and the social sciences provided both multicultural exposure and a greater understanding of the human experience.
“I liked the way my brain would form nuanced perspectives on outside fields–including architecture,” Miller said.
For her, urban planning policy and architecture directly relate to the need for human connection.
“Third places—that social spot people frequent outside of work and home—in the US are rare due to high car-dependent infrastructure that sprawls out our cities,” she noted.
“International political study reveals a lot of universal themes underlying our contemporary world,” she said. “I knew my ongoing studies would better inform my architectural and urban designs. That is how I developed a career goal to unite the policy (political science) side with the creative side in urban design strategy.
“It’s a specialized field our increasingly urbanizing world needs, encompassing supranational organizations like the United Nations and European Union, nongovernmental organizations, academia, professional consulting firms, and beyond. I can’t wait to take a greater part in it.”
Learning on Campus and Abroad
“I wholeheartedly believe the key to a well-rounded education, and knowing yourself, is exposing yourself to new horizons to gain an interdisciplinary, global perspective,” Miller said.
The summer after her first year at UT, she took a study abroad trip to Spain, and the following year she spent the fall semester in Japan through a university exchange program.
UT’s world business major requires an internship, and in summer 2024 Miller worked at Unipres, a multinational manufacturing corporation in Nashville. The position required communicating across the company’s American, Mexican, and Japanese branches.
She added an optional internship to her study abroad trip to London in summer 2025 through the Department of Political Science. Working with a social housing nonprofit gave her a better understanding of urban development and densely populated living.
In addition to researching politics and architectural history during her study abroad, Miller’s courses at UT examined politics and the built environment across the Middle East, South Asia, and the Global South.
She also completed an internship at the McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture, where she initially had a work-study assignment but developed a sense of community across her years at the university.
Miller participated in the Model United Nations program at UT and served as a senator in the Student Government Association. “I’ve learned invaluable leadership and policy advocacy skills in both of them,” she said.
As a member of the Chancellor’s Honors Program, Miller completed a thesis that took her back to Japan for on-site research during spring break of her final year at UT. “I used the city of Kyoto as a case study for the close relationship between design and politics in the built environment, which I believe is necessary in addressing today’s densely populated areas,” Miller explained. “I followed the timeline of a traditional Japanese design aesthetic in Kyoto, from the formation of the ancient capital city to its urban policy today.”
Her award-winning presentation at the Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Research Symposium (ASUReS) was another opportunity to showcase skills that will be vital not only in graduate school but also the workplace.
By Amy Beth Miller
