Study in the States
A unique program in the Lee Honors College
Study in the States offers experience driven learning opportunities that take place outside the classroom. Except for the cost of tuition, expenses will be paid by the honors college. All trip descriptions, including dates, are included below. Follow us online using #LHCSIS!
Applications are due by Tues., Oct. 15, 2024 at 5 p.m.
Selected students will be notified by Dec. 6, 2024. All courses will have an in-person meeting component in addition to the travel dates.
2025 Study in the States course offerings:
Spring:
HNRS 4302: Environmental and Social Justice in Syracuse and Niagara Falls
Dates: April 27 through May 4, 2025
This course satisfies WMU Essential Studies Level 3: Connections - Local and National Perspectives Category. This course also meets the Planetary Sustainability student learning outcome.
This course is an immersion experience and examines issues of environmental and social justice from a place-based perspective. We will investigate under what conditions some people are denied this basic right and explore case studies where these communities are fighting back against injustice and learn of the success they have had for their communities. Contact Deirdre Neives, faculty specialist, Institute for Intercultural and Anthropological Studies with questions.
HNRS 4302: Desert Southwest
Dates: March 1 through 8, 2025
This course satisfies WMU Essential Studies Level 3: Connections - Local and National Perspectives Category. This course also meets the Planetary Sustainability student learning outcome.
This course is an investigation of the desert southwest and an exploration of culture, archaeology, and ecology. Punctuated by therapeutic soaks in hot springs, we visit the major sites of the Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi), including Chaco Canyon, Canyon De Chelly, and Mesa Verde. We will study petroglyphs and pictographs, ride horses and hike to remote sites, and frequent remarkable desert mesas and vistas. We will learn through active engagement in an experiential, open-road, instructional pedagogy. Contact Dr. Jeffrey Jones, Teaching, Learning and Educational Studies, with questions.
HNRS 4303: Idlewild: A Jim Crow-era Resort Community and Its Revitalization
Dates: April 28 through May 4, 2025
This course satisfies WMU Essential Studies Level 3: Connections - Local and National Perspectives Category.
This course discusses and explores the Jim Crow-era resort community, Idlewild, Michigan, located 1.5 hours north of Kalamazoo. From the 1920s to the1960s, the resort was pivotal to the African American cultural and leisure experience. This experiential learning course will examine the effects of capitalism, segregation, desegregation, community abandonment, and revitalization. With the guidance and supervision of Dr. Luchara Wallace, students will have the opportunity to create and design projects that will enhance the livelihood and well-being of a community that is looking for ways to attract visitors to their town, while at the same time improving basic services for their residents. Contact Dr. Wallace, Merze Tate College Dean, with questions.
HNRS 4303: The Healing Power of Handwork: Experiencing the Arts and Crafts of the Appalachian Mountains
Dates: March 1 through 9, 2025
This course satisfies WMU Essential Studies Level 3: Connections - Local and National Perspectives Category.
Students will explore the impact of participation in mindful arts and crafts projects, learning from the experiences of others in the arts and reflecting on ways to incorporate working with their hands into their daily lives as a way to relieve stress and expand creativity. Travel destinations include locations in eastern Kentucky and western North Carolina, along the Appalachian Mountain Range. Contact Dr. Carla Chase, professor emerita, Department of Occupational Therapy, with questions.
Summer II:
HNRS 4303: Walt’s Pilgrimage: A Journey in the Life of Walt Disney
Dates: July 10 through 18, 2025
This course satisfies WMU Essential Studies Level 3: Connections - Local and National Perspectives Category.
Travel with honors college and WMU alumnus Dr. Christopher Tremblay to explore the legacy of Walt Disney, beginning in Chicago at Disney’s birthplace and ending in California at his gravesite, taking us cross-country to all of the significant places in Walt’s life. This unique, biographical course will take you from the birth to the death of the famous Walt Disney. This experience is a historical journey about the 60-year life of an individual who left his mark on America in so many ways. Existing museums and buildings bearing Walt’s name will be a part of this one-of-a-kind, nationwide tour. Over the course of our travel, nearly 40 destinations with a connection to Walt will be visited, in chronological order. We will interact with many Disney historians along the way. This course offers an exclusive perspective on Disney, beyond what probably most of us know from our own personal, prior experiences related to him and his Kingdom. Get ready to step inside the wonderful world of Disney! 3 credit hours. Contact Dr. Tremblay, honors college alumnus, with any questions.
