Experiential Education: From Theory to Practice

Experiential Education: From Theory to Practice is an Outdoors Program/Recreational Athletics class taught by Karen Warren.

Course Description
This course will offer an overview of the theoretical tenets of experiential education and how they can be applied in a variety of settings, including the outdoors, and alternative and traditional classrooms. Topics to be addressed include current issues in experiential education, oppression and empowerment in education, teaching experientially, creative expression, and the historical and philosophical basis of experiential education. The course format will include readings, discussion, guest speakers, field experiences, and individual research and presentations on experiential education. An emphasis of the course will be for students to develop and work with curricula based on experiential learning by creating student facilitated workshops and gaining exposure to experiential education methodology currently employed in the local area. The course is designed for Division II and III level students. 5-College students will be graded pass/fail.

Final Project
The students in this class put together a final project which was a community art installation. The purpose of this was to encourage any and all Hampshire community members (students, staff, faculty) to decorate or write anything on a postcard that reflected their thoughts, hopes, dreams, fears, observations, or secrets about Hampshire College. These postcards were then put up on display in the woods by the Yurt.