Chesapeake Semester
What to Expect
Look at the Chesapeake Semester as a field school or a study abroad opportunity. Expect the program to be a life-transforming experience. Although the College will serve as home base, you will be traveling with 11 other students and 2-4 instructors for much of the semester. You will spend more than 40 days in the field, linking classroom discussions with first-hand experiences in the watershed.
The program encourages cross-disciplinary thinking and a significant portion of your studies will take place in contrasting environments—in fields and marshes, on the rivers and byways of the Bay, and from mountain ridges to rolling farmlands to the seashore. The professionals and scholars you meet on your voyages will direct you towards areas of study that will enrich and inspire you. There will be substantial periods of classroom time to leading up to your trips in the field.
You may expect to be away from campus for up to 50 days during the semester. Travel may include some weekends, but it does not include any holidays for which students would typically have off. There will be "voyages" that involve 9-10 days of study and travel, and three trips will involve 3-5 days away from campus. Additionally there will be a number of day trips where students will return to campus in the evening. Detailed trip descriptions are outlined here. This travel schedule will make participation in many extracurricular activities on a regular basis difficult or impossible.