Experiential learning is a circular process. Experience, reflect, synthesize—then ask new questions and start again.

vision

The Center for Experiential Learning cultivates curious, courageous, and community-minded learners through transformative experiences that foster relationship-rich connections, bridge theory with practice, and span boundaries to serve the common good.

Mission

The Center for Experiential Learning integrates undergraduate research, civic engagement, the first-year experience, environmental work, and global citizenship to develop compassionate learners who engage across boundaries to address challenges and contribute to a more just, relational society.

"Experiential learning, which shows us real-world examples and implications of what we are talking about in class, taught me that the lessons I was learning weren’t only theoretical or only present in the classroom."

—Chandler Pettis, C’27

Experiential Learning Programs

Office of Civic Engagement

At the University of the South’s Office of Civic Engagement, we affirm our enduring commitment to community—both local and global—through long-term, trust-based collaborations that honor the assets, voices, and histories of our partners. Rooted in the distinctive cultural and historical context of the South, we recognize that in a rural setting, people and relationships are our greatest resources. We strive to engage with humility, sensitivity, and awareness of the legacies that shape our present and future.

First Year Experience

Sewanee’s First Year Experience (FYE) is a multi-dimensional jump start to the Sewanee experience. Every fall, FYE introduces all new students to the Domain, college life, interdisciplinary study, and the many people who make Sewanee special via three components: an academic course with an early immersion period (Encounter), co-curricular experiences on the Domain (Explore), and a one-credit class in the first semester focused on navigating the transition to college life at Sewanee.

Office of Global Citizenship

We are dedicated to training students to address global problems and promoting activities that link Sewanee with the rest of the world. As part of that effort, we strive to cultivate global citizens in our community who can effectively engage across boundaries and respond to challenges facing the world. Global programs include: international and exchange student programs; semester and summer study away; and international internship, job, research, and volunteer opportunities.

Sewanee's Integrated Program in the Environment

Sewanee's Integrated Program in the Environment (SIPE) is one of the premier collections of environmental offerings in the country. With six majors, six minors, and a certificate, the environmental curriculum—including natural and social sciences as well as the humanities and fine arts—offers students multiple pathways for appreciating the ecological complexity and wonder of the earth we inhabit. SIPE has over 40 faculty and staff that are engaged with students on a variety of research and applied field projects, and we have direct access to a working farm and forest of 13,000 acres, well-funded internships, and alumni involved with management and conservation issues across the globe.

Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship

Collaborative research and scholarship is a fundamental activity for students and faculty at Sewanee. The Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship (OURS) encourages, supports, and facilitates student research and scholarly experiences by sponsoring workshops, research fellowship programs, and forums in which students may present their research, scholarship, and creative pursuits.

Student Stories

Mary Courtney Finn
Civic Engagement

A passion for helping people led Mary Courtney Finn to a service internship at the Beersheba Springs Medical Clinic, where she gained hands-on experience working with patients. And after taking on additional student leadership roles to complement her science coursework, she’s graduating from Sewanee with the confidence to make an impact wherever the medical field takes her.

Watch the Video
Nahuel Martinez
Global Citizenship

When Nahuel Martinez came to Sewanee from Paraguay, he could hardly imagine just how far his educational journey would take him. Four years later, he has studied in four countries, conducted original ethnographic research on climate change, and gained a new perspective on what it means to be a global citizen.

Watch the Video
Sarah Grace Burns
SIPE

An interest in environmental issues led Sarah Grace Burns to discover agriculture as a powerful avenue for change. Through hands-on learning and research on Sewanee’s Domain and building an ecologically aware community while living in the Green House, she’s exploring how science, communication, and sustainability can come together to help farmers build a better future.

Watch the Video
Taylor Tunstall
Undergraduate Research and Scholarship

As she pored over a medieval manuscript for her summer research fellowship, Taylor Tunstall found herself faced with something unexpected: a centuries-old mistake embedded in the margins of the text. Though just a single word, it would end up deepening her perspective not only on what it means to engage with ancient works, but also where she fits in with the long line of people who have kept them alive throughout history.

Read the Story

Center for Experiential Learning Staff

Amy Patterson, Assistant Dean of the Center for Experiential Learning

Amy S. Patterson is the executive director and assistant dean for the Center for Experiential Learning, as well as the Carl Gustav Biehl Professor of International Affairs and Professor of Politics. From 2023 to 2026, she served as the director of the Office of Civic Engagement. She received a B.A. from Trinity University in San Antonio, and a Ph.D. from Indiana University-Bloomington. She was a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal, working in rural communities on agroforestry projects, and she has led semester-abroad programs in Ghana and overseen internships in several African countries. She has authored or co-authored six books on health, development, and civil society mobilization in Africa. A two-time Fulbright Scholar (Zambia 2011; Tanzania, 2019-2020), her work has appeared in African studies and public health journals. Her most recent project examines the politics of mental health in Africa. She teaches courses on local community development, African politics, and global health governance. The mother of two grown daughters, she lives in Sewanee with her husband and three cats. She enjoys reading fiction, running, ballroom dancing, hiking, and travelling.

Mandy Bouldin, Interim Director of the Office of Civic Engagement

Insert Mandy's bio.

Elise Kikis, Co-Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship

Insert Elise's Bio.

Deborah McGrath, Assistant Dean for the Environment

Deborah McGrath is a professor of Biology and the Carl Biehl Professor of International Studies. She earned a B.A. with majors in economics and international relations at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and an M.S. in forest resources and conservation and a Ph.D. in forest ecology from the University of Florida. Her research often involves communities and focuses on understanding and managing biogeochemical cycles in wetland and forested ecosystems to address environmental challenges in human-dominated landscapes. Since her days as a Peace Corps volunteer, she has worked with farmers in Africa, Brazil, Haiti, and Tennessee to manage more sustainable agroecosystems that provide ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration. She has taken student research groups to China and Haiti as well as taught students at a University in China. In Sewanee, she teaches courses in agroecology, environmental health and justice, ecology, and field Biology. As assistant dean for the environment, she coordinates Sewanee's six environmental majors.

Marcus Murphy, Director of the Office of Global Citizenship

After graduating from Sewanee in 2007, Marcus worked and studied in Qingdao, China, where he earned a Master of Arts in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language from Qingdao University. He now teaches Mandarin Chinese at the college and is dedicated to helping students develop intercultural competence, foster meaningful connections, and build bridges across cultures—preparing them for success on a global stage.

Betsy Sandlin, Director of the First Year Experience

Professor Sandlin teaches all levels of Spanish language and Latin American and Latino/a literature and culture at Sewanee. Her literary research revolves around issues of identity in contemporary U.S. Latino/a and Hispanic Caribbean literature, with an emphasis on gender and sexuality. She has published on the works of Puerto Rican authors Julia de Burgos, Luz María Umpierre, Manuel Ramos Otero, Rane Arroyo, and others. While she has always been interested in foreign language pedagogy, recently her research interests have turned toward faculty development programs and practices in higher education. She is former co-director of the Center for Teaching and now serves as the director of the First Year Experience.

Ross Sowell, Co-Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship

Insert Ross' bio.

"The way that you find both your purpose and your community is by doing things, not by hearing about them. During FYE, new students spend their first days out on the Domain or in the surrounding communities, and then they bring what they saw into their classes and talk it through. Having been a part of this kind of unique experiential learning, both as a mentee and as a mentor, helped me grow both inside and outside of Sewanee."

—Cseni Nagy, C’27

The Sewanee Pledge
Plan to do something cool. We'll cover the rest.

Sewanee provides funding for an approved summer internship or research fellowship, a semester-long study abroad opportunity at no additional tuition cost, and the ability to graduate with one major in four years. Of course, you will have to do your part. If you meet Sewanee’s academic and social expectations, these opportunities will be provided.

Our Promise to you
Programs of Study
38 Majors, 44 Minors, 3 Certificates & More

Our small classes mean that your voice will be heard, your contribution will be expected, and your opinion will be listened to (and disagreed with, and challenged, and seen from a different perspective, and pushed in a new direction, and considered—and you know what? Maybe we’re both right. See how it works?).

Explore Majors & Minors
Campus Life
Welcome movers, shakers, dreamers, explorers, and soon-to-be lifelong friends.

We're a community where everyone has a place and there's a place for everyone. Group study? We'll bring our notes. Rock climbing? We're geared up and ready. Jam session? Sure, we'll play with you. Whatever you want to do, at Sewanee, you'll never have to go it alone. Unless you need your space. Then, we totally get it.

You belong here