Trips Off Campus

An important part of the Woolman Semester experience are off-campus trips . Whether backpacking along the Yuba River during their Wilderness Trip, working with Habitat for Humanity building houses during their Service Trip, or volunteering at a Migrant Resource Center in Agua Prieta, Mexico during their Global Issues Intensive Trip, Woolman students are expected to challenge themselves and what they are learning by applying it to the “real world”.

In addition to providing an opportunity for students to put what they have been reading and writing about into action, the trips also provide an opportunity for students to work cooperatively with each other and to both participate in and question assumptions about “community service”. Because we keep our curriculum responsive to the larger community in which we live, the trips offered each semester may vary while the underlying themes and principals remain the same.

The wilderness trip is an opportunity to explore interdisciplinary connections, develop wilderness living skills, and increase self-awareness through group living, solo time and connection with the natural world. Students learn about the ecology and history of the area they are hiking in, and may  discuss writers such as Gary Snyder, Edward Abbey, and Henry David Thoreau that use wilderness as an entry point to talking about democracy and America's values. The solo time on the trip is also a first for many students, and provides a kick-start to the intense personal growth and self-awareness that occurs during the semester. Previous trips have included hiking along the Yuba River, a Wild and Scenic River in Woolman's "backyard"; backpacking the Lost Coast along the Pacific Ocean; and snowshoeing and winter survival skills at a winter hut in the Sierras.

Service trips are an integral part of the Woolman Semester. Each semester, service trips are designed to integrate the learning in the classroom with what is needed in the world. Preparation for the trips begins long before the trips take place, with students and faculty discussing what it means to be of service and the ethical issues at play historically in service work. An essential component of the service trips is the reflection that occurs both during and after the trip. Examples of service learning trips include working with the Grand Canyon Trust in Arizona to restore native habitats, helping to build housing for local residents in Grass Valley with Habitat for Humanity, and building new neighborhoods with Self-Help housing in Visalia, California, and working with urban farm Soil Born and various Sacramento food banks. 

The food intensive involves examining the social, environmental and economic impacts of agriculture. In the past, students have visited a farm workers' association, large and small-scale organic farms, a restaurant, a school garden program, a slaughterhouse, and a commercial farm. In addition, the students work in our garden and at the end of the week, prepare a dinner made from locally grown foods and give a presentation to the wider community about their experiences.

The Mexico trip focuses on human rights, globalization, and environmental sustainability on the US-Mexico border. Students travel to Douglas, Arizona and Agua Prieta, Mexico to study migration, deportation, border history and militarization while working. They volunteer in a migrant resource center, visit community organizations as well as maquiladoras, visit the border fence, and listen deeply to the stories of all those they encounter.