Experiential Learning: Education Outside the Classroom
Art
The Junior Seminar in Art ventured to New York City this fall where students explored galleries and networked with active artists in their studios.
“The trip provided the necessary perspective on pursuing the arts: it is not always glamorous, but it is clear that if you are truly passionate, art will prevail,” Gregory Parizhsky ’26 said. “I found myself gaining an understanding of art outside of the school environment and the obstacles that come with purchasing materials and finding galleries to represent your work. The artists were very open to share their experiences and answer our questions.”
In Professor Grace Troxell’s Intro and Advanced Ceramics courses, students visited with the Everson Museum of Art’s director in Syracuse. They also explored artist collectives and Troxell’s exhibition in New York City, vended their own pottery at an on-campus sale, and pit-fired ceramics in the “elephant graveyard” on campus. Their experiences also had a charitable component — the pottery sale raised $1,164 for The Center in Utica, and students ran an art workshop for children at Koko in NYC.
For the pit-firing experience, the Intro and Advanced classes came together around the chemical alchemy of copper carbonate, cobalt carbonate, and seaweed. “The students dug a hole, filled it with straw and sawdust, nestled their bisque fired ceramics in the combustibles and layered more sawdust before the final layer of wood,” Troxell said. “By gathering wood as a group and stoking the flames, the students took agency over the most ancient firing process.”
Biology
Students in Professor Natalie Nannas’ Genetic Medicine class took on a teaching role as they tackled science communications projects in groups, using their knowledge to produce tangible, real-world benefits. This semester’s projects include creating farming training materials for a Ugandan refugee camp, designing a genetics-based board game for middle-school students, and investigating student experiences with teaching experiences to publish a report in the Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education.
Owen Dzierzgowski ’25, a member of the first project, explained: “Natalie brought me onto the project given my study abroad experience in East Africa. We have been collaborating with an NGO based in the Bidibidi refugee camp to try to establish a farming credential program for the refugees.”
Other examples of experiential learning in the Biology Department include:
- BIO-237 Ecology: field trip to Oneida Lake
- BIO-213 Marine Ecology: field trip to Long Island Sound
Biochemistry
Of Professor Sarah Rosenstein’s Biochemistry of Marine Mammals, Lainey Groll ’25 said: “She had specialists in the field Zoom in with us. I got to watch a whale dissection, which I thought was really cool. Joy Reidenberg has several documentaries (‘Inside Nature’s Giants’) [where] she climbed a whale corpse with a pickaxe, and we Zoomed with her.”
Curatorial Studies
The Curatorial Studies Department hosted its Summer Internship Symposium on Oct. 22 with student fellows and interns presenting on their experiences. Kendall Bocklet ’26, who interned at the Everson Museum of Art, said: “The symposium was a rewarding way to officially conclude my curatorial internship. I was delighted to present my work to my peers, community members, and friends, as well as get the chance to review all that I was able to accomplish with this opportunity.”
Economics
Experiential learning opportunities include student travel to academic conferences. In February, 12 Hamilton students attended the Yale Africa Innovation Summit focused on innovation and solutions for the African continent.
Economics major Gabriella Kaggwa ’25 led the Hamilton group. She applied for funding through the Reyni Fund and helped select the diverse group of students for the symposium.
Geosciences
During winter break, Professors Catherine Beck and Nicolas Roberts will bring 18 students to Arizona for two weeks as part of the Field Studies in the Desert Southwest course.
“We get to visit world-famous localities from caves to mineral deposits to the Grand Canyon and learn about how Earth System processes have shaped the world we live in,” Beck said of the experience. “We hope students leave with a greater appreciation for the natural world and how an understanding of geosciences contributes to a range of societally relevant issues such as combating climate change.”
In Professor Kris Kusnerik’s Paleontology course, laboratory exercises include two trips to off-campus fossiliferous quarries, where students prospect for their own fossils (including trilobites). The course also includes a day trip to the Paleontological Research Institute’s Museum of the Earth, where students receive a behind-the-scenes tour of their special collections.
The Geosciences Department went global last semester with Professor David Bailey’s Volcanology field trip to the Canary Islands of Spain over spring break. Students wandered through a lava tube, ascended Mt. Teide, and studied volcanic deposits with a Spanish volcanologist.
Hispanic Studies
A day trip to New York City provided Professor Mihyang Cecilia Hwangpo’s Latin American Theatre students the opportunity to see the foundational novel Don Quixote adapted to the stage.
“Parts of Don Quixote have been studied in various Hispanic Studies classes I have taken at Hamilton, and it has been interesting to study it from so many different angles,” Anna Richardson ’25 said. “Seeing the play while I am studying theatre was a very different experience than reading the book while studying Spanish literature. The day in New York City was a great opportunity to get off-campus.”
History
A Saturday in New York City provided Professor Thomas Wilson’s Asian Temples in the Digital World class ample time to explore the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, visit a Taoist temple and a Buddhist temple in Chinatown, and sample delicious Chinese cuisine. The excursion enhanced a class already immersed in experiential learning, as students spent the semester developing their own websites on specific temples or religious practices.
“The Rubin Museum was a highlight of the trip, especially with all the different interactive displays, like being able to see a Tibetan Buddhist shrine room within the museum. All of the artwork was fascinating because I could actually understand what it meant through my experience in class, like knowing the importance of certain poses or items in a figure’s hands,” Elizabeth Adee ’27 said.
Another history course bringing its content to life is Professor Mackenzie Cooley’s Wonder and Certainty. Students venture to the Oneida Community, the site of a perfectionist religious commune from the 1800s; the Cumorah, the birthplace of Mormonism where Joseph Smith found the golden tablets; and a Freemason Lodge.
“A lot of the material we talk about is really hard to just visualize in your head from text, so it’s been super helpful to actually see and do things,” Grace Conhagen ’26 said.
Other examples of experiential learning in the History Department include:
- HIST-250 Introduction to History of the Book: using the College letterpress
- HIST-151W Global History of Oil: field trip to the Pioneer Oil Museum in Bolivar, N.Y.
The Justice Lab, a semester-long program consisting of multiple courses, holds experiential learning as a core tenet. This semester’s program — taught by Professors Frank Anechiarico, Marianne Janack, Jeff McArn; Judge Ralph Eannace; and former Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara — is focused on the theme Responses to Gun Violence.
Students have conversed with the chiefs of the largest police departments in the county, attended a conference hosted by the Department of Criminal Justice Services in Albany, visited local neighborhoods in Utica, participated as guests on the radio show Talk of the Town at WUTQ, and produced a report on youth gun violence. The course has been developed in conversation with Utica Mayor Michael Galime.
Of the conference in Albany, Anechiarico said: “Ours were the only students there of a couple thousand people. We had very stimulating discussions on gun violence, gun trafficking, adolescent behavior in schools. On the second day, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli talked to us about how the state puts a lot of money into crime deterrence and his job of making sure it is being spent efficiently and effectively. Then, they invited us to come back and make a presentation of our findings once we were done.”
Religious Studies
Professor SB Rodriguez-Plate’s Religious Diversity in the United States course involves regular field trips to the nearby city of Utica where students can experience a wide range of religions — the Bosnian Islamic Mosque Association, Temple Emanu-El, the Shako:wi Center (an Oneida Nation cultural institute), Hope Chapel AME (the oldest African American church in Utica), and the Dinh Than Temple (a Vietnamese Buddhist temple).
The course has three major focuses, beginning with the lives of important religious and community leaders such as the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. “We then turn to the role of immigration in the U.S. over the past few centuries and how that has changed the religious landscape of the nation. Finally, we invite several local leaders to come to our classroom to tell their stories and how the Mohawk Valley area has been important in their lives.,” Rodriguez-Plate said.
This semester’s visiting leaders included Rabbi Peter Schaktman of Temple Emanu-El, Dean Jennifer Deweerth of Rome Campus MVCC, and Reverend Sharon Baugh of Hope Chapel AME.
Russian Studies
In Literature of the Revolution, students are tasked with producing their own literary magazine, which the class titled Opium, composed of academic essays they wrote throughout the semester. From design to editing, the endeavor is entirely student-led, giving the class the opportunity to learn new skills like InDesign.
Dana Blatte ’26, a member of the editorial team, said, “I’ve found the class valuable, especially as a complement to a course I took last semester, Introduction to History of the Book. I’ve enjoyed pivoting to a more modern, technology-focused angle in this class.”
She also noted how this experience has helped her contribute more to her extracurricular involvement with the campus Red Weather literary magazine.
Academics at Hamilton
Not only did Associate Professor of Chemistry Max Majireck and 20 students and recent graduates from his lab co-author the peer-reviewed cover article for the Nov. 22, 2024, issue of Organic Letters, but one of those students – Chrissy Crespo ’25 – designed the cover.
Alumni and Students Find Purpose in Active Citizenship
At Hamilton, active citizenship is demonstrated in many ways. We talked to several students and young alumni who explain how they discovered an interest at Hamilton that led them to take action to create social change, and have a positive impact on society.
