Hampshire College creates new summer programs

Hampshire College will introduce two new summer programs for college students during the summer of 2014. Summer options at Hampshire will now include learning institutes on topics such as creative media and curatorial practices in addition to the College’s two pre-existing programs: the Tesol Teacher Training Course and Food, Farm and Sustainability. These programs are generating interest not only in the Five-College area, but also nationally.

Due to the success of the Food, Farm and Sustainability program and the Tesol Teacher Training course, Hampshire decided to further develop its summer learning opportunities. “As we expanded, we wanted to think about what programs represented Hampshire the best,” shared Abby Ferguson, the director of summer programs at Hampshire. Upon that reflection, the school came up with the resulting programs that focused on undergraduate students.

The Curatorial Institute, or museum studies program, will focus on molding the traditional practice of curation to fit 21st century advances in technology. The program will include maintenance  and collection of artwork and digital information, while also exploring imaginary curation, “a cutting edge and expanding field driven by developments in new media,” explained Hampshire’s summer program website. Students of this institute will spend time studying the museums of the Five-College area and other local archives. By the end of the five-week course, students will have produced their own exhibitions.

The Creative Media Institute will include intensive screening seminars and creative labs led by practitioners and professionals working in fields such as new media, film, television and photography. According to Hampshire’s website, “Institute participants [will] get intimate working access to visiting directors, producers, writers, performers, photographers and editors. Guest artists curate film and video series, workshop new works and advise and mentor undergraduate students and working professionals.”

Each week of the institute will have a distinct focus; new guest speakers and faculty, many of whom will be Hampshire alums currently working in the fields they will be showcasing. Ken Burns, a well-known director and producer, will lead a workshop in the media institute this summer. The programs will incorporate many guest lecturers, but will be primarily led by Hampshire faculty.

The programs give faculty the opportunity to test out new ideas they don’t have the opportunity to try over the course of the school year.

All of the summer programs for college students are transferable as credits. Students are responsible for communicating with administrators at their own institutions to discuss the logistics of enrolling for credit. Ferguson reflects, “We’ve had pretty good results with credits so far…everyone who has wanted to get credit for the courses they took last summer and the summer before, have received credit. We’ve actually had some graduate students take the courses and receive credit.”

A draw to Hampshire’s programs is that many view them as a form of internship programs due to Hampshire’s hands-on approach to learning. Ferguson elaborated, “we often find students are using these programs almost as an internship opportunity. Also, because these programs are credit bearing, we often find students are attracted to the programs because they can go toward their academic work and their major.”

These internship-like institutes are meant to be representative of Hampshire’s reputation for innovative thinking and experiential learning. Elaine Thomas, director of Communications at Hampshire stated, “in our programs we blend experiential education with critical inquiry. The students do a lot of hands-on learning, and they have opportunities in a lot of the programs to do independent work.”

In the future, Ferguson hopes that there will be more collaboration with school programs that have internship requirements, such as Mount Holyoke College’s Nexus program, to enhance the internship aspects of the program.

Ferguson also stated that Hampshire would be willing to adjust their summer curriculum to fit possible internship requirements that other colleges may have.

With its summer programs, Hampshire aims to provide valuable experiences to students who may not have the same opportunities at their own colleges. “We are looking to appeal to students that might not have the same facilities or focus that we do at Hampshire, that are wanting to break into a field where they don’t have the resources available at their institution,” explained Ferguson. Director of the Food, Farm and Sustainability program, Bethanie Hooker elaborated saying, “The programs provide insight into the pedagogy here that can often be different than many other places.”

Hampshire is very excited about the new programs debuting on campus this summer.  The College hopes to attract a diverse group of applicants. In the past, the school participated in a partnership with a university in China that sent students to the U.S. to partake in the institutes. In addition to continuing this partnership, Hampshire plans to develop similar relationships with other international universities in order to have a diverse, global constituency.

Most important to Ferguson is the academic fulfillment and satisfaction for the participating students: “Overall we want the experience to be very valuable for the students that come and join us for the summer. And we want to make sure that we keep growing.”