Experiential Learning
The accommodation of student interest extends beyond regular departmental offerings. Hands-on experiences in learning enrich classroom instruction. Each of the three colleges offers a number of such experiences to undergraduates. Among them:
The Philadelphia Urban Semester. Undergraduates in all fields of study can earn 16 Lehigh credit hours by spending a semester studying in the nation’s fourth-largest metropolis. They live, work, and study with other students from two dozen other institutions, supervised by faculty of the Great Lakes Colleges Association. This consortium of such leading Midwestern institutions as DePauw, Kenyon, Oberlin, and Wooster is a recognized leader in providing extra-mural academic programs both here and abroad.
The curriculum consists of two four-credit seminars and an eight-credit internship. All students are enrolled in a core “Seminar on the City” which introduces them to the field of urban affairs and to Philadelphia. The second seminar is elected from a half-dozen more specialized urban topics; recent choices available have included “Folklore in Philadelphia,” “Art in the City” (which met each week at a different site), and “Justice.” Internships involve working four days weekly in a public or private placement which tests the student’s aptitude in a variety of practical ways while enhancing appreciation of city life.
The Washington Semester. Opportunity is available each year for six juniors or seniors to spend a term studying in Washington, D.C., in cooperation with American University. Lehigh University is a member with 180 other colleges and universities.
Students enroll at Lehigh but spend the semester in residence at American University with the students from other participating colleges.
The curriculum consists of national-government seminars, an internship, and a written research project. Besides the national government program, the student may choose other program offerings such as economic policy semester, journalism, public administration, foreign policy semester and justice semester.
Inspection trips. The location of the university in the center of industrial activities of various types affords unusual opportunities for visits to manufacturing plants. Inspection trips to individual plants are a required part of specific courses in various engineering curricula. Written reports may be required. These trips are generally held during the senior year and involve an average expense of $25 to $50.