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Reflections on The Benefits of a Geographically Extended Classroom

By Carol Lasser

Can liberal arts colleges foster engaged citizenship for the 21st century? Lake Forest College’s “Geographically Extended Classroom” initiative, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, envisions transformations in the lives and attitudes of students with implications reaching far beyond their first-year experiences.

By sponsoring connections between Lake Forest College students and Chicago early in their educational careers, the initiative establishes the basis for connecting young people to a vibrant metropolis. Starting with explorations of Chicago as environment, as text, and as object of study in their first-year seminars, students are empowered by lessons learned in the “geographically extended classroom.” Faculty members guide them to comprehend the depth and complexity of the city, and students encounter the forces that continue to shape its cultural, political, and ecological terrain.

In their ongoing development as learners, and as they gain an understanding of both the urban space and the larger global context in which it is embedded, students may begin to think about the roles they could play in future societal improvements. The “geographically extended classroom” thus has the potential to build civic capacity, and to move young people from students to informed citizens with a sense of their accountability in a world system.

It’s an ambitious project, but one that Lake Forest College has undertaken after careful thought and planning. It begins with a “Chicago experience” for students in all first-year seminars, which creates a sense of shared learning goals, a collective purpose, and the experiential pleasure of learning in situ. Featuring the city of Chicago makes great pedagogical sense. Its rich history, wealth of cultural resources, academic and scientific institutions, business community with international ties, varied populations and neighborhoods, and physical features and resources comprise a laboratory for multidisciplinary academic exploration.

As students explore the various facets of the city, they develop a shared appreciation for the urban environment, its history, and its contemporary challenges. Some may focus on how the contours of the city’s basic infrastructure, established in the wake of the Great Fire of 1871, continue to evolve based on the efforts of planners who must consider and analyze contemporary threats to water and air, streets, and sewers. Others may discover how the symphonies, theaters, and museums that adorn Chicago are the products of coordinated and intentional human effort, both in the design of their physical structures and in the organizational strategies that keep them alive so that patrons and students can enjoy the fine and performing arts they present.

The College’s new initiative physically takes students into Chicago for their studies. It also mentally repositions them as they learn to consider their roles in relation to one of the world’s great cities. Understanding civic responsibility is part of a lifelong learning process. Lake Forest College, in conjunction with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, is creatively and thoughtfully providing its students with tools to take with them on their lifelong journeys.

Carol Lasser, professor of history at Oberlin College, serves as the external evaluator for the College’s Mellon Foundation-funded program “Creating a Geographically Extended Classroom.” She has a special interest in constructing meaningful bridges between campus and community that broaden the experiences of undergraduates. Lasser has advised Lake Forest College on academic initiatives, in a variety of capacities, for more than ten years.