A Guilford education reaches far beyond traditional classroom walls. Just look at the College’s three-week term at the end of the spring semester, during which students shadowed hospitalists in Spain, helped children with homework in Mexico and even dined with princesses in a Magic Kingdom.

About 1,000 students were enrolled in more than 70 courses during the recently completed 3-week term. Seventeen students in Associate Professor of Spanish Karen Spira’s Mexican Childhoods class traveled to Mexico for 10 days during the term. Karen and co-instructor Rachel Riskind, the Christina B Gidynski ’54 Associate Professor of Psychology, combined disciplines for students to explore and better understand the diverse experiences of children in Mexico. 

Students worked with children in the Pacific coast state of Oaxaca and traveled to the archaeological site of Monte Albán. All the while students interacted with local children and adults in Spanish, learning more about their culture. 

Karen said trips like these are a gift to students and teachers and can only take place during a 3-week term. 

“I have colleagues outside of Guilford who feel so jealous because they would love to be able to take their students out of the classroom and immerse them in the field like we did,” she says. “Being out there on the ground, learning the culture and speaking Spanish all day has such an important impact on their learning.”

Aylen Bernal ’23 said learning on campus beforehand about Mexican cultures only made her more excited for the eight days in Oaxaca. “Getting there exceeded all of my expectations, which were pretty high,” she says. “This was a trip I will never forget because you can only learn so much in a classroom. Sooner or later you need to go out and experience things.”

Tinyah Ervin ’23 plans on applying to medical schools in the coming year. Her three-week term with 11 classmates shadowing hospitalists in Spain convinced her even more of her future career. “This was something I might not have been able to do had I stayed at home,” she says. “We got to see a lot and learn a lot about what our futures might look like.”

Psychology major Kailee Hughes ‘24, and three other classmates spent a week at Walt Disney World in Florida for “Disney’s Enchantment: Narrative, Magic, and Self-Discovery,” an applied humanities class taught by Jill Peterfeso, the Eli Franklin Craven and Minnie Phipps Craven Associate Professor of Religious Studies. 

For five days students immersed themselves in Disney parks, movies, fan culture, magic and fantasy, to better understand how Disney’s stories and theme park impacts us as fans and consumers. 

Kaillee Hughes ‘24 went into the 3-week course with a dilemma many of her classmates wish they had. Given the Advanced Placement college credits she brought with her to Guilford, Kailee already has her required course load to graduate. So when it came time to picking a three-week term class, she was free to choose what interested her most.

Kailee had been to Walt Disney World before, but never with a critical eye toward understanding how Disney’s stories and theme parks impact individuals as fans and consumers. The students looked at a variety of texts.

“I thought it would be cool to see Disney from a different perspective,” she says. “We didn’t go as tourists – although I really enjoyed the trip. “We looked at what makes Disney so successful with people. How can we do some of those things in our own lives. You know, as students and after college.”

Not every student chose to hit the road for the 3-week term. Closer to home, students enrolled in on-campus classes like Food Justice, Community and Peace, Documentary Filmmaking and Field Ornithology (birdwatching).

Guilford’s history with short academic sessions includes the January term, between fall and spring semesters, that was held during the presidency of Kent Chabotar to offer more short-term study abroad and experiential learning opportunities. It was discontinued because it was not financially feasible for most students.

Guilford has been offering three-week terms twice each academic year as part of the Guilford Edge initiative that was launched in 2019. Beginning in 2023-24, the 3-week term will only be offered in the spring, making the academic calendar more manageable for students and the College.  

Kathryn Shields says this calendar might be “the best of both worlds” for students and faculty. “We can keep the experiential component, and it isn't as much of a strain on our systems,” she says.

Kathryn wants to encourage students to use the three-week to stay on track for graduating in four years, but she also wants students to view the session as a way to explore and pursue other passions. 

“We want to make sure we’re doing things that students are interested in and engaged in rather than something … that’s expendable,” she says. “We want the three-week to be a draw and enriching.”

Students aren’t the only ones who benefit from the three-week session. Kathryn says another bonus from the three-week session is that faculty can use the term to try out possible courses  to supplement their program requirements or become part of their regular rotation.