At The University of Baltimore, we provide knowledge that works. Get real-world career
preparation and the hands-on experience employers demand at a fraction of the cost
of other universities. Pick courses that fit your schedule and create an education
tailored to your vision and needs. Welcome to UBalt!
Learn while doing.
Experiential learning means you get out of the classroom and into the real world to
put your knowledge into practice through hands-on experiences.
A Bridge to Belize 2016: June 2-12
What is experiential learning?
Experiential learning includes:
community engagement
internships
undergraduate research
global field experiences
real-world, problem-based learning.
Sustainability Investigation
In this experiential learning project, students identify a local (or Chesapeake Bay)
sustainability-related topic of their choice and conduct a guided investigation into
that topic. This includes a required onsite investigation of a local place associated
with the issue, ideally with interviews and other research conducted onsite. Students
compile a referenced report, including the results of their investigation, and hand
it in at the end of the term.
Internships
Internships are as experiential as it gets; students put their learning into practice
through on-the-job training. This photo, shared on Instagram by user @hello_clarisse_,
shows "UB students finishing up our internship at Morgan Stanley. So proud of you
guys!"
Alternative Spring Break
During UBalt's Alternative Spring Break: RAIL-ing Against Hunger, students spend a
week in Mullens, West Virginia, where they examine the connections between rural poverty
and nutrition. Through UBalt's Be More Leadership and Community Engagement program
and the Rural Appalachian Improvement League, students take on a powerful community-building
and learning experience in a cold, mountainous environment.
Experiential Learning Showcase
This annual event offers students an opportunity to share their experiential learning
projects—including research, projects, internships, study abroad/global field study,
community engagement and service learning—during 10-minute presentations to peers,
faculty, staff, alumni and parents.
Divided Baltimore
Divided Baltimore: How Did We Get Here, Where Do We Go? launched in fall 2015 following
the unrest in the city the previous spring. With sections designed for undergraduate
and graduate experiences, the semester-long course—taught by UBalt faculty members
and guest lecturers in both physical and online environments—focuses on addressing
the city's long-standing issues regarding segregation, economic and racial inequalities,
and untapped potential. The course explores the city's problems and prospects from
a variety of perspectives and aims to begin the process of positive change.
A Bridge to Belize
This annual program promotes learning about cultural diversity and environmental sustainability.
A six-week course culminates in an 11-day trip to Belize. Learn more below.
UB's Community Garden
Cultivated in a green space along the Maryland Avenue exit ramp from I-83 and fully
visible from the highway, UBalt's community garden provides an opportunity to learn
about urban food deserts while growing herbs and vegetables in planter boxes, a greenhouse
and more.
The Walters Art Museum Fall Family Festival
As an extra-credit assignment for a world history class, student explained the significance
of museum artifacts to children visiting during the festival. "My job during the afternoon
was to work with the children and even some adults on an arts-and-crafts project.
I assisted them in making brooches and decorative pins made out of colorful ribbons
and cupcake holders." — Nijah White, Integrated Arts undergraduate student
Can you give me some examples?
This annual event offers students an opportunity to share their experiential learning
projects—including research, projects, internships, study abroad/global field study,
community engagement and service learning—during 10-minute presentations to peers,
faculty, staff, alumni and parents.
This clinic provides law students with the opportunity to serve as an attorney for one or more
clients who need immigration level services. Students spend the semester interviewing
and counseling clients and preparing their applications and (sometimes) court cases
while also engaging in group work for some broader community needs (creation of pro
bono resources, doing legislative reform work, etc.).
Students work on a new venture project form the initial idea to a viable business
model to be presented publicly at the end of the semester.
This program is an opportunity for a small group of UBalt students and a group of
residents of the Jessup (Maryland) Correctional Institution to exchange ideas and
perceptions about crime, corrections and the re-entry process.
This program promotes learning about cultural diversity and environmental sustainability.
A six-week course culminates in an 11-day trip to Belize. The international-travel
experience allows students to investigate ecological and cultural perspectives. Students
are immersed in Belizean culture and directly engage with nature by exploring caves,
reefs, rivers and rainforests. The program has demonstrated that students who explore
nature develop a deeper awareness of sustainability and a greater ability to connect
to academic concepts.
This new collaborative initiative between the School of Health and Human Services
and the School of Criminal Justice is an applied research opportunity and a service-learning
experience and provides a framework for understanding the root causes of homelessness
in Central Baltimore.
Students planned a trip to Busboys and Poets in Washington, D.C., to perform their
own poems, an opportunity to learn what it's like to express yourself in a public
forum before other artists.
Sophomore students read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, about a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells—taken without her
knowledge in 1951—became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing
the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization and more. The students
then researched topics relevant to themes explored in the book.
Services for Faculty
We also consult with faculty to help them integrate experiential learning opportunities
into their classes. We:
mentor faculty involved in experiential learning projects
communicate and promote experiential learning projects
liaise with schools, businesses and local government to foster experiential learning
opportunities
plan and coordinate experiential learning activities