Faculty-led programs advance the College’s Strategic Vision by engaging and supporting faculty to creatively unite theory and practice through experiential learning off-campus that directly connects to our campus curriculum and confronts big challenges. These programs offer new opportunities for thematic, collaborative, and interdisciplinary teaching and learning that have the power to transform students’ experiences and perspectives. Furthermore, they increase equity and access in off-campus study by diversifying the type, structure, and length of available programs to reach students who may be unable to take part in traditional semester study away.
Faculty-led programs further Global Pomona Project through the following goals:
- Diversify and expand opportunities so that every Pomona student will meaningfully engage with global learning, whether from abroad or here in the U.S.
- Offer experiential learning across disciplines so that by the time they leave Pomona, students will be prepared to collaborate effectively with global partners to address the world’s most pressing problems.
- Provide more consistent and coordinated opportunities for students and faculty to pursue research, experiential learning and other key elements of our academic mission and pedagogy within a global context.
Program Selection Process
The timeline for program planning is a two year process.
Program selections are made based on course quality, distinctness of the opportunity, ways in which the course supports curricular and strategic goals of the College, overall balance among the disciplines, and availability of resources. Faculty members prepare proposals in consultation with the IDPO and their academic department(s).
Preliminary proposals including Department Chair approval, a course goal statement, general description, and preliminary itinerary with site-specific learning goals will be considered by the International and Domestic Programs Committee (IDPC) to advance to full program development and implementation. Each year, the IDPC will select up to two proposals from preliminary submissions to advance to the next phase. Once the initial approvals are made, the course proposals are reviewed by the Curriculum Committee (CC), which will provide feedback to the faculty, possibly asking for changes, prior to final endorsement of the proposal. Once the CC has approved the course, the International and Domestic Programs Committee (IDPC) will review the complete program proposal, including proposed program budget, for final approval for implementation.
The IDPC welcomes proposals for “repeat” programs that were successful in the past; however, given the limited number of opportunities per year, repeat programs are not guaranteed approval but will be considered with the rest of the pool of proposed programs in any year.
Proposal Development
Advance planning and collaboration with the IDPO are essential and should begin at least 18-20 months in advance of the projected start of the program. Faculty should attend the program development workshop in the fall and seek feedback from the IDPO, the Associate Dean with responsibility for curriculum, and their Department Chair early to increase course viability.
Faculty should consider the time and effort required to develop a preliminary proposal into a complete course, obtain necessary course approval, budget and financial aid development, and necessary logistical arrangements throughout duration of the program prior to submitting a preliminary proposal.
Faculty are encouraged to apply for course development grants and/or professional development grants through the Dean of the College’s Office. Faculty should consider applying for , which provides skill-building training seminars focused on best practices for integrating experiential learning activities into faculty-led study away programs.
Timeline
The IDPO will host a workshop for faculty early in the fall semester to share more information about the Faculty-Led Programs initiative and to help faculty brainstorm and discuss ideas with peers and staff.
Faculty-Led Programs Workshop for fall 2024: Tuesday, September 17, 12:00-1:00 p.m.
Faculty interested in developing a Faculty-Led Program should meet with Annie Lam, Assistant Director of Pomona Programs and Domestic Programs, to discuss their program idea.
Preliminary Proposal: Faculty will complete a preliminary proposal, which will be reviewed by the IDPC. The preliminary proposal includes the following:
- Preliminary Proposal Form
- Department Chair Endorsement Form
- A preliminary course outline
Preliminary proposals for programs to run in 2026 are due by: Sunday, November 3, 2024. Please email all proposal materials to Annie Lam, Assistant Director of Pomona Programs and Domestic Programs. Applicants will receive a response from the IDPC by the end of the fall semester.
Preliminary proposals selected by the IDPC will move on to full program proposal with the assistance of the IDPO, which includes review of the course proposal by the CC.
Curriculum Committee: Faculty will be required to submit a new course proposal through the instructor , which includes a detailed course syllabus and an overview of the program. Please note, the IDPO will also provide the preliminary proposal materials to the CC as part of the approval process.
Full Program Proposal: Faculty invited to move forward with the full program proposal will need to provide information about the budget and logistics of their proposed program. The full program proposal will be reviewed by the IDPC. The full program proposal requires the following:
- Updated Preliminary Proposal Form
- An updated preliminary proposal form based on the feedback from the IDPC and CC.
- Budget & Logistics Form
- Requires completion of budget template in collaboration with the IDPO.
- Course Outline/Syllabus
- Includes information on the program schedule, on-site activities, names of speakers/lecturers, potential readings and assignments, number of hours and content for on-campus and off-campus portions.
Full program proposals for programs to run in 2026 are due by: Friday, March 14. Please email all proposal materials to Annie Lam, Assistant Director of Pomona Programs and Domestic Programs. Faculty will receive a response from the IDPC by the end of the spring semester, pending course approval from the CC.
Faculty will work with the IDPO and onsite partners in summer 2025 to finalize logistics of the programs. In fall and winter 2025, the faculty and IDPO will work together to advertise programs to students, collect applications, and select participants.
Upcoming Programs
O’ahu, Hawai’i
Conservation of Biodiversity in a Changing World will be led by Willard George Halstead Zoology Professor of Biology Nina J. Karnovsky and Associate Professor of Biology Wallace M. Meyer III in spring 2025.
This faculty-led program will provide students with experience in conservation science through the lens of indigenous perspectives. Conservationists around the world look to Hawai’i to learn the innovative ways they are tackling the problems of climate change, introduced species, habitat loss, pollution, and more. In this course students will collaborate with conservation practitioners in Hawai’i to participate in authentic conservation work. Students will gain expertise in diverse approaches, various scientific tools, and indigenous perspectives that are important in tackling complex conservation problems.
This program earns 1 Pomona credit that counts as an upper division biology course with lab and is open to Pomona students only. The program will run for the entire spring semester on campus and includes a required field study on O’ahu, Hawai’i, over spring break.
Mexico City and Oaxaca, Mexico
Historia EconĂłmica de MĂ©xico will be led by Pendleton Professor of Economics Fernando A. Lozano and Chau Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Economics Karla Cordova in summer 2025.
The program will allow students to use economic tools to understand the economic history and development of MĂ©xico. The course will be divided into five historical eras: Pre-Columbian, Colonial, Reform and Porfiriato, Post-Revolution and Industrialization, and Modern Mexico.
The experience of being in Mexico, while learning of its economic history in Spanish, will allow students to immerse themselves in the culture and engage with history not only in the museums, but also in meetings with historians, economists, and business leaders. The distinct history of Mexico indicates that the economic development of the country has been a function of its geography, natural resources, and relationship with the United States. During visits to city centers, historical landmarks, and museums, students will be able to reconstruct the economic characteristics of each historical era. Each city visited will evidence how power, social class, and economics intertwined to create modern day Mexico.
This program earns 1 Pomona credit and will be conducted in Spanish.
Past Programs
Brussels, Belgium; Casablanca, Marrakesh, Rabat, and Tangier, Morocco
The Diplomacy and Human Rights in the Mediterranean program was offered in summer 2024, led by Mietek Boduszynski, Associate Professor of Politics. This immersive seminar explored the challenges facing those who would use the tools of diplomacy to promote democracy and human rights in Europe and North Africa. From migration to gender, and from elections to civil society, the program explored what democracy and human rights are, how diplomacy can promote them, and why the Mediterranean region provides a rich and complex context in which to observe the challenges of striving for a world in which more people can live in freedom and dignity.
In Belgium and Morocco, students went behind the scenes with policymakers and diplomats and spoke with NGOs and scholars about how states, intergovernmental organizations, and non-state actors use diplomacy as a means of advancing their human rights agendas.