Students will explore a sense of place while being immersed in the natural and urban environments of their new home: UVM and the Burlington community. Arts professor Micah Wood and Arts and Creativity Program Coordinator Shae Gwydir will bring students to interesting locations in the Burlington South End Arts District, touring studios, collecting natural materials, and creating sketches of what they see. Arts Professor jen berger will host students at her studio in the South End Arts district for a printmaking workshop on the theme of place. The group will explore UVM campus and learn how to make unique, one-of-a-kind cyanotype photographs using the power of the sun. Students will come away feeling connected to their new home at UVM and the Arts and Creativity Learning Community! 

Program Highlights: Making your own cyanotype photographs; taking a printmaking workshop at The Hive Collective; exploring other forms of art; visiting studios in the Burlington Arts District; learning about art opportunities on campus and in the community.  

It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game of college. Join us as we play games and learn insider tips and strategies for how to unwind and unplug on and off campus. This early move-in program will introduce you to the UVM Multimedia Lab and resources for finding free games and a variety of places to hang out and connect throughout your time at UVM. Between our shared meals we will enjoy a treasure hunt in the surrounding community and an adventure at the Escape Room Burlington. 

Program Highlights: Treasure hunting around campus (with prizes!); challenging each other at some of the 700+ board games over dinner at The Boardroom in Winooski; exploring the many free gaming opportunities on campus; racing the clock at Escape Room Burlington.  

Join Professors Noah Barclay-Derman, Deb Hinchey, and the Global Connections Team as we explore place, resilience, and connections in two of our favorite areas in Vermont! On the first day, we will explore Winooski, the most diverse community in Vermont. We will learn about social protection, community connection, and the built environment, talk with a Multicultural Liaison for the Winooski School District, enjoy some delicious food, take a dip in the public pool, map out some community resources, and prepare and share an Ethiopian meal with a local chef. We will look at social connections through nature and place as we kayak on the Waterbury Reservoir. Our group will explore the natural beauty while discussing the reservoir's creation to protect towns from flooding and the displacement of the original stewards of the land. 

Program Highlights: Meeting a community leader working for social change; exploring the small yet mighty city of Winooski; enjoying global cuisines; touring the mill and falls; swimming at the Myers Memorial Pool (weather permitting); kayaking and exploring remote sites and beaches on the Waterbury Reservoir; creating friendships and social connections that will help with your transition to a new place! 

Do you have a love of food and an innovative spirit? If so this UVM GO experience is for you! Our group will visit a local farm known for teaching the community about growing and preparing nutritious foods. After lunch along the shore of Lake Champlain, we’ll tour the largest producer of chocolate chip cookie dough pellets for ice cream in the United States. Then, we’ll head back to campus and set up our own fermented food product.... KOMBUCHA! We’ll have a chance to visit some local small-scale food businesses, making your own batch of sauerkraut, touring of an award-winning brewery, and finishing off the day at Burlington's own Generator Space where artists, craftspeople and innovators spend their time honing their crafts.  

Program Highlights: Touring several area food producers including Zero Gravity, Pitchfork Pickles, Brio Coffeeworks, and Rhino Foods; visiting Common Roots Farm; enjoying a picnic at the beach; making kombucha tea; exploring the Generator makerspace; enjoying the amazing food in Burlington and on campus! 

What might leadership look like for you in a new place, with new people, together in a new community? This program will help you connect to others and find meaningful ways to engage in the places and spaces around UVM and Burlington. Your new community is a beautifully diverse, complex, and engaging place. Come explore the ways that collaborative leadership makes positive change all around us, the value and experience you have to offer, and where you can make a difference alongside the people and communities that also call UVM and Burlington “home.”  

Program Highlights: Team building activities, dialogue with current student leaders, social action storytelling with community/campus partners, town hall and community council visits, touring campus landmarks of student social action; art museum/gallery visit, community farm visit.

The Liberal Arts Scholars Program is offering an in-depth exploration of Lake Champlain! You’ll join Dr. Devin McFadden and LASP’s Cathy Diamond as you step up your knowledge of this incredible body of water sitting at the foot of the hill in downtown Burlington.  Battles, shipwrecks, scientific discoveries, Hollywood movies, border crossings, and a legendary creature named Champ—we’ll hear about Lake Champlain’s storied past and critical role in the future. Pack a swimsuit and join the search for Champ! 

Program Highlights: Touring UVM’s lakefront research lab; open-water rowing in hand-crafted longboats (no experience necessary); visiting the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum; having lunch on a cruise ship; visiting an archaeological dig site; building community on and off campus. 

Join Community Herbalist and UVM Agriculture, Landscape & Environment Faculty member Katherine Elmer in exploring the concepts of healing ecology - the ways that nature immersion, particularly with medicinal plants, has healing effects on humans, and how humans can reciprocate by participating in restoring the ecology through ancestral, indigenous gardening and stewardship practices. Students will have the opportunity to discuss our Summer Read selection “How to Love a Forest” with a walking tour led by the author. Acknowledgment of the first peoples of this land will be centered through discussions with community members who identify as indigenous and/or are allies to the Abenaki rematriation process. 

Program Highlights: Medicinal plants walk and wild-crafting; restoration ecology service project at Shelburne Farms; permaculture gardening with Indigenous Elders at Ethan Allen Homestead; making and tasting herbal teas, swimming in Lake Champlain; taking a walking tour of Centennial Woods with author Ethan Tapper; removing edible invasive species with recipes and tastings; hiking green spaces in the Burlington area. 

From the top of Mt. Mansfield, Vermont’s highest peak, to an 80-acre urban forest in Burlington, UVM’s natural area reserve system offers an ideal outdoor classroom to better understand the complex socio-ecological fabric that makes up our world today. Dr. Brendan Fisher and Dr. Noelia Barrios-Garcia, professors from the Rubenstein School, will bring you to some of these natural areas to explore the social history, ecological communities, and the roles these areas play for human and ecological well-being. Students will have the opportunity to discuss our Summer Read selection “How to Love a Forest” with a wooded hike led by the author. Uncover these vibrant spaces of academic research, community stewardship, and environmental education.

Program Highlights: Hiking Mount Mansfield; learning to identify native and non-native plants; birding; taking a walking tour of Centennial Woods with author Ethan Tapper; attending natural history talks; undertaking a small ecological restoration project; collecting ecological data; community building. 

The Patrick Leahy Honors College is offering an in-depth exploration of Lake Champlain! You’ll join PLHC’s Dr. Ian Grimmer as you step up your knowledge of this incredible body of water sitting at the foot of the hill in downtown Burlington.  Battles, shipwrecks, scientific discoveries, Hollywood movies, border crossings, and a legendary creature named Champ—we’ll hear about Lake Champlain’s storied past and critical role in the future. Pack a swimsuit and join the search for Champ!  

Program Highlights: Touring UVM’s lakefront research lab; open-water rowing in hand-crafted longboats (no experience necessary); visiting the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum; having lunch on a cruise ship; visiting an archaeological dig site; building community on and off campus. 

Vic Izzo from the Agroecology Institute and Tom Wilson from the Community-Engaged Learning Office will lead this hands-on workshop that introduces students to the ways our local farms and food systems-based organizations are putting concepts of sustainability into action. Through the lens of agroecology – an interdisciplinary approach to agriculture and food systems that works to build healthy, sustainable, and just human and environmental ecosystems – students will examine the food system as catalyst for, and reflection of, meaningful social and environmental change. We will engage directly with community partners and local nonprofits to build relationships in our community! 

Program Highlights: Visiting Bread and Butter Farm and meeting with farmers implementing agroecological practices; assisting researchers with field work and data collection on agroecosystems at UVM’s Hort Farm; volunteering at Feeding Chittenden, a local anti-hunger non-profit; enjoying local and seasonal food! 

Discover the sweet side of Vermont! Professor Samantha Alger, Director of the Vermont Bee Lab, will guide you as you dive into the state's rich maple sugaring traditions, get hands-on with a local beekeeping tour, and explore Vermont’s famed dairy and ice cream culture. From tree taps to honeycombs and creamy scoops, you’ll gain a delicious introduction to the flavors, history, and sustainable practices that make Vermont unique. A perfect way to start your UVM journey—with a taste of the Green Mountain State!  

Program Highlights: Touring a sugar shack, sampling maple products, and learning to identify sugar maples at the Audubon Center; visiting the Vermont Bee Lab’s research and education bee hives; touring the Ben & Jerry’s Factory in Waterbury and the UVM Dairy Barn; Indigenous cooking using honey-forward recipes; walking to the Burlington Waterfront for ice cream.   

Learn how a healthy brain can help you not just survive but thrive at UVM! Start each day with yoga on the Central Campus Residential Hall green, hike Mount Philo (a local landmark with stunning views of the Adirondacks and Lake Champlain), visit Shelburne Farms to explore the early history and present-day stewardship of the land, attend a crash course on building a healthy brain with Professor of Psychiatry Dr. William Copeland, and enjoy a beach day at Burlington Surf Club where we can kayak, paddle board, and enjoy the natural beauty of Burlington. Your Wellness Environment Team will guide the group in conversations and experiences related to well-being and healthy transitions. We’ll conclude with a catered sunset dinner and reflection activities at the lake. 

Program Highlights: Hiking Mount Philo; walking tour and indigenous history discussion at Shelburne Farms; trying some paddle sports on Lake Champlain at the Burlington Surf Club; closing dinner at Hula event space.

Join Professor Rebecca Nagle from the College of Nursing and Health Sciences to learn the science behind stress management strategies and explore easily applied practices that promote wellness. Participants will reflect on the interconnection between human health and that of non-human species and the planet, and examine the impact stress has on mental health, well-being, and academic success. Students will consider a variety of ways to promote well-being for all. The program includes outdoor experiences across campus, Shelburne Farms, and the Lake Champlain waterfront, in collaboration with local businesses and community partners. Our program concludes with a lakeside sunset dinner and a guided reflection session.

Program Highlights: Paddle boarding and other water sports at Burlington Surf Club; exploring the practices of Shinrin Yoku (forest bathing), yoga, Nia dance, meditation, and reflective practice; visiting Shelburne Farms; examining the connection between the arts and well-being; preparing food in UVM’s Climate Kitchen; closing dinner at Hula event space.