Field Seminars

Immersive learning is at the core of a Williams-Mystic education, which is why we conduct three extended field seminars each semester. We spend ten days sailing the open ocean aboard a tall ship, and explore the Pacific and Gulf Coasts.

Faculty and staff join students on these field seminars, as we visit sites off the beaten path. Professors lead labs aboard ships, hold lectures on the beach, and conduct class at historic sites across the country. From the shipping terminals of San Francisco and the center of New Orleans to the middle of the redwood forests and the open ocean, we bring our classroom with us wherever we go.

Offshore

Offshore Field Seminar Detail

For 8-10 days, Williams-Mystic students, faculty, and staff sail aboard a traditionally rigged tall ship. The Offshore Field Seminar enhances our curriculum on land by exposing students to the experience of being at sea. You’ll have this rare opportunity to live out of sight of land, discover a new way of learning, and experience the awe-inspiring beauty of the open sea.

We work with professional crew members to sail the tall ship we charter, which is designed for teaching and registered with the United States Coast Guard as a Sailing School Vessel (SSV). As a member of the crew and under the direction of a mate, you learn to steer, navigate, handle sails, and operate the ship around the clock.

No matter your level of sailing experience (most students have none!), the Offshore Field Seminar offers the excitement and challenge of life at sea and allows you to learn about the literature, history, policy, and science of the ocean firsthand.

Past Offshore Field Seminar experiences include:

Sailing to Dry Tortugas National Park
Analyzing sediment samples from the ocean floor
Learning to sail as a crew member on a tallship
Seeing dolphins on midnight bow watch
Swim call!

Gulf Coast: Louisiana

Gulf Coast Detail

With its rich literary tradition, biology, geology, and history–and its pressing policy challenges–the Gulf Coast is perhaps the most eye-opening field seminar destination each semester. As coastlines erode and waters rise, environmental and political issues grow increasingly more complex at the Mississippi River Delta and along the Gulf Coast. While visiting the area during our field seminar, you quickly learn just how intertwined these issues are with Louisiana’s culture and history.

Students grapple with intersections of energy, fishing, agriculture, and tourism industries, and see how community resilience is built in an area that is adversely affected by climate change and historical injustices. We speak to shrimp fishermen, alligator wranglers, indigenous leaders, and community members from New Orleans, Cocodrie, and Grand Isle.

Past Louisiana Field Seminar experiences include:

Meeting with the Chief and Elder Chief of the Grand Caillou Dulac Band of the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Indian tribe
Learning from community development organizations working to restore wetland areas in the Lower Ninth Ward
Visiting the largest oil infrastructure port
Experiencing subsidence in Gulf marshes

Pacific Coast

Pacific Coast Detail

The Pacific Coast Field Seminars cover a lot of ground, examining the relationships between the Pacific Ocean, the myriad communities that make up the West Coast, and the stakeholders tied to the dynamic ocean systems. Traveling to northern California or Washington and Oregon, we study the important historical events that shaped the region and the incredible diversity of intertidal marine life, as well as the ways in which coastal communities respond to a rapidly changing climate. Weaving the interconnections between massive geologic forces, tribal fishing rights, shipping industry environmental impact, and hydroelectric power, this field seminar places you right in the middle of America’s most complex coastal issues from an insider’s perspective.

Past Pacific Coast Field Seminar experiences include:

Visiting the world-famous Monterey Bay Aquarium
Meeting with indigenous leaders and coastal stewards
Seeing (sea) stars while tidepooling at Shell Beach
Taking in the majesty of the Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve
Driving a tugboat in San Francisco Bay or Puget Sound
Experiencing port terminals from the water, and then learning of the environmental justice & health ramifications from the communities around the port
Examining the role of the Columbia river—from the mouth at Astoria, OR, inland—for its industrial shipping, settler exploration, and hydroelectric dams

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Field Seminars

Offshore

Gulf Coast: Louisiana

Pacific Coast

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