Learning about native bees in Montana, hiking between spires of red rock, and marveling at the natural spectacles of America’s first National Park are perhaps not the first things that may come to mind when thinking about a humanities class. Yet, that’s exactly what students in this immersive summer program will find on their syllabus.

For one month, participants in the Summer Humanities Academy call the University of Utah campus “homebase.” They take courses in writing and rhetoric, history, and sociology. Then, they take their studies on the road and explore several destinations that will help them make sense of the storied American West. Field study is an important component of the experience and fosters a deeper understanding of a landscape most participants have only read about.

Many Summer Humanities students are beginning to formulate their graduate school applications for study in the U.S., and the program offers a unique and memorable way to boost their academic English skills while increasing understanding of American culture and customs.

“I felt so fortunate to have this impressive and highly inquisitive group of Chinese students from Sun Yat-sen University join the inaugural Humanities Summer Academy at the University in Summer 2019. Not only because they brought with them their fresh perspectives, their aspiring ambitions, and their insatiable desire to learn, but also because we together strengthened our cooperation between our two institutions and increased our understanding of each other’s cultures. I could not be more proud of the Academy and what it has accomplished.” said Academy director LuMing Mao.