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ARCC Gap Semesters
With 28 years of experience in countries throughout the world, ARCC has unparalleled access to some of the most incredible people, places and experiences the world has to offer. Our contacts and relationships abroad allow us to immerse ourselves in the cultures we visit through homestays, service work, teaching and exchange. Going beyond the weekend visit, we take the time to plant our feet in each location, becoming part of the community at large. Eating, sleeping and living amongst the local people, we are welcomed as friends. Working in partnership with area leaders, we pinpoint worthwhile service projects and collaborate with community members to achieve a common goal. Refurbishing a school, building a community center or working with orphans, our hard work supplements our education, organized around five major themes:
Literacy and Education - Compares the philosophy of education in different countries, how this translates into real-life settings and what steps are being taken to improve education and literacy for local communities.
Public Health - Explores the often wide gulf between health projects in different countries, as well as between cities and rural areas.
Urbanization and the Movement of Peoples - Examines the issue of displacement, both in terms of urbanization and movement motivated by political or environmental concerns.
Environment and Conservation - Investigates the growing problem of habitat degradation and loss of resources, especially the way in which this affects local human and animal populations.
Microfinance and Economic Growth - Researches how communities make ends meet in an increasingly globalized economy, while working to maintain their unique cultures.
The five essential themes comprise the structure around which the ARCC Gap Semester curriculum is built. Interwoven between these pillars is a mixture of journaling, interviews with local experts and officials, as well as group and community discussions. In addition, students address one or more of these themes in every geographic area they visit through service projects and field research. These experiences are summarized in a Milestone Project for each section. Each Milestone, such as a research paper, ethnographic study or independent service project, encapsulates the student's experience of that section and provides reference material for the Capstone Project.
At the end of the Gap Semester we organize our thoughts and actions in a final Capstone Project. Students will choose one theme and draw upon the rich experiences of the last 3 months to examine it from a particular angle. They may write about how attitudes towards public health in Thailand and China lead to disparate health care systems, drawing upon their experience shadowing doctors at Lom Sak Hospital in Thailand or compare the success of conservation efforts in the population of Thailand's elephants, China's pandas and Tibet's black-necked cranes. Students come away from their Gap Semester not only with memories that will last them a lifetime, but also with skills and experience that will be invaluable in their future educational goals.
Students have the option to receive either 5 or 10 college quarter credits (3 or 6 semester credits) accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.