Welcome From Our Director!
Hi, I am Clinton Stockwell, the director of the Chicago Semester program. I am pleased to welcome you to the program's website.
Chicago Semester works with undergraduate college students from 13 colleges in the Midwest. As a liberal arts program, we have students from almost every major field, including business, communications, education, social work, medicine, law, psychology, sports medicine, community development and religion or ministry. They get a taste of "real-life" with four-day, 32 hour-a-week internships provided by leading Chicago institutions such as the Mayor's office, corporation headquarters, hospitals, theaters and not-for-profit agencies. Practicum groups provide students support while thematic seminars challenge students to connect their everyday experiences to larger questions about our society.
Experience alone is not enough. Therefore, we provide perspectives informed by faith and sound philosophy so that students can develop a way of understanding and seeing the world. We offer an integrative learning experience that builds on community and group learning. We prepare students for a world that is increasingly urban, global and culturally diverse. By adding to the solid foundation that our participating colleges have provided, we combine the experience of living and working in the city with academic perspectives that help explain the significance of the choices that each of us make.
In short, the overall goal of Chicago Semester is to create a new generation of leaders who will transform the world. Our alumni graduate and move on to leadership positions where they apply their education, values and worldview to complex, real-life situations.
I hope you enjoy surfing the Chicago Semester website. But more than that, I hope you will consider joining the Chicago Semester program for a semester of study, reflection and work very soon. It could be one of the most important decisions you will ever make!