Global Engagement
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As educators, we have a responsibility to prepare our students, intentionally and incrementally, for the lives they will live when they leave our classrooms. Step by step, we must give them the skills they need to respond empathetically and live productively in an increasingly diverse, complex and interconnected world. I am convinced—and impressed—that Blair is doing all of this successfully.
Timothy Patrick McCarthy, PhD, Blair's scholar-in-residence & professor at the Harvard Kennedy School
Blair encourages students to go out into the world and interact with people across the United States and around the globe. As they immerse themselves in new cultures and experience how others live, students gain cultural awareness and emotional intelligence, becoming true global citizens who are ready to take on the challenges of our highly connected world.
Engagement takes many forms: Our student leaders partner with nonprofits as part of Blair LEADS and campus clubs such as Earthshine, Blue and White Key, La Conexión, Perspectives and the Healthy Relationships Committee; service efforts can take place as close to campus as the local food pantry or as far away as Costa Rica; some trips come to fruition because a faculty member is particularly interested in learning more about a given destination and invites students to take part in the excursion, while others become campus traditions because a student is particularly passionate about a cause.
Meaningful Trips
Each year, we offer a range of domestic and international travel opportunities that combine elements of cultural immersion, service, leadership and research. Academic work takes on real-world meaning when, for example, a history class helps a student understand the context of a historical site or an art class illuminates the importance of a cultural phenomenon or a language class helps a student communicate with a new friend. During and after each trip, students and teachers gather to reflect on their shared experience, its meaning in their lives and its impact on their academic coursework.
Five Continents & 14 U.S. States
In recent years, Blair students have traveled to five continents and 14 U.S. states on trips that have been initiated and planned by both students and faculty who are excited to share their interests, passions and curiosity about the world around them. Closer to campus, our students participate in Model United Nations events, visit art museums, see Broadway shows, and attend Intelligence Squared debates in New York City and Philadelphia. Students who seek a more in-depth learning experience initiate independent-study courses that provide additional insight into issues they find compelling.
Each Year, New Opportunities
Travel opportunities over winter, spring and summer breaks vary by year, and many are once-in-a-lifetime events, such as Blair’s recent musical tours of Italy and England, and cultural-immersion trips to Kenya, Cuba and Costa Rica. Although faculty chaperones always accompany travelers, a number of the School’s most popular excursions have been initiated by passionate students, such as the annual trek to St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Tennessee. Click on the accordions below to view our recent international and U.S. destinations. Our news archive also delves into our more recent trips in more detail.
