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College of DuPage Field and Experiential Learning/Study Abroad

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College of DuPage Field and Experiential Learning/Study Abroad

The WORLD is our classroom. Be a fan and find out where we're going and how YOU can join us! Classes are experience based/faculty facilitated.

Field and Experiential Learning is an academic program at COD offering credit courses that combine classroom work with empirical field experience. The instructor's role is largely that of a facilitator who helps learning take place. Courses are grouped into four categories: Weekend and Outdoor, Natural Science, Social Science and Cultural, and International. Classes may be taken in any order or co

mbination. Some students enroll to earn credit toward a degree or certificate; others are interested in learning about or visiting a particular destination. Still others are interested in learning outdoor or wilderness skills. You are welcome, whatever your interests.

09/10/2026

In 1884, Theodore Roosevelt came to the Dakota Territory following devastating personal losses, the deaths of both his mother and his young wife, Alice, on the same day. Seeking solitude and a way forward, he returned to the Badlands, where he immersed himself in ranching, hunting, and the rugged landscape of the American West.

The Dakotas helped transform Roosevelt. His experiences in this landscape deepened his appreciation for the importance of protecting America’s wild places. Years later, as President, that connection would become a defining part of his legacy. Roosevelt dramatically expanded the nation’s commitment to conservation and protected roughly 230 million acres of public land.

But the story of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library doesn't stop with its exhibits. The building itself is an experiential lesson in conservation and innovation.

Designed by the internationally renowned architecture firm Snøhetta, the Library seems to rise directly from the Badlands. Its earthen roof echoes the surrounding buttes, while trails, native prairie, and outdoor spaces connect visitors to the landscape Roosevelt loved. The building was designed around ambitious sustainability goals, including producing more renewable energy than it consumes, dramatically reducing water use, minimizing carbon emissions, and pursuing zero waste.

In many ways, the Library is carrying Roosevelt's conservation philosophy into the 21st century: protect the land, embrace innovation, and leave something better for the generations that follow.

Standing in the landscape that helped shape Roosevelt’s life, and inside a building designed to honor that landscape, gave our students something a textbook never could: the opportunity to experience the place where history helped shape the person who made history.

09/02/2026

New Classes Opening!
This course will be open for registration on Friday, September 4th at midnight.

Pedaling the Parks: Indiana Dunes & Cuyahoga Valley National Parks
Join us for a five-day cycling adventure exploring two national parks on two wheels! We’ll begin at nearby Indiana Dunes National Park, a unique landscape where prairies, wetlands, forests, and towering sand dunes meet Lake Michigan. From there, we’ll travel to Ohio and spend the remainder of the journey exploring Cuyahoga Valley National Park, riding the scenic Towpath and Bike & Hike Trails through forests, wetlands, historic canal towns, and along the Cuyahoga River. Along the way, we’ll visit highlights including Brandywine Falls, Beaver Marsh, Peninsula, and the sandstone cliffs of the Ledges. We’ll also experience the valley aboard the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, offering not only a unique perspective of this urban national park, but also helping us easily access different trailheads. Each day features 10 to 40 miles of relaxed riding, primarily on dedicated multi-use trails, with shorter options available, giving participants the opportunity to build endurance, practice safe cycling techniques, learn basic bike maintenance, and become more responsible users of public lands. Participants must provide their own bicycle in good working order.
Class: May 26 (6 to 7:50 p.m.). Field Study: June 9 to 13
Fee: $798 (includes ground transportation, SAG support, hotel accommodations, park admissions, train passes and some meals). Required tuition is extra.
Register for PHYS-1204-FS062.

Information: Gib Egge
(630) 942-2787
email: [email protected]

09/01/2026

New Classes Opening!
This course will be open for registration on Friday, September 4th at midnight.

Seeing Greece: A Journey through Art and Culture
While traveling from Athens to Sparta, explore how this early center of Western culture developed from a collection of city states to modern Greece. Discover ancient sites as you engage with art and culture that has survived and adapted through conquest by (and fusion with) the Roman, Ottoman and British empires. In vibrant Peloponnese, investigate how Greece has been imagined by foreign travelers whose ideas, art and writings influenced and helped form (and distort) the modern state. Immersed in awe-inspiring architecture, sensuous sculpture, engaging cultural activities and breathtaking landscapes, encounter Greece as a lived place and better understand your own place in the world.

Class: April 28 (7 to 8:50 p.m.) Field Study: June 10 to 21
Fee: $4,585 (includes air/ground transportation, lodging, and entrance fees)
Required tuition is extra. Register for HUMNT-1800-FS062

Information: Adam Fotos
email: [email protected]

08/31/2026

New Classes Opening!
This course will be open for registration on Friday, September 4th at midnight.

Hiking the Island of Madeira
Staying within the boundaries of the Island of Madeira, Portugal, this 8-day trek connects classic inns with wonderful hiking. The flower-filled island of Madeira is full of contrasts; the colonial charm of the towns and villages, the rugged and dramatic coastal scenery, the explosion of colors of the local flora and fauna, its lush green interior and the levadas, the traditional irrigation channels which form a network of paths across this sub-tropical island. This enchanting botanical paradise still has a sleepy charm which makes it a unique place to visit. The walks lead you through the High Plateau, giving you sweeping views over verdant valleys and on trails where the deep purples and enchanting scents of hydrangea and agapanthus lead you towards the coast. Participants must be able to hike up to 9 miles with ascents of up to 2,300 feet per day.
Class: March 10 (7 to 9:30 p.m.) Field Study: April 10 to 18, 2027.
Fee: :$5,717 (includes air/ground transportation, accommodations, daily luggage transfers and some meals). Required tuition is extra.
Register for PHYS-1203-FS042
Information: Mauro Crestani
email: [email protected]

08/30/2026

As America celebrates its 250th Anniversary, we've spent the past few months celebrating one of our country's greatest treasures, our National Parks!

From Alaska to the Caribbean, from tropical rainforests to desert dunes, from underground caves to glacier-covered mountains, we've been highlighting the incredible places that have served as living classrooms, protected landscapes, and sources of inspiration for generations.

Today, we're bringing our National Parks 250 celebration to a close with Zion National Park.

For our students, Zion is an incredible experiential classroom. We hike beneath massive cliffs, scramble through canyons, explore desert ecosystems, and learn how water has carved its way through millions of years of geological history.

Few experiences capture that better than hiking The Narrows, where the Virgin River flows between towering sandstone walls. Students literally walk through the river as the canyon narrows around them, experiencing geology, hydrology, and wilderness skills in an environment that can't be replicated inside a classroom.

For those looking for a different challenge, Angels Landing provides a lesson in confidence, preparation, and perseverance. The dramatic climb culminates in spectacular views of Zion Canyon and reminds students that sometimes the most rewarding experiences require us to step outside our comfort zones.

Looking back across the parks we've visited during this America 250 celebration, we've seen an incredible diversity of experiences.

We've backpacked through wilderness, paddled rivers and oceans, explored wild caves, climbed mountains and cliffs, snorkeled coral reefs, studied glaciers, walked among ancient trees, searched for wildlife, explored archaeological sites, and stood beneath some of the darkest skies in America.

We've also learned that every park tells a different story. That is what makes our National Parks such extraordinary experiential classrooms.

As we celebrate 250 years of America, we celebrate not only where we've been, but also the responsibility we have to protect these places for the next 250 years.

08/29/2026

As America celebrates our nation's 250th Anniversary, we're celebrating one of our country's greatest treasures, our National Parks!

Today, we're featuring Yosemite National Park.

Few places in America capture the imagination like Yosemite. Towering granite cliffs, massive waterfalls, giant sequoias, deep valleys, and high alpine wilderness come together to create one of the most spectacular landscapes in the world. But for our students, some of the most meaningful experiences happen when we leave the roads behind and venture into the backcountry.

Yosemite is an incredible backpacking classroom. Carrying everything we need on our backs, students travel into the Sierra Nevada wilderness, learning navigation, campcraft, Leave No Trace principles, and the teamwork required to spend multiple days in the backcountry. Each day brings new challenges . . . . and spectacular rewards.

One of the highlights of our Yosemite experience is backpacking portions of the John Muir Trail. Stretching approximately 211 miles from Yosemite Valley to the summit of Mount Whitney, the JMT is one of America's most iconic long-distance trails. It passes through some of the most spectacular scenery in the Sierra Nevada, including granite peaks, alpine meadows, mountain passes, and pristine lakes.

For students, hiking the JMT isn't simply about covering miles. It's an opportunity to slow down and become immersed in the landscape. Days are measured by trail miles rather than schedules, and students learn to manage food, water, weather, navigation, and their own energy. The experience builds independence and resilience while creating a strong sense of community within the group.

The trail also provides a connection to John Muir, whose writing and advocacy helped inspire the creation of Yosemite National Park and the broader American conservation movement. Walking through the landscape he loved gives students a tangible connection to the history of wilderness preservation.For College of DuPage students, the John Muir Trail is more than a trail. It's a classroom that moves with every step.

08/28/2026

As America celebrates our nation's 250th Anniversary, we're celebrating one of our country's greatest treasures, our National Parks!

Today, we're featuring Yellowstone National Park.

Established in 1872 as the world's first national park, Yellowstone helped create an idea that would eventually spread around the globe: that extraordinary natural landscapes should be protected for everyone, forever. More than 150 years later, it remains one of the most remarkable places in the National Park System.

Yellowstone is an enormous outdoor classroom. We hike through forests, mountains, meadows, and geothermal landscapes while studying the incredible forces that continue to shape the park. From the iconic Old Faithful to bubbling mud pots, colorful hot springs, and steaming geysers, Yellowstone provides a firsthand lesson in geology and the volcanic forces beneath our feet.

One of the most fascinating aspects of Yellowstone is that its story extends far beyond its geothermal features. The park protects an incredibly intact ecosystem where students can observe bison, elk, pronghorn, wolves, grizzly bears, and other wildlife. Watching a herd of bison move across the landscape or hearing wolves communicate across a valley offers lessons in ecology that simply can't be replicated inside a classroom.

And while Yellowstone is spectacular in summer, winter transforms the park into an entirely different world.

With much of the park covered in snow, the landscape becomes quieter and more remote. We can explore by snowshoe and cross-country ski, watching bison use their massive heads to push through deep snow and looking for tracks left by wolves, foxes, otters, and other wildlife. The geothermal features become even more dramatic in the cold, with enormous clouds of steam rising from hot springs and geysers against a snowy backdrop.

08/27/2026

As America celebrates our nation's 250th Anniversary, we're celebrating one of our country's greatest treasures, our National Parks!

Today, we're featuring Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.

At more than 13 million acres, Wrangell-St. Elias is the largest national park in the United States, so large that Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the entire country of Switzerland could fit inside it. It is a landscape of staggering scale, where massive mountains, active volcanoes, glaciers, rivers, and remote wilderness come together in one of the wildest places in North America.

The park is home to nine of the 16 highest peaks in the United States, including Mount Saint Elias, the second-highest mountain in the country, and Mount Wrangell, one of the largest active volcanoes in North America. Students can see firsthand how volcanic activity, glaciers, and tectonic forces have combined to create this extraordinary landscape.

And then there are the glaciers. Wrangell-St. Elias contains one of the largest continuous expanses of non-polar ice in the world. The massive Bagley Icefield feeds numerous glaciers that flow through the mountains and valleys. Standing beside one of these immense rivers of ice provides students with a powerful lesson in glaciology and the forces that continue to reshape Alaska.

The park also preserves an important piece of Alaska's human history. The abandoned copper-mining town of Kennecott is one of the most fascinating historic sites in the park. Once the center of a booming copper operation, Kennecott's dramatic buildings and mining infrastructure tell the story of the people and industry that sought to extract resources from one of America's most remote landscapes.

08/26/2026

As America celebrates our nation's 250th Anniversary, we're celebrating one of our country's greatest treasures, our National Parks!

We're especially proud that College of DuPage has now brought students to every U.S. National Park, demonstrating that some of the best learning happens beyond the walls of a traditional classroom. From geology and biology to history, conservation, and outdoor leadership, our national parks are exceptional experiential classrooms, where every adventure offers an opportunity to learn by doing.

Today, we're featuring Wind Cave National Park.

Located beneath the Black Hills of South Dakota, Wind Cave protects one of the world's most complex and fascinating cave systems. It is famous for its unusual boxwork formations, delicate honeycomb-like patterns that are rarely found anywhere else. With more than 160 miles of explored passages, the cave offers students an incredible opportunity to learn about geology, groundwater, and the immense amount of time required to create these underground landscapes.

Exploring Wind Cave is an unforgettable experience. We descend underground to navigate the winding passages and marvel at formations created over millions of years. But what makes Wind Cave especially remarkable is that the adventure doesn't end when we come back above ground.

In fact, the surface of Wind Cave National Park is every bit as compelling as what lies beneath it. The park protects one of the finest remaining examples of mixed-grass prairie and ponderosa pine forest in the Black Hills. Students hike through this remarkably diverse landscape while looking for bison, elk, pronghorn, mule deer, coyotes, and prairie dogs.

The contrast is incredible: beneath our feet is a dark, intricate world carved into the limestone, while above us stretches a vast landscape of rolling prairie, forests, and open skies. It's almost like visiting two national parks in one!

08/25/2026

As America celebrates our nation's 250th Anniversary, we're celebrating one of our country's greatest treasures, our National Parks!

We're especially proud that College of DuPage has now brought students to every U.S. National Park, demonstrating that some of the best learning happens beyond the walls of a traditional classroom. From geology and ecology to astronomy and outdoor leadership, our national parks are exceptional experiential classrooms, where every landscape offers an opportunity to learn by doing.

Today, we're featuring White Sands National Park.

There may be no national park that looks quite like White Sands. Stretching across southern New Mexico, this enormous field of brilliant white dunes seems almost otherworldly. But these aren't ordinary sand dunes, they are made of gypsum, a mineral rarely found in the form of sand. The result is one of the most unique landscapes in the entire National Park System.

For our students, White Sands is an extraordinary outdoor classroom. We hike across the dunes, climbing ridges and exploring a landscape that is constantly changing as wind reshapes the gypsum sand. Unlike many desert environments, the dunes are remarkably cool to the touch because gypsum reflects much of the sun's energy.

White Sands is also a fascinating ecological classroom. Despite the seemingly harsh environment, plants and animals have adapted to survive in the dunes. Students can look for specially adapted species, including the park's famous white animals, whose coloration helps them blend into their surroundings. The park provides a remarkable lesson in natural selection and adaptation

Address

425 Fawell Boulevard
Glen Ellyn, IL
60137

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 4:30pm
Tuesday	8am - 4:30pm
Wednesday	8am - 4:30pm
Thursday	8am - 4:30pm
Friday	8am - 4:30pm

Telephone

(630)9422356

Website

https://cod.edu/field

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