Wheaton in Chicago

Wheaton in Chicago aims to be deeply experiential as students spend time at internships in the city, go on community visits and explore the local area, take field trips in the city and learning trips across the country, learn in service during Woodlawn Wednesdays, and engage with non-profit leaders. Students also become rooted in Woodlawn during their semester through day-to-day activities such as grocery shopping, going to local gyms, daily commutes on public transit, and attendance at local churches.

• There is a long history of robust community within Wheaton in Chicago cohorts. Within the cohort internally this happens through community dinners, community-building activities, semi-regular events, and mentorship by residential staff. Externally, community is practiced through mindfulness as neighbors of residents in Woodlawn, long-term programmatic relationships with local organizations, academic activities that support the work of local organizations, and semi-regular advisory sessions with community advisory boards
• Internally
  • Community dinners
  • Robust community-building activities within the cohort
  • Semi-regular campus events
  • Residential staff
• Externally
  • Being good neighbors
  • Long-term programmatic relationships with local organizations
  • Academic activities that support the work of local organizations
  • Semi-regular advisory sessions with community advisory board

• Learning Frameworks (Learning / Internal)
  • Courses that highlight social justice as an academic and spiritual commitment
  • Support programs on campus that promote deeper engagement with social and racial justice issues
  • Cultivating a spiritual groundedness in justice through co-curricular activities
  • Particular emphasis on racial justice given context in Woodlawn
• Organizational Practices (Doing / External)
  • Meeting with justice-oriented organizations
  • Fiscal policies that invest in local organizations and businesses owned by women and/or persons of color
  • Mentoring opportunities focusing on individual identity formation around racial justice issues

• Courses that study the city through multidisciplinary lenses (art, theology, sociology, economics)
• Welcoming students from every department and major on campus
• Incorporating coursework that integrates with non-urban studies degree programs
• Meeting with a wide variety of organizations across the professional spectrum
• Opportunities to debrief field experiences in conversation within the cohort