It takes
about four hours from the Azusa campus parking lot to the Emerald
Cove mess hall. In those four hours, students are transported from
a traditional college setting to a rustic environment more John
Muir than John College Student.
Ponderosa pines
and incense cedar surround the campus (it is actually a summer camp;
APU leases the facilities nine months of the year), a stone’s
throw from Bass
Lake, California, and the front door to Yosemite
National Park.
It is in this
Sierra Nevada-locale where about 50 students spend three months
as participants in the High
Sierra Program, a rigorous academic adventure based on the great
works of art, literature, world civilization, philosophy, and church
history. Three faculty members live on the grounds with the students,
engaging them in an integrated core studies program, investigating
primary texts in several disciplines in relationship to each other.
Students meet general studies requirements while in the program.
“Removed from
the distraction of city life, High Sierra
Program students are able to give their best attention to the ideas
they study,” said Jody Godoy ’05, a charter member of
the program. “The way classes are held as small discussion
groups encourages individual thought and scholarly excellence. Students
are able to develop close relationships with faculty, as they live
very nearby the students.”
A total of 90 students have
participated in the program since its
inception in fall 2001, with nearly 50 more ready to head for the
hills in 2003.
|
 |
|
|
Throughout
summer 2002, APU’s Office of World Missions sent 21
teams to the ends of the Earth on short-term missions trips.
More than 200 students, faculty, and staff traveled to Africa,
Asia, Europe, South America, and the United States conducting
work projects, vacation Bible school, street evangelism, and
much more.
Terence Cannings, Ed.D., was named the new dean of the School
of Education and Behavioral Studies. Cannings comes to
APU from Pepperdine University where he served as associate
dean and professor of education at their Graduate School of
Education and Psychology.
The
School
of Music’s handbell choir traveled to Armenia for
an eight-day concert tour of the Eastern European nation.
The choir performed eight times while in Armenia.
|
|
|
