Dear Professor Checker and Professor Bird, Good afternoon! My name is Laura Marcus, and I am executive director of the Arete Project<http://www.areteproject.org/>, a small nonprofit that runs summer programs for college students integrating experiential education with the liberal arts and sciences. I'm writing to you in hopes that some of your undergraduates in the Queens College environmental studies major might be interested in one of our upcoming programs. The Arete Project will be running a course in southeast Alaska this coming summer, based at Inian Islands Institute<http://inianislandsinstitute.org/>, near Glacier Bay National Park. While we admit students from all over the country, we are reserving two fully-funded spots for students enrolled in the CUNY system. Students will spend the program exploring the guiding question: how do human beings define their relationship to the natural world? We will consider the answers to this question that have been offered by many different schools of thought and academic disciplines: conservationists, subsistence practitioners, Indigenous communities, and scientists, to name only a few. The Glacier Bay Session<http://www.areteproject.org/the-glacier-bay-session>, as the program is called, will run for four weeks, from July 17th-August 13th, and is structured around the "three pillars" of our educational model: academic work in the liberal arts and sciences, physical labor performed in service of campus and land, and student self-governance over their own community. A prospectus with further details is attached. Financial aid for students is generous. All students automatically receive a scholarship covering tuition, room, board, and travel within Alaska, as well as a $500 stipend. (We are currently investigating the possibility of offering course credit, in which case we may offer students the option between the stipend or three credits.) We hope that these resources will make the course a possibility for students from all backgrounds - especially those who might not otherwise be able to devote the time to such a program. Given the nature of the course, I hope this opportunity will be of interest to your students. The application deadline is February 10th, but given the short amount of time left, we could arrange an extension for any of your students who would like to apply. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions. ? Best regards, Laura Marcus -- Laura Marcus Executive Director, Arete Project laura@areteproject.org<mailto:laura@areteproject.org> www.areteproject.org<http://www.areteproject.org/>