Winter Term

Winter Term is the time between the end of winter break and the beginning of the spring semester, i.e. the month of January, when students are expected to do a full-credit project taking 5-6 hours a day, or two half-credit projects, each taking about 3 hours a day. Students must complete the equivalent of three full-credit projects to graduate. Categories include academic, field experience, and personal growth. The first two are self-explanatory; the last can be pretty much anything you can get your sponsor to approve, including walking around Europe. Therefore only one of your projects can be in the personal growth category. Projects can be individual or group, held on campus or off.

[edit] Famous Projects

In 1980, the project titled "Reliving the Fugitive's Life" saw nine students reenacting a slave escape on the Underground Railroad: "Eight became slaves, and one acted as an advance man, explaining the project and trying to find accommodations in the town just ahead. They dressed in calico and burlap clothing similar to that of slaves and ate a slave diet of grits, yams, and oatmeal. They slept in barns, slogged on foot through blinding blizzards, and endured subfreezing temperatures on their 33-day, 420-mile trek from Greensburg, Kentucky, to Oberlin." (source: "Reliving the Fugitive's Life (1980)", a Discover Oberlin segment on Oberlin Online, 24 Dec 2004) (also read the article Looking Back to See Ahead: Panelists Discuss Keeping African American History Alive from the Oberlin Alumni Magazine.)