The study abroad australia program at the Castle Rock Institute aims to create a balanced and meaningful academic experience for college students. It sponsors a semester-long Australia and North Carolina study program for college students that combines a range of exciting outdoor adventure activities and unviersity courses in the Humanities. This is a unique study abroad program in Australia that awards college credit in the Humanities.

Off Campus Programs

The Castle Rock Institute is an off-campus, wilderness-based center for the Humanities affiliated with Brevard College (a liberal arts college in western North Carolina). Each semester it seeks applications from college students from the United States to live, travel, study abroad and experience the outdoors together. With a base camp set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, and through its study abroad australia expedition, the Institute aims to enliven the study of the Humanities both through focused interdisciplinary classwork, through organized group wilderness activities, and attention to community living.

College Life

The study abroad australia program at the Institute encourages interdisciplinary thought and experimentation by focusing each semester on a particular issue, idea or theme drawn from the Humanities. This theme serves as the main topic of discussion and area of research for the expedition participants. It's a great experience to be in class and know that your thoughts about what you're discussing relates to another class will be appreciated by the other students in class. There's no better way to learn. Real learning, in the best sense of the word awaits Castle Rock Institute students. This program really makes a difference to them in the long run.

Academic Work in Australia

All students enroll in four courses taught at Castle Rock by Institute Senior Fellows. Each course meets regularly throughout the program and awards four hours of college credit. Students also spend several full and half days per week participating in small group activities like rock climbing, backpacking, and paddling. The Institute strives to balance and integrate scholarship and adventure, and believes that doing so can realize significant benefits for both.

Humanities

Different from the historical approach of most college Humanities programs, the curriculum at the Castle Rock Institute is organized thematically. Instead of sweeping through a series of "great books," all of the courses offered during each semester at the Institute address a single issue, idea or theme drawn from the Humanities at large. Accordingly, each class considers how insights offered by the other disciplines contribute to an understanding of the theme at hand.

As a complement to its academic mission, the Castle Rock Institute organizes for its student residents a variety of wilderness adventure activities.

This expedition is a serious adventure through the most remote and scenic areas of the continent. A faculty member leads the group as they travel along by-ways tourists rarely find.