Students Share Their Academic Learning Experience in Taos  

 

 

 

The Doel Reed Center in Taos extends the reach of OSU by offering multidisciplinary programs in teaching, research, and outreach focused on the arts and culture of the Southwest United States. Students enrolled in Academic Credit courses have a study abroad experience, in which they study and live an exceptional cultural and artistic experience in northern New Mexico.

 

Kaila Lancaster and Courtney Lund enrolled in a creative writing class in Summer 2019. Kaila described her learning experience as a writing retreat or a writing residency, “the course’s instructor, crafted a meticulous itinerary in which almost every day we visited museums, historical sites, national monuments, and more so that we could immerse ourselves in New Mexico’s history, cultures, and landscapes in order to inform our essays for the class. Even on a day off, she organized a voluntary hiking trip, a trip some of us took with writer and naturalist Susan J. Tweit. That Saturday morning is a trek I’ll always cherish, as it was my first “real” hike.”

 

Courtney Lund recommends the Doel Reed Center for any student looking to take an easy drive out west from Oklahoma to the “Land of Enchantment.” “Each day we met at the center to host enriching discussions and to share our work, inspired by the surrounding landscape. We traveled around Taos, too, to best immerse ourselves in the culture, history, and arts.” 

 

Kaila considers that her experience in Taos was one of the highlights of her MFA, “now, as a Ph.D. student at Oklahoma State, I hope to return and recreate some of the magic I felt on that first trip.” Courtney would like to come back to New Mexico, “perhaps the most beautiful component about staying in Taos for that summer class was the Sangre De Cristo Mountains. They seem to be peeking above all the terrain, a watchful eye.”

 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the national and State of New Mexico recommendations in response to the pandemic, the center canceled the Academic Credit courses scheduled for Summer 2020. Fortunately, the center is now tentatively planning to resume its Summer program by offering two Academic Credit courses on July 5 – 16.