Ohio University Pepsi Scholars work in the garden.
Step Beyond The Bricks Bobcats

Place Based Programs & Resources

Place-Based Programs & Events

Place-Based experiences and programs can happen anywhere! From within the local community, on campus, to off-campus site visits. Whether you are exploring  green spaces, college museums, performing arts centers, non-profits, or local businesses.

  • Fall 2026 Leading for a Cause Retreats

    In partnership with the The Center for Student Engagement and Leadership. Take a deeper step into what it means to explore a place, as you explore the Athens, or Columbus community. On these experience you will engage with professionals across disciplines, reflect on what it means to lead for a cause, and discover what place means in community, while you consider possible futures that you might help to create.

    These experiences are free, and each retreat has space for up to 22 students. 

    Leading for a Cause: Columbus Retreat

    Leading for a cause: Athens Retreat

      

    Saturday, September 12th at 9am through Sunday, September 13th at 3pm

    We will visit a variety of sites across Columbus where organizations and individuals are Leading for a Cause, including for-profits, NGOs, and municipal (city) sites. Registered students will receive information about how to prepare, will be engaged throughout the day with activities to promote critical thinking, and will complete independent reflections on their experience afterwards. 

    *Register by August 14st for areas of interest to influence sites; registration closes September 4th.

    All expenses paid - $350 value, FREE!

    Open to any year or major.

    Register Here

    Friday, October 2nd, 9am-7pm

    We will visit local organizations in Athens that are Leading for a Cause, and conclude with dinner and information about an Athens classic - Casa Nueva! Registered students will receive information about how to prepare, will be engaged throughout the day with activities to promote critical thinking, and will complete independent reflections on their experience afterwards. 

    *Register by September 25th for areas of interest to influence sites; registration closes September 25th.

    Lunch & dinner included; all expenses paid - $200 value, FREE!

    Open to any year or major.

    Register Here

Discover Place on Campus

Meet some of the campus units that connect OHIO & Its region

Ohio University Libraries

Mahn Center for Archives & Special Collections

Archives & Special Collections collects, preserves, and makes available primary source resources for a variety of experiential learning opportunities. Across the collecting areas: Ohio University Archives, Rare Books, Manuscript Collections, and the Documentary Photography Archive, we provide primary source and visual literacy instruction focused on encouraging critical thinking and inquiry through hands-on engagement with original materials and through supportive group discussions. Opportunities exist for topic or theme specific sessions or general introductions to archival and special collections materials, behind-the-scenes tours, or workshops (zine-making, cursive, artists’ books, etc.). We also welcome your ideas! Learn more on the OHIO Archives Blog (most posts by OHIO students), the Digital Archives, and through digital exhibits.

Contact Information:

Miriam Intrator, Head of Archives & Special Collections and Rare Book Librarian, intrator@ohio.edu 

Patton College of Education

Stevens Center for Literacy and STEM Education

The mission of the Stevens Center for Literacy and STEM Education is to advance the fields of literacy and STEM Education through research, teaching, and outreach collaboratives. The Stevens Center seeks to create more innovative, responsive, and inclusive literacy and STEM learning opportunities for individuals across the lifespan. Green STEM Camp, a unique summer program offered through The Patton College of Education's Stevens Center for Literacy and STEM Education, is designed to educate and empower children and youth ages 7-11 about environmental conservation and climate change.

College of Arts and Sciences

OHIO Student Farm

The OHIO Student Farm features student gardens, a tunnel for year-round growing, and field plots. The farm is located at 338 W. State St., Athens, OH 45701. The facility encompasses approximately two acres of planted space, mostly vegetables, and some small grains. The garden also has a variety of perennials, including grapes, hops, rhubarb, blueberries, strawberries, horseradish, and of course, lots of bamboo. Herbs and a selection of medicinal plants and planted for teaching use.

The high tunnel is 30 feet wide and 96 feet long, with approximately 3,000 square feet. The tunnel enables student to raise lettuce, broccoli, onions, cauliflower, peas and beets in the cooler months, and then follow in the warmer months with peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers and seed crop broccoli.

In the OHIO Student Farm, students and faculty do both a spring-summer garden plan and an extensive fall garden as well.

In addition to classes that specifically use the garden as a resource, it also is used as a destination for learning communities, such as UC 1900. And it is a place where students can fulfill community service hours, if they choose to do so.

For more information, contact Dr. David Rosenthal.

OHIO

Kennedy Museum of Art

The Kennedy Museum of Art is an integral part of the educational, research, and public service missions of Ohio University. The purpose of the Kennedy Museum of Art is to enhance the intellectual and cultural life of Ohio University and the region through quality national and international exhibitions, collection-based research, and diverse formal and informal learning opportunities. The Kennedy Museum of Art exercises its public trust by focusing its collections on those works of art that it has the resources and capabilities to house, preserve, study and exhibit.

As an academic museum with a teaching mission, the Museum provides Ohio University students, faculty and staff, as well as the greater community, with engaging and thought provoking encounters. Exhibitions, programs and events are designed to acknowledge that art is best experienced when presented in a contextual and interdisciplinary environment. To that end, the Museum serves as a learning laboratory for Ohio University, community schools and visitors.