Immersion Experiences

Different from service learning or volunteer work, community and civic engagement require ongoing and intentional interactions between the student and the people or entity that are central to their Immersion experience.

Undergraduate community engagement experiences and culminating projects must be overseen by a Vanderbilt University faculty member. Advisers in Immersion Vanderbilt can help students find a faculty mentor and decide what kind of engagement they may want to pursue. 

• Through civic engagement that lasts at least a semester in duration, students benefit a community or region through direct or indirect work. Examples include voter registration, advocacy and education, and political involvement.
• Community engagement involves direct or indirect work with an entity or group that provides a service or product to a group or community.

Civic and Community Engagement at Vanderbilt is supported by many partner offices, including but not limited to:

• Government and Community Relations
• Student Organizations, Leadership, and Service (SOLS)
• Career Center
• Black Cultural Center
• Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center
• The K.C. Potter Center

Students pursuing innovation, arts, and design may want to develop the next life-changing app, find a groundbreaking solution to a global problem, direct a play, create a work of art, or write a best-selling novel. The experience should last at least a semester in duration and can be mentored by a VU faculty or staff member.

Innovation, arts, and design at Vanderbilt is supported by many partner offices and academic departments, including but not limited to:

• The Wond’ry Center for Innovation & Design
• The Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, & Public Policy
• Blair School of Music
• Department of Art
• Theatre Department
• Cinema and Media Arts
• Vanderbilt Libraries
• Student Media

Both paid and unpaid internships are invaluable opportunities for students to gain research or work experience, grow their knowledge of the profession and themselves, build professional connections, and ultimately determine if the field is right for them. Students who complete an internship often have a competitive edge in the workplace.

To count as an Immersion experience, internships must last for a minimum of 8 weeks over the summer or a semester during the academic year.

Undergraduate students are encouraged to learn about their options and opportunities by scheduling a coaching appointment with an expert in the Career Center!

Please note: shadowing or other primarily observatory practices may not qualify as an Immersion experience.

Leadership and professional development experiences provides students with opportunities to practice critical skills in leadership and team building, identify the qualities, behaviors, values, and standards of a specific profession, and effectively adjust to existing experiences and situations.  

To count as an Immersion experience, the student should be engaged in the opportunity for at least a semester. If the program is not a full semester in length, then students should connect previous experiences, trainings, or courses to demonstrate preparedness for the current proposed experience. Examples of leadership and professional development experiences include pre-professional training, project development and management, and formalized leader training or certifications. Skill students develop in this pathway can include:

• Giving and receiving feedback 
• Leading diverse teams 
• Managing challenging situations 
• Allocating resources 
• Navigating constraints 

Please note: shadowing or other primarily observatory practices may not qualify as an immersive experience.  

Undergraduate research can take place in any discipline and can occur on campus, in the field, abroad, or at another institution. Opportunities include faculty-directed or mentored bench science, fieldwork, data science, literature review, creative arts-based research, technology research, etc.  Please note: shadowing or other primarily observatory practices do not qualify as a research experience.   

Faculty Mentors

Undergraduate research experiences and culminating projects must be overseen by a Vanderbilt University faculty member. Advisers in Immersion Vanderbilt can help students with a plan to find research mentors and decide what kind of undergraduate research they may want to pursue. Students should work with their faculty adviser to determine if their proposed research requires approval by the Institutional Review Board.  

Culminating Projects 

Students who conduct undergraduate research can choose to present at one of the Vanderbilt University Undergraduate Research Symposia as their culminating project.  

Helpful Links for Students Considering the Research Pathway: 

• The Office of Undergraduate Research
• The Vanderbilt Undergraduate Summer Research Program is a popular way to complete an Immersive Experience within the Research Pathway. 
• Research within the Vanderbilt School of Medicine must follow a specific workflow. 
• Vanderbilt’s Human Research Protection Program and definition of Human Subjects Research. 

Students who choose study abroad as an Immersion experience travel beyond Vanderbilt to deepen their skills, enhance their knowledge, expand their horizons, and increase their sense of independence and self-confidence. Whether studying abroad on programs or through independent opportunities, students develop professionally and academically, interculturally, and personally. Some possible ways to engage include:

• Fully immerse in Spanish in Seville, Santiago, Buenos Aires, and more
• Compare European and US medical systems in Copenhagen or France
• Investigate climate change and its effects in Patagonia and Antarctica
• Excavate the Roman seaport at Caesaerea, Israel, as part of a Maymester course
• Study mechanical engineering in Torino, Italy, center of Italy's automotive industry

Visit Vanderbilt's Study Abroad staff in the Global Opportunities office for information about the programs offered through the university. The Immersion team can help plan your experience and ideate about project ideas before you go, while you are abroad, and upon your return to campus.