Immersive Experiences

The immersive experience component of Immersion Vanderbilt is designed to complement your academic journey with practical, engaging opportunities that will enrich your learning and prepare you for future success. Your immersive experience is your opportunity to explore, innovate, and connect with real-world challenges and opportunities. 

Savannah Childress, '23 – Civic and Community Engagement

Experience Formats

Immersive experiences offer you the chance to step beyond the classroom and engage deeply with your field of study. Students are encouraged to pursue multiple immersive experiences during their academic career. Experiences completed through tagged classes, pre-approved programs, and faculty and staff led cohorts appear on the Immersion Vanderbilt tab located in students' academic records in YES. Independent experiences are added to YES through student submission of the Independent Experience Form. 

Immersive experiences can be completed within or outside of your home school/college in a few different ways:

  • Part of a pre-approved program of study or tagged class 
  • Part of a Vanderbilt-approved study abroad program or part of a cohort run by Vanderbilt faculty and staff
  • Independent experience outside of other programs (i.e. an internship, research, independent international opportunity, or community/civic engagement work)

Find Experiences

Login to Handshake to browse available opportunities for independent experiences.

Browse Pre-Approved Programs & Classes

See which majors, minors, and programs of study are pre-approved immersive experiences or culminating projects.

Submit Immersion Vanderbilt Forms

Depending on the format or funding of your immersive experience, you may be required to submit one or more forms.

Explore Immersion Vanderbilt Success Stories

Get inspiration from and see the impact of past students’ Immersion Vanderbilt experiences and projects.

Immersive Experience Pathways

  • Study Abroad

    Students who choose study abroad for their immersive experience will 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 other 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
  • Innovation, Arts, and Design

    Students pursuing innovation, arts, and design may want to develop the next life-changing phone application, find a groundbreaking solution to a global problem, direct a play, create a work of art, or write a best-selling novel. 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
  • Research Opportunities

    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 may not qualify as an immersive experience.   

    Faculty Mentors

    Undergraduate research experience and culminating projects must be overseen by a Vanderbilt University faculty member. Advisers in the EL&IV 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 advisor to determine if their proposed research requires approval by the Institutional Review Board.  

    Culminating Projects 

    Students who conduct undergraduate research present at one of the Vanderbilt University Undergraduate Research Fairs as their culminating project.  

    Helpful Links for Students Considering the Research Pathway: 

  • Internships

    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.

    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 immersive experience.

  • Civic and Community Engagement

    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 immersive experience.

    • Through civic engagement, 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:

  • Leadership and Professional Development

    Leadership and professional development training 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.  

    Pre-professional training, project development and management, and formalized leader training or certifications: 

    • 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.  

Have Questions?

Schedule an appointment with Immersion Vanderbilt.