Introduction
As an optional supplement to the First-Year Cornerstone course, the Freshman Leadership Academy program offers a select group of 15-20 potential Cornerstone students the chance to follow the journey that Isabel Wilkerson narrates in her novel, The Warmth of Other Suns, this year’s common read for the Cornerstone course. This 10-day, 2-credit summer study tour program will take place July 30 through August 8 (tentative).
Led by Dr. Yolanda Hood, this optional study tour (separate from the First-Year Cornerstone course) will lead students on a route of the Great Migration from the rural towns in Mississippi and Tennessee to Chicago and Waterloo.
Program City
Faculty Leader
Dr. Yolanda Hood is an Associate Professor, Cornerstone faculty member and librarian at the UNI Rod Library. She has worked with first-year programs, taught American and African American Literature and Folklore and worked with museums and various cultural organizations across the United States for 13 years. She has traveled with students on Anthropology and Folklore trips to Washington, D.C. and on Jazz and Blues study tours throughout the south.
Academic Program
This optional course will enrich and intensify the Freshman Cornerstone common read experience. The common read, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration (2010), offers a unique opportunity to explore American history through an interdisciplinary lens. Students will travel a route from parts of the historically rural south, moving towards the popular northern urban centers of the Great Migration.
What topics will students explore in the program?
- The causes and patterns for the migration of African-Americans from the south of the United States to the north;
- The new political, social, and cultural ideals that arose as a result of the Great Migration;
- The impact of migration patterns on what we know as northern/southern/urban culture today.
What will the students be expected to do?
- Explore this history through multi-disciplinary literature, art, and music;
- Visit important historical sites and interact with primary sources that will enlighten their worldviews and engage their critical thinking;
- Attend lectures and participate in class discussions;
- Contribute to a class documentary blog.
What will students gain through this program?
- The ability to contextualize history;
- Enhanced critical reading and analysis skills;
- Improved writing and oral communication skills;
- An experience to strengthen their resumes;
- A deepened sense of independence;
- Meaningful relations with a faculty member and other peer leaders;
- New friends;
- Valuable and unique leadership experience.
Accommodation & Meals
Students will stay in hotels, hostels and dormitories paid for in advance. Some breakfasts, lunches and dinners will be included in the program cost. All meals not included in the program cost are considered within personal expenses. Arrangements will be made by the UNI Study Abroad Center.
Application Materials
- Apply online at www.uni.edu/studyabroad as UNI Students; Search for "Freshman Leadership Academy"
- Send $65 application fee by check made payable to “UNI” to 28 Gilchrist Hall, Cedar Falls, IA, 50614;
- Register for Cornerstone course at Freshman Orientation;
- Check your emails for important trip details!
Program Cost
Participants in this program may also use their UNI financial aid to help pay for the program.
The estimated cost of the program is $2000-2500, including:
- Application fee = $65
- Academic program fee = $730
- Program expenses (housing, group meals, ground transportation, entrance fees) = $950
- Domestic airfare from Waterloo/Des Moines = $350
- Estimated personal expenses = $200
Scholarship assistance is available to applicants. To apply, please follow the link to the UNI Study Abroad Center Scholarship. Application for the scholarship must be done after the student has submitted his/her application online and paid the application fee. Due to the nature of this program, recommendation forms for the scholarship may be completed by a high school teacher or counselor or employer.
Tales From Abroad
Be the first to tell your tale of the Freshman Leadership Academy!
