This course asks students to encounter Maryland as a plural society. Focused on six core themes--agriculture, ecosystems, history, politics, culture, and industry--students will examine the challenges and opportunities facing the next generation of Maryland leaders. Combining classroom time with a seven-day study-away experience, this course offers experiential activities, such as site visits and meetings with leaders across industries, that allow students to explore pressing questions related to disappearing industries, reskilling labor forces, preserving cultural heritage communities, distressed infrastructure, and more. Together, students will traverse the urban-rural divide as they move from the coal valleys and timber forests of Western Maryland, through the urban and suburban cityscapes of the Baltimore-Washington corridor, across the ecosystems of the Chesapeake Bay, and to the agriculture and tourism of the Eastern shore.

Experiential learning at the Maryland General Assembly (early January through early April). Interns participate in standard office tasks, research legislative issues, and draft legislative texts such as constituent letters, notes on bills, newsletters, policy memos, and testimony. Specific assignments vary according to the host legislator's needs and the intern's schedule.