Real life unfolds within various communities: family, workmates, friends. Being part of a community gives us a sense of belonging. Why shouldn’t your university experience feel the same way?
Immersive, collegial and inspiring: that’s the Land One experience. You’ll spend two terms with a familiar group of peers — only about 60 of them — exploring the fast-growing field where our land, forests and food systems intersect. With five profs, you’ll enjoy a better student-teacher ratio than you knew in high school. You’ll take your classes in the same place so you’re not racing across campus to the next lecture hall. And you’ll have a dedicated space just for Land One students to hang out, read, study, snack or snooze. Through it all, you’ll share experiences and laughs with a group of people who share similar goals, and who want to do good work — just like you. Plus, there is no additional tuition or other fees involved.
Top Five Reasons to Choose Land One
1. A Sense of Community
Real life unfolds within communities: family, workmates, friends. Being part of a community gives us a sense of belonging. Why shouldn’t your university experience feel the same way? In Land One, you’ll work and learn in a collaborative environment within a small cohort of 50-60 students, and get to know your profs in a way other first-year students can’t. The Land One cohort option eases your transition to university and builds a strong connection to your home faculty through the relationships you’ll develop with your peers and instructors. And in today’s world, we all know that strong relationships carry you further, faster.
2. Experiential Learning
Hands-on experiences lock in learning. (You’ve understood this since the first time you burned your finger on the stove.) So we’ve gathered up as many rich learning opportunities as we can, layering guest speakers and field trips into your year. You’ll learn in the Museum of Anthropology and in the Malcolm Knapp Research Forest. You’ll meet professionals who work in your field. And of course, you’ll get your hands dirty — literally — on the UBC Farm.
3. Personalized Guidance
Learning in a smaller group lets you get to know your instructors as people. Having personal relationships with experienced educators means you can tap support when and where you need it. Land One is more reflective of how the working world operates, where you’re able to reach out to someone in your network for ideas and guidance. We think school should be that way, too.
4. Preparation for Later Years
Forestry & land and food system issues are complex, demanding critical thinking, collaboration, initiative and problem-solving. Land One prepares you well. You’ll enter your second year with a greater sense of confidence and purpose, equipped with the competencies you need to excel. An added bonus: studies suggest that students who learn in cohorts during their first year at university do better overall in their second, third and final years. That’s a pretty sweet deal.
5. Relevant, Real-World Content
In Land One, you’ll take your core courses in math, biology, economics and communications in an integrated format, where you get to explore complex issues related to food security, climate change, sustainability and land use through a coordinated curriculum. Your profs will bring the content to life using relevant examples from forestry & land and food systems, and you’ll interpret it using real-world cases from both Indigenous and Western perspectives. And all of it will be directly relevant to your degree.