Tulane's service-learning requirement offers a chance to step beyond the classroom and put theory to practice, whether locally or globally. This summer, students in the School of Liberal Arts are getting that chance in locations from Houma to the Himalayas. At home, New Orleans becomes an incubator for learning, where faculty and students collaborate with local community organizations and nonprofits on current initiatives, experiencing the city’s cultural density, resilience, and creativity. Abroad, Tulanians link liberal arts learning and the global humanities to complex and consequential places.
New Orleans and Surrounding Region
Presidential Campaign Communications with New Orleans’ Power Coalition
COMM-3820
Senior Professor of Practice Aidan Smith leads this course through a partnership with the Power Coalition, a group dedicated to promoting civic engagement across Louisiana. Supporting the coalition’s goal to empower and encourage active participation in democracy — while fostering professional communication skills and learning the ins and outs of grassroots civic organizations — students participate in voter turnout canvassing and phone banking, leading up to Louisiana’s primary election on May 16, 2026.
Register Now!
Environmental & Social Justice in NOLA
EVST-4210
In the Gulf South, environmental issues are inseparable from questions of equity. Through a combination of classroom learning and fieldwork, students in Senior Professor of Practice Chris Oliver’s Environmental Studies course engage with real-world environmental justice issues in Greater New Orleans. The course offers a firsthand opportunity to better understand how policy and socioeconomic factors drive unequal ecological impacts in the United States. Through guest speakers and hands-on work with local organizations, students gain practical research skills and critical frameworks for analyzing and addressing these inequities.
Register Now!
Race, Nature, & Disaster
EVST-3950
This New Orleans-based Environmental Studies course asks students to examine how race, politics, and environmental crises collide to shape vulnerability. Combining environmental justice, public health, and medical ethics, Senior Professor of Practice Clare Daniel adds an interdisciplinary exploration of epidemics — from cholera in Haiti to COVID-19 — to show how social policy and global systems create disproportionate risk for marginalized communities. Through the development of educational resources, rebuilding damaged houses, packing infant feeding kits, and research, students consider the nature/humanity divide and its impact on science, policy, and disaster response.
Register Now!
Disability Justice & Healthcare
GESS-2190
This interdisciplinary course engages students interested in gender studies, public health, and media ethics. Senior Professor of Practice Krystal Cleary brings together academic scholarship, memoir, media, and guest lectures in order to approach healthcare through the lens of disability as culture, civil rights, and lived experience. Students will get hands-on experience by working with the New Orleans Advocates for LGBTQ+ Elders (NOAGE) to expand their resource guide and plan an in-person event. They will work to implement Disability Studies and Disability Justice frameworks that examine intersections with race, gender, sexuality, and class.
Register Now!
Tunica, Louisiana's Sleeping Language
LING-3000
Since 2010, Professor Judith Maxwell, director of Tulane's Native American & Indigenous Studies program, has been leading collaborative teams of students and members of the Tunica-Biloxi Language and Culture Revitalization Program (LCRP), to “wake” a sleeping Native language whose last fluent speaker died more than 50 years ago. Students will work to promote, engage, and produce educational resources as part of a decades-long effort to revive Tunica. The two-week immersive linguistics course is a unique opportunity for hands-on cultural engagement while contributing to a living legacy. Students spend one week on campus learning the history and methods behind saving endangered languages before heading to the Tunica-Biloxi Reservation in Marksville, LA, to work alongside tribal members on their language revitalization effort.
Register Now!
The Policy-Making Research Shop
POLA-4110
This popular course returns for another summer of hands-on opportunity. Director of the US Public Policy Program, Associate Professor Brian Brox, partners with the City of New Orleans, connecting students directly with city leaders to tackle pressing local issues. Coursework includes researching real policy challenges, crafting professional briefs, and presenting findings at city council meetings and other official forums — giving students practical experience while making a tangible impact in their community.
Register Now!
Non Profit Development in New Orleans
SLAM-3070
Leslie Scott, associate dean of Performing Arts at Tulane, partners with various organizations in the New Orleans area so students can explore the unique challenges and opportunities of art-centered non-profit organizations. From leadership and governance to marketing, fundraising, and financial management, the course blends guest lectures, case studies, and hands-on projects, helping Strategy, Leadership, and Analytics Minors (SLAM) — and other philanthropy-curious students — develop practical tools, create a management philosophy, and learn how to advocate for a cause in today’s evolving cultural landscape.
Register Now!
Shakespeare on the Road
THEA-3710
Shakespeare goes on tour in the New Orleans area as Associate Professor, actor, and writer/director Jenny Mercein, working in partnership with Upturn Arts, guides students through the process of creating, rehearsing, and performing a piece of theatre that reimagines Shakespeare for contemporary audiences. After rehearsals, the cast takes their work on the road, bringing live performances to local middle and high schools.
Register Now!
Out in the World
Philosophies of Nonviolence & Ecology in the Himalayas
PHIL-3930
For more than a decade, Philosophy students have spent five weeks studying Tibetan and North Indian philosophy, religion, culture, and ecology in Dharamshala, India, as part of the Tulane Himalayan Experience Program. Guided by Department of Philosophy Adjunct Professor Michael Smith, and alongside guest scholars, activists, and spiritual leaders, students visit historical sites such as the Taj Mahal and the Dalai Lama’s temple, while also engaging with local schoolchildren, the Tibetan refugee community, and members of an organic farm.
Learn More
Social Change, Sustainability, and Postcolonial Identity in the Caribbean
ANTH-3550
Anthropology students will travel to the small binational island of St. Martin for a rigorous, immersive experience with an opportunity for meaningful community engagement. By partnering with the organization 4 Real We Agree With Culture — a nonprofit run by a group of Rastafari elders — students will gain firsthand exposure to efforts by locals to create alternatives from dependency on tourism and imported goods. These efforts include cultivating the soil, reintroducing local plant species, educating youth, and fostering adult training and employment.
Learn More
Beyond Paradise: Leadership + Sustainability in The Bahamas
SLAM-3911
Students head to the Bahamian family islands of Eleuthera and Spanish Wells, as well as the capital city of Nassau on New Providence, to explore the realities behind “paradise.” Led by Professor of Practice Jolene Pinder, students examine leadership, sustainability, and culture across sectors including tourism, agriculture, and entrepreneurship. Through hands-on projects with the One Eleuthera Foundation, a Bahamian-led nonprofit advancing sustainable community development, students apply analytical tools while contributing to locally driven initiatives.
Learn More
Many of these opportunities are still available to students looking for ways to make their summer count. All service-learning courses listed here offer credit and fulfill the curricular requirement for graduation.