Special Programs
Experience the world! At Chatham Hall students enjoy travel opportunities and prominent guest speakers, as well as an independent study program that offers valuable one-on-one research and discovery with a faculty mentor.
Leader-in Residence and Artists-in-Residence Programs
One of Chatham Hall’s strengths is helping girls find and develop their own unique “voices” as they prepare to become leaders in college, work, family life and community. To help you along this path, a number of extraordinary leaders and educators are in residence at the school each year, demonstrating how their “voices” have helped change the world’s cultural, social, and political environments. They will inspire you to envision how someday you, too, might fuel change in the world.
Chatham Hall’s leader-in-residence program brings influential women of international stature to campus to interact with students in class, in small-group discussions, over meals, and in the lecture hall.
Past participants have included former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto and Liberian Prsident, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. In the spring of 2009, Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, the former and first woman President of Sri Lanka will come to Chatham Hall.
Chatham Hall’s Program of Social Action in South Africa
From March 8-19, 2009, for the third consecutive year, Chatham Hall students, parents (and grandparents!), alumnae, faculty, and administrators will travel to Cape Town, South Africa. The two previous trips were strong first steps by Chatham Hall in our long-term, strategic commitment to global education, and this year the group has the opportunity to deepen Chatham Hall's work with community action groups, while also expanding collaborations with schools in South Africa.
Learn more about this unique and exciting opportunity.
Independent Study: Discovery Challenge
Discovery Challenge is a one-trimester independent study program that offers students on the dean’s or rector’s lists the opportunity to pursue a topic of particular interest in depth under the guidance and direction of a faculty mentor of their choosing. Emphasis is on the processes of exploration and discovery, with students learning to locate and use resources, analyze information, and present findings. A final presentation is made to the Discovery Challenge Committee and includes two major elements, such as a daily journal, research paper, portfolio of art, science project, collection of creative writings, or presentation (dramatic, informal, musical).
Study Abroad: Language Study/Home-Stay Program
Take your learning experience abroad with Chatham Hall’s study abroad program – and receive a trimester credit of 1/3 hour!
Our language study/home-stay program is open to foreign language students. During the last two weeks of June, French students can travel to Amboise, France; Spanish students to Seville, Spain; and Latin students to Rome, Italy. Faculty members accompany each group. The cost is approximately $4,000, which covers all expenses except some means and personal spending money.
Destinations
Destinations is a one-week program designed to provide a select group of juniors the opportunity to learn about a variety of professions with the help of alumnae and friends of the school.
Destinations 2009: Exploring Careers with Chatham Hall Alumnae in Washington, D.C.
We are thrilled to announce that this years Destinations program will travel to Washington, D.C. during Spring Break! Destinations is a one-week program offering a small group of students the opportunity to gain insight into a variety of careers by meeting and working with Chatham Hall alumnae mentors. Several career fields will be explored, in the past these have included: film making and television, public radio, public relations, law, medicine, Congress, intelligence, non profit advocacy, architecture, museum administration, professional sports ... and more! In addition to exploring career options, the group will attend a concert or performance at the Kennedy Center and enjoy other opportunities to engage in the rich cultural, educational, and historical life of our nation's capital. The program is open to Chatham Hall Juniors and Seniors. Travel dates will be March 8 - March 14, 2009, and the approximate cost is $1,700 (including all meals, fees, and travel/accommodation expenses). For more information or an application, please contact program director and trip chaperone, Sandi Day, at sday@chathamhall.org or 434-432-5518. Applications will be due by December 12, 2008.
Gothic Novel Project
The Novel Project is the work of this year’s first Gothic Literature course for Chatham Hall seniors. Each of the students in our class has chosen a particular character and is writing a series of letters, using her understanding of that persona (each a Gothic “type”) as a guide for her contributions. To begin, each character was given a skeletal “personality,” as well as some idea about the general subject of the first two letters she had to write. Since these preliminaries have been established, though, the novel is now proceeding where it will; its plot is being determined by the students as they write and react to each other’s writing. The role of an often malevolent Fate is reserved for the instructor, who also acts as editor and webmaster. Read more.
