THOREAU COLLEGE SEMESTER PROGRAM
Spring 2027
Viroqua, Wisconsin — February 1 – May 28, 2027
Priority application deadline – October 1
The Thoreau College Semester Program is a full time program incorporating intellectual work, fine arts and traditional crafts, homesteading skills, participatory self-governance, wilderness expeditions, and engaged community life. Each semester we explore a unique set of ideas and texts while engaging in activities set by the rhythms of the natural and agricultural year and by the Five Pillars of the Thoreau College Curriculum. Together with an intimate cohort of up to 12 fellow students, Thoreau College Semester Program participants embark on an immersive journey of discovery and growth through the changing seasons. Students wishing to experience the full cycle of the year in Wisconsin are encouraged to apply for the fall semester either before or afterward. Summer opportunities are also available.
College credits and substantial financial aid are available.
I’m a student attending TC Fall Semester 2025 and I feel significantly enriched by the experience. I have made great friends, learned new skills, and formed new connections that I don’t think I ever would have if I had gone to a larger school instead. The communal living is great for developing social and conflict resolution skills. The animal slaughter and butchery workshops help immensely to put into perspective exactly where the food we eat comes from in an era where we are so disconnected from the whole process of harvesting and processing food. I recommend this program to any young adults who are looking to expand their social and career horizons.
CURRICULUM OVERVIEW:
Block Descriptions – Thoreau College Semester Program-Spring 2027
Block 1 (February 15-April 2)
Living Deliberately, Together: Exploring Intentional Communities Past, Present, and Future
Lead Instructor – Jacob Hundt
During this block we will explore the remarkable history and philosophy of intentional communities—both communal societies of past and present and our own community life at Thoreau College. Some of the communal living movements we will examine include Benedictine monasticism, the Shakers, Transcendentalist/Fourierist communities of the nineteenth century, Camphill Communities, the Catholic Worker movement, and the hippie communes founded in the 1960s and 1970s. Our goal is to examine intentional communities from as many perspectives as possible, making full use of our imagination and emotional responses, while seeking to overcome personal biases and judgments. For each movement, we will read texts in which the founders of intentional communities lay out their visions, and texts in which participants in those communities document their daily lives. We will process these readings through discussion, artistic movement exercises, and the creation of our own community blueprints. We will also incorporate practices from other communities into our own shared life. And we will visit a few communities that are nearby.
Block 2 (April 19 – May 28)
Plants as a Reflection of the Cosmos: Exploring Biodynamics and Goethean Botany
Lead Instructor – Karen Davis-Brown
This six-week course entitled “Plants as a Reflection of the Cosmos” will bring together the plant studies of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Rudolf Steiner’s descriptions of the natural world in his books and lectures, particularly as they relate to agriculture. Participating students will read, draw, write, discuss, and present to their peers the observations and images they develop as they “grow” their capacities to work with plants and agriculture more deeply, substantively, creatively, and imaginatively. Opportunities to observe and engage with the awe-inspiring spring growth of all plants during this beautiful season, and with each other in their growing understanding of who plants truly are, will be part of every session. The course will also include an introduction to observational astronomy and the movements of the celestial bodies in the sky over the course of the year.
Semester Long Course (1 session per week)
The Spoken Word: The Art and Science of Powerful Presentation
Lead Instructor: Rachel Olson
In this course, students will explore and develop an understanding of the classical art of rhetoric as well as empirically-supported presentation practices. The course includes lessons on some physical aspects of speaking such as vocal control, diction, elocution, deportment, body language, non-verbal communication and sensory awareness. In addition there will be guidance for assessing the context of a presentation, such as analysis of the occasion and purpose of their presentation, as well as the likely expectations of their audience. Starting with Aristotle and ending with TedX, students will encounter a variety of formats and styles for spoken word presentations, including rhetorical, artistic, and pedagogical presentations, as well as instruction for how to prepare, deliver, and offer informed and constructive critiques of oral presentations.
Sample Arts & Crafts:
- Wooden spoon carving
- Basket making
- Figure Drawing
- Botanical Drawing
- Community Singing
- Theater Arts
- Pottery
- Bookbinding
- Puppet Making
- Storytelling
Sample Spring Labor Activities:
- Pruning fruit trees and grape vines
- Maple sugaring
- Firewood splitting and piling
- Shepherding, including lambing, shearing, and pasturing
- Garden planning, mulching, and composting
- Seed starting and transplanting
- Foraging for edible wild plants and mushrooms
- Meal planning, cooking, and baking
- Basic carpentry and building maintenance
- Chicken butchering (optional)
PROGRAM SCHEDULE:
Thoreau College strives to cultivate a harmonious balance of activities that engage head, heart, and hands across all programs and all periods of time. In practice, this means an integration of open discussions of ideas and perspectives with the arts and hands-on physical activities in all courses. A typical day at Thoreau College begins with a Morning Circle with students and faculty incorporating singing, movement activities, and announcements. The rest of the day is devoted to 2- or 3-hr long blocks of academic discussion, arts/crafts workshops, or hands-on labor. Each weekday includes a shared community lunch using seasonal ingredients and on Friday afternoons there is a community-wide meeting where important questions of shared governance are discussed and decided upon. Evenings and weekends are generally unscheduled, although students will have opportunities to participate in elective courses offered through the Driftless Folk School or the Thoreau College Community Seminar or Community Arts offerings.
The semester is punctuated with expeditions and solos and there is a weeklong spring break in mid April. Throughout the program, we will mark and celebrate the changes of the seasons, the cycles of the sun, moon, and stars, and the festivals of several different cultures and traditions.
Please note that the schedules below are drafts and will likely evolve before and during the semester in response to opportunities and shared community governance decision-making.
PROGRAM DETAILS:
PROGRAM DATES:
The Thoreau College Semester Program is a full time program incorporating intellectual work, fine arts and traditional crafts, homesteading skills, participatory self-governance, wilderness expeditions, and engaged community life. Each semester we explore a unique set of ideas and texts while engaging in activities set by the rhythms of the natural and agricultural year and by the Five Pillars of the Thoreau College Curriculum. Together with an intimate cohort of up to 12 fellow students, Thoreau College Semester Program participants embark on an immersive journey of discovery and growth through the changing seasons. Students wishing to experience the full cycle of the year in Wisconsin are encouraged to apply for the fall semester either before or afterwards. Summer opportunities are also available. The dates of this semester will be February 1 – May 28, 2027.
The spring program immerses students into the dramatic natural and agricultural cycles of the spring season here in the Driftless Region of southwestern Wisconsin. Starting with a weeklong camping expedition in the depths of winter, participants have an opportunity to closely observe the emergence of new life with their own senses, using the tools of nature journaling and drawing and the inspiration of great nature writers, poets, and traditional wisdom. Along the way, as winter melts into summer, they also learn and practice a variety of practical agricultural and manual skills, including pruning, sheep shearing, seed starting, gardening, permaculture, biodynamic farming, foraging for wild foods and medicines, cooking and food preservation, basic carpentry and building maintenance, and more.
The semester begins in early February with a week-long orientation followed by a week-long winter camping expedition and will include supported multi-day solo experience in a cabin, as well as a weeklong spring visit to a farm-centered life sharing community later in the semester.
Young adults 17 and older who are excited about taking on the adventure and challenge of this transformative experience are invited to apply, regardless of current educational status. Recent high school graduates, current university students seeking a study away experience, or students charting a non-traditional course of study are all enthusiastically welcome.
HOUSING AND FOOD:
Private or shared rooms will be available in Thoreau College facilities for up to 12 program participants. Some participants will live at the Thoreau College campus, which is located on six acres of open land on the edge of Viroqua where we will be preparing garden beds and doing other activities, while others will be living a short walk away in town at one of our residential houses with up to 5 others. Weekday lunches will be provided during the program, but participants are responsible for their other meals. Students will have access to full kitchen facilities and some early season food from our farm and garden operations.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE ABOUT STUDENT LIFE AT THOREAU COLLEGE
FINANCES - HIGHLY FLEXIBLE AND UNIQUELY AFFORDABLE:
Thoreau College will meet 100% of demonstrated financial need for all admitted students. Money should not be a barrier to attendance for any student who is a good fit for our programs. Click here to learn more.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT OUR FINANCIAL PROCESS
COLLEGE CREDITS:
Participants in the Thoreau College Semester Program are eligible to receive 15 transferable college credits per semester upon completion of the program through a partnership between Thoreau College and Prescott College in Arizona. These credits are distributed across three 4-credit courses in the environmental humanities and one 3-credit course in expeditionary learning. Students should check with their home college or university to ensure that they will accept these transfer credits. Receiving credits is optional and costs $125/credit, to be paid to Prescott via Thoreau College as part of each student’s financial pledge.
COLLEGE SAVINGS PLANS:
As a result of our partnership with Prescott College, Thoreau College Semester Program students can now use funds from 529 college savings plans to cover tuition fees and living expenses!
Thoreau Faculty:
Jacob Hundt
Jacob grew up on a dairy farm in the Driftless Region of southwestern Wisconsin and was one of the founding students of the Youth Initiative High School. He studied and gathered inspiration for transformation in higher education at Deep Springs College, the American University in Bulgaria, and the University of Chicago Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences, earning a BA in History and an MA in Social Sciences. Since 2004, he has worked as a trained Waldorf high school teacher and guidance counselor at Youth Initiative High School and was a founding board member and instructor of the Driftless Folk School. Jacob is passionate about the importance of the liberal arts for our civilization and motivated to create a model that enables students to freely choose a post-secondary education dedicated to the cultivation of thinking, feeling, and willing.
Rachel Olson
Dr. Rachel Olson has a bachelor’s degree in Behavioral Science from National Louis University, a master’s of Divinity from the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, and a doctorate in Theology from the New Seminary for Interfaith studies with a focus on Nature-based Spirituality and Eco-chaplaincy.
She has more than 20 years experience as an educator, counselor, and mentor, and also serves as the Academic Coordinator for Thoreau College.
Karen Davis-Brown
Karen’s journey began in Northern California in 1999, and since then, she’s been deeply rooted in the North American biodynamic community. Her work spans regions as diverse as New York, Tennessee, the Midwest, and Ontario, Canada. As an active grower, trainer, and contributing editor for Biodynamics and Lilipoh magazines, Karen blends Goethean observation with biodynamic methods to help students see the natural world with fresh eyes and cultivate meaningful relationships with the crops they grow.
During her class, students will engage with the six “pillars” of biodynamic farming, covering everything from the farm organism and the interplay of cosmic and earthly forces to the vital roles of livestock and compost preparations.
Liam McGilligan
Liam McGilligan is an actor, artist, scholar, and citizen from Madison, WI who first came to Viroqua as a student in the Thoreau College 2021-22 Metamorphosis Year Program. He holds a B.F.A. in Acting from the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater Actor Training Program, graduating in 2020. He is passionate about the arts and storytelling as a vehicle for developing greater self-knowledge and cultivating authentic community and relationships in these uncertain times!
Joseph Clint
Artist-in-Residence – 2026-2027
Joseph Clint graduated from The University of Texas at Austin in May 2020 with a BA in Philosophy and a minor in Greek. He then moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico to work at St. John’s College where he will soon finish an MA in Liberal Arts. Joseph became interested in Nunnian education after fixing a broken fuel pump on his motorcycle in the midst of his MA coursework. This led him to work on a cattle ranch in West Texas, and now to Thoreau College as an Artist-in-Residence. At Thoreau, Joseph will be working on a gnomology, or collection of maxims, using cyanotype and block prints.
