Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy

Patrick Garrity

'Aim high, have fun,

'Aim high, have fun,

and find joy'

Principal Bill Rawson ’71; ’65, ’70 (Hon.); P’08 encouraged the Academy to lead with empathy throughout the school year. Rawson, retiring at year’s end, delivered his final Opening Assembly address as principal.

Rawson began his remarks by welcoming this year’s 336 new students, who hail from 36 states and 26 countries. He offered students his now-familiar advice for both new and returning students, which he said he himself would have appreciated hearing when he arrived at the Academy as a new lower: “You can do the work. You will make lifelong friends. Absolutely, you belong here.”

This Opening Assembly marked Rawson’s last as principal, as he announced in February that he would be retiring at the end of the 2025-26 school year. He was appointed Exeter’s 16th principal in January 2019 after six months of leadership as interim principal, following a long career at the international law firm of Latham & Watkins in Washington, D.C. As an Exeter alum, Rawson has served in nearly every alumni volunteer capacity, including serving as a trustee from 2004 to 2016. Before beginning his law career, he also worked as an admissions officer at the Academy, where he lived on campus, advised students and coached lacrosse.

Changes on campus

“Each year at Exeter is a little different,” Rawson said, addressing the fact that the assembly was held in Love Gymnasium due to the ongoing renewal of the Academy Building and Assembly Hall, which began at the conclusion of last school year. Rawson went on to outline some of the other adjustments that have been made to class schedules and locations due to the renovation.

“Your patience will be rewarded with a beautifully restored Academy Building, a new Assembly Hall that will seat more than 1,300, a new design lab — and, importantly, air conditioning,” he said, to a hearty round of applause from the audience.

The new school year also marks the opening of the renovated Davis Hall, built in 1911 and formerly used as a library and a student center. The building, adjacent to the Class of 1945 Library and Elm Street Dining Hall, is the new home of the Classical Languages Department, but it also houses a spacious reading room and smaller meeting room that are open to all students. “You don’t have to study Latin or Greek to go into this building,” Rawson stressed.

Core values and the year ahead

As is customary in Opening Assembly, Rawson reflected on the school’s Deed of Gift, and the core values that can be traced to that founding document: knowledge and goodness, academic excellence, youth from every quarter, non sibi and “youth is the important period.”

“I want you to aim high, have fun, and find joy in everything you do,” Rawson urged the students. “I hope you embrace what you find hard, expand your reach, and find joy in your personal growth and development.”

The principal also encouraged students to focus on empathy, which he said was the key to deep learning, effective leadership and meaningful contributions to the lives of others. “Empathy enables us to see ourselves and others as learners,” Rawson said. “It helps us learn to be comfortable having our thoughts and ideas tested by others whose ideas, perspectives, experiences or identities are different from our own.”

“As most of you know, this will be my last year as principal,” Rawson said near the end of his remarks. “Like our seniors, I will be doing a lot of things for the last time this year, including this Opening Assembly. I am sure there will be some wistful moments, but I am very excited about this year and anxious to get started.”

After Rawson issued the traditional closing — “Senior class” — the rest of the audience waited as members of the Class of 2026 rose from their seats and filed out of the gymnasium.

For the record: Beatlemania sweeps through Exeter

Eric Schultz brings the 'Fab Four' to life in studying the history of pop music.

Late in the spring term, students trickling into the round room on the second floor of the Forrestal-Bowld Music Center are greeted by the sounds of side one of the Beatles’ Revolver. The iconic album, the group’s seventh full-length release, is the focus of the period’s discussion in MUS202: History of American Popular Music.

Manning the turntable, Instructor in Music Eric Schultz lifts needle from vinyl as the class reaches critical mass. This is the second of two periods devoted to the biggest act in pop music history and, more specifically, the album that cemented the change of the band’s image from boy-next-door pop stars to long-haired psychedelic pioneers.

This senior-level course explores trends in popular music in the United States and how that music reflects the cultural and political landscape in which it was made. Students are graded on “needle-drop quizzes” in which a song from a previously discussed album is played and they must name the artist, title and the year it was released. Schultz says he has been teaching some version of this class for more than two decades. The class syllabus covers a period of nearly 100 years, and he laments being able to give the Beatles only two days of conversation, noting that the University of Liverpool offers a master’s degree program on the so-called Fab Four.

Throughout the period, Schultz weaves in the historical context of Beatlemania and the immeasurable influence on not only pop music, but also the fabric of Western culture. He cues up archival footage of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr arriving in the U.S. for the first time, landing at New York’s newly named John F. Kennedy International Airport in February 1964, greeted by thousands of frenzied fans.

“What was the major event in U.S. history that happened before this that had a real impact on people?” Schultz asks.

“J.F.K. gets assassinated,” Dhruv Nagarajan ’25 quickly responds.

“November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy, a very popular president, assassinated in front of onlookers in Dallas,” Schultz continues. “So, then trauma, drama, bad vibes. Then Christmas. Then the new year. Then the winter. People want to be happy and the country is sick of not being happy, and then these guys show up. Look at these guys: matching haircuts, matching suits, all designed to make your dad want to hang out with them. And — it worked.”

Schultz chronicles two other important Beatles-centric cultural waypoints: the group’s first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show — estimated to have been watched live by half the country — and their chance encounter with Bob Dylan in a New York City hotel.

“We’ve talked about the drug culture of the ’60s,” Schultz says, “and this is where we really start to see that come to the fore, because Bob Dylan shows up and gives the Beatles their first marijuana joint.”

Eric Schultz deconstructs the allure of The Beatles during a meeting of his senior elective, MUS202: History of American Popular Music.

Schultz plays The Ed Sullivan Show performance as heads around the Harkness table begin to bob and feet begin to tap to the beat of “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” “This is 1964,” he says. “There are no hallucinogens involved in this. This is clean as a whisper.”

“The biggest change happens between these two albums,” Schultz says, motioning between projections of 1965’s Rubber Soul and 1966’s Revolver.

“The song ‘Yellow Submarine’ is on Revolver; you should know that yellow submarine is street slang for a type of illegal drug in London — think of the shape of a pill,” Schultz says to stunned students.

“My kindergarten class sang that song,” one replies.

Schultz goes on to explain that the change in style wasn’t the only massive shift in the band’s output. As the complexity of their sound continued to expand with the 1967 release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the group had not played a concert for nearly a year and would play live only once more — in 1969 on the rooftop of their recording studio in London.

“The Beatles spent eight hours recording their first album. They spent 900 hours in the studio for this one,” Schultz says, holding up a copy of Sgt. Pepper’s. “This is them saying: ‘We’re not doing live music anymore. We’re only going to make albums in the studio. And that way, we don’t have to worry about whether or not we can play it live.’”

With the final minutes of class dwindling, Schultz races through the band’s final albums and slow unraveling, again lamenting, “There’s never enough time to talk about the Beatles.”

This story was originally published in the Summer 2025 issue of The Exeter Bulletin.

Sarah Varney ’91: Reporter at large

Sarah Varney ’91 tells stories at the intersection of law and women’s health.

As a youth in the early 1980s, Sarah Varney ’91 spent hours lying on her liv-ing room floor, listening to New Hampshire Public Radio. Radio was the sole entertainment at home and, unlike most contemporary media, it featured women’s voices: Linda Wertheimer, Susan Stamberg and eventually Nina Totenberg, “the founding grandmothers of NPR,” she says.

“It wasn’t just that I was hearing their voices,” she says of NPR’s women. “It was that the stories they were interested in were totally different than the stories men were interested in.

… I didn’t know exactly what a journalist was. But whatever it was they were doing, that’s what I wanted to do.”

After studying public policy and political science at Brown, she covered news and health for public radio, ultimately becoming a special health care correspondent for PBS NewsHour and a contributing health reporter for NPR. Collectively, her reportage covers modern American medical history, including the HIV and opioid epidemics and the Affordable Care Act.

Her pieces put personal narratives within a larger context, taking into account the broader chessboard at play. “We’re taking on these big ideas,” she says, “then rooting them in actual day-to-day stories.”

For one segment, she interviewed a woman who, prevented by Tennessee law from ending her pregnancy, delivered an infant with organs outside the body. It was a profoundly poignant tale. “Even for people opposed to abortion, I think hearing this woman’s story couldn’t not be moving,” Varney says.

At the same time, the story highlighted the intersection of state law and women’s health. “We talk about abortion bans in the abstract,” Varney says. “I’m in the field trying to find real people impacted by these policies.” Because some 2 mil-lion viewers watch NewsHour nightly, including members of Congress and Supreme Court justices, she can “share these stories with people who make really important decisions.”

Varney sees her role as a “collector of stories,” entrusted with people’s experiences at moments of extreme vulnerability. “I think human beings are inherently wired to want to listen,” she says. “Hearing people’s stories and why they make the decisions they make, or believe what they believe, then sharing these stories with [others] is extremely important. It’s how we’re connected as human beings, through storytelling.”

Reporters must also ask difficult questions. For one piece, Varney interviewed an influential anti-abortion activist who didn’t want to discuss her opposition to contraception. “That’s why it’s even more important,” Varney says, “to have a journalist sit down and say: ‘Your logic is that if a form of contraception prevents a fertilized egg from possibly implanting in the uterus, that’s an abortion. Under Texas law, that makes any form of birth control an abortifacient. Is that true?’ It’s up to them to say, ‘Yes, that’s my logic.’ I think the reason journalists are really important at this moment is we’re not activists.”

Last year, after completing a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard, Varney created Fountain Productions, a nonprofit dedicated to independent journalism on the consequences of the 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Roe v. Wade established the constitutional right to abortion in 1973.

“There’s been a lot of great journalism about the seismic shift in reproductive rights in American life in print and radio, but [no] consistent place to do this on television,” she says. She and her small team produce NewsHour segments and are creating two podcasts, Caged: The Origins of Patriarchy and Body and State, based on NewsHour interviews.

Varney is also gathering stories of women affected by abortion bans into a multimedia repository that will be available to news organizations. “You’ll have extraordinary reporting done about one person in Texas, then another powerful story about one person in Tennessee,” she says. “How do you start to pull them together?”

Her work may help to inspire the next generation of reporters covering women’s health.

This story was originally published in the Summer 2025 issue of The Exeter Bulletin.

The Art of Engineering

Ideas take shape at Exeter's annual MakerFest Showcase.

The MakerFest Showcase at the Lamont Gallery this spring featured work by the Academy community made in the Design Lab using precision tools often controlled by computers.

The exhibition, supported in part by the Lynda K. Beck Design Thinking Fund, “seeks to highlight creative problem-solving and methods of making that intertwine research, education and innovation with engineering, design and manufacturing,” Design Lab Coordinator and Instructor in Computer Science Sean Campbell writes in the exhibit’s catalog.

“These creative endeavors, while perhaps not immediately celebrated as modes of art-making or creative expression, reveal themselves to be tools and/or explora-tions of topical themes that identify the potential for innovation and solutions that can spark social impact.”

Exonians in Review: Summer 2025

The latest publications, recordings, exhibitions and films by Exeter alumni and faculty.

 

Henry James Comes Home: Rediscovering America in the Gilded Age
Peter Brooks ’56, New York Review Books, 2025

Northern Lights, movie
John Hanson ’60, writer and director with Rob Nilsson
Re-release of 1978 film on May 23, 2025, at Lincoln Center in New York, followed by a national theatrical and digital streaming release

“The Insanity of Violence,” art exhibition
Gordie Chase ’66, The Landau Gallery, Belmont Hill School, Belmont, Massachusetts, February 24 to April 4, 2025

Letter to General Franco
by Fernando Arrabal, translated by Peter Thompson ’66, Diálogos, 2025

The Unraveling: Reflections on Politics Without Ethics and Democracy in Crisis
Bob Bauer ’70, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2024

Racquets at Rest: Remembering 40 Lives That Shaped the Game of Squash in America
Rob Dinerman ’72, self-published, 2024

Old White Man Writing
Joshua Gidding ’72, Mascot Books, 2025

Rules of Living, movie
Greg Dale ’77, writer and director, Mirus Pictures, 2024

Becoming You: The Proven Method for Crafting Your Authentic Life and Career
Suzy Welch ’77, Harper Business, 2025

Correlations: Life + Work
Peter Bentel ’78, with Carol Bentel, Paul Bentel and John Morris Dixon, The Images Publishing  Group, 2024

Polaris and the Secret City
Tom Hassell ’89, self-published, 2025

Myth & Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection, exhibition and catalog
Lisa Cakmak ’96, curator and editor, The Art Institute of Chicago, March 15 to June 29, 2025

Securing the Biological Frontier: The Biodefense Imperative
Matt McKnight  ’01, self-published, 2025

 

 

Submit your work

Alumni are encouraged to advise the Bulletin editor (bulletin@exeter.edu) of their own publications, recordings, films, etc., in any field, and those of their classmates, for inclusion in future Exonians in Review columns. Please send a review copy of your published work to the editor to be considered for an extended profile in future issues. Works can be sent to: Phillips Exeter Academy, The Exeter Bulletin, 20 Main Street, Exeter, NH 03833.

A 50th Reunion Reflection

Laurie Hays ’75 remembers her post at The Exonian.

Exeter was where I first experienced freedom, having been released by my parents from an all-girls private school where I felt suffocated. I’m pretty sure I used that exact word back then. The Academy was also the first place I experienced panic attacks, took up smoking and looked at the possibility of being a total failure as I got to know all of my classmates.

I found my life’s passion, and a good way to hide from academics, at The Exonian. I vividly remember the day that Roy Cohn ’74 said to me, “We have chosen you to be the first woman chairman of The Exonian because it’s about time for a woman to lead the paper.” (He might have said “girl.”) He made sure to clarify that this was not a DEI decision, adding, “We also think you are the best person for the job.” Thank you, Roy!

During my 40-year run as a professional journalist, I always looked back on my time at The Exonian as the best chance that anybody ever gave me to develop a vision and share it with others. I remember looking around the newsroom and feeling for the first time empowered to shape ideas and try to be inspiring. Most people don’t think of their high school newspaper as a big deal, but it was to me!

We were a great team and, as the announcement stressed, we shared duties equally. Bill Bradley was editor in chief; Eric Nordell, managing editor; Mary Gotschall and Edward Eliot, editorial and features editors. And Paul Bentel, the business manager, saved us from bankruptcy as the ad market deteriorated.

Laurie Hays ’75 has worked at Bloomberg News as a senior executive editor and also at The Wall Street Journal for 23 years as a reporter, Moscow correspondent and editor. She worked on a team that won a 2003 Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting on corporate corruption scandals.

This piece was originally published in the Summer 2025 issue of The Exeter Bulletin.

Vital work

As you read this issue of the Bulletin, I hope you find it inspiring to see the latest evidence of both the joy and sense of purpose that comes with being a member of the Exeter community.

It is a great pleasure to be part of a community where high academic achievement is valued, where students accomplish as much outside the classroom as in, where exploration and self-discovery are what we do for fun, and where the spirit of non sibi runs deep.

These pages offer some wonderful examples: a robotics club formed by students who share a common purpose to give back to others; budding social entrepreneurs who craft business solutions to real-world problems; and seniors who design their own independent study electives to explore feminism through the arts.

I am amazed by the extraordinary work being done by our students, and by the passion they bring to these endeavors. To provide these young people with the opportunity to thrive in a community where everyone feels a true sense of belonging- that is the Exeter we strive for every day.

At a recent assembly, I told students, “We don’t wait until later to be the people we want to be. You have to be the people you want to be today, and that starts not with how you relate to your closest friends – it’s how you relate to everybody.” I urged them to respect the dignity and equal worth of every person within our community, adult and student.

Our students do this work in the Harkness classrooms, in their dorms, or on the stage or playing fields. In January, during Exeter’s annual MLK Day, three PEA alumnae led workshops designed to break down differences and deconstruct cultural narratives. That same month, MacArthur Fellow and Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson delivered an impassioned Henry Bragdon Fellow assembly talk, urging students to engage with issues of social justice, saying: “Your hope is your superpower.” At the conclusion of Mr. Stevenson’s remarks, I offered students a copy of his memoir, Just Mercy. The response was overwhelming. We ordered an additional 600 copies to meet the demand.

It is wonderful and also serious business to renew our commitment each year to the mission of our school, and to live up to our responsibilities in a rapidly changing world. We must prepare our students for what John and Elizabeth Phillips in the Deed of Gift called “the great end and real business of living,” and reconsider each year what it means to help our students grow in knowledge and goodness and thereby lay the surest foundation for usefulness to humankind. John and Elizabeth Phillips expressed a certain urgency about the school’s mission in the Deed of Gift. The urgency of our mission is as great today as ever.

This column was originally published in the Spring 2019 issue of The Exeter Bulletin.

A full and equitable experience

At Exeter, we want every student and adult to have an equal sense of belonging and equal opportunity to thrive. How do we ensure an equitable Exeter experience for every member of our community, no matter their background or identity? This is a question of utmost importance as we seek to uphold the school’s founding mission to instill goodness and knowledge and thereby “lay the surest foundation of usefulness to [hu]mankind.”

The work to create and nurture an intentionally diverse school dates back to John and Elizabeth Phillips’ charge that Exeter admit and instruct “youth from every quarter.” Today, we interpret that in the broadest possible sense. And we do so by building upon the hard work of generations of students, faculty and staff who have sought to make Exeter the intellectual community of depth and substance that it is.

We have more work to do, and it is imperative that we continue to act. Last January, the Trustees adopted a vision statement recognizing that diversity, equity and inclusion are critical to sustaining and strengthening our tradition of excellence in all aspects of life at Exeter. The vision state­ment makes clear that our obligation goes beyond merely assembling a diverse population: “Our commitment is to teach the skills, model the behaviors, provide the resources and cultivate the environment of inclusion” that will unlock the richness of that diversity. I encourage you to read the full statement at exeter.edu/DEivision. It serves as a guiding document in our work to promote a reflexive climate of empathy, understanding and respect. As the Trustees state, “Excellence today requires nothing less.”

Stephanie Bramlett, our director of equity and inclusion, has had a busy first few months at Exeter working with the commu­nity to build a framework around the Trustees’ vision. She and I were among 22 PEA adults and six students who attended the National Association oflndependent Schools’ People of Color Conference and Student Diversity Leadership Conference in Nashville last November. It was our largest adult contingent and first student group from PEA to attend these important confer­ences. On campus, Stephanie is collaborating with department heads and students in furthering existing initiatives and defin­ing new ones. Our Dean of Faculty Ellen Wolff and Director of Human Resources Rachel Henry also continue their efforts to attract and retain an increasingly diverse employee base; and our Institutional Advancement Office led by Morgan Dudley is working alongside alumni and parents to ensure our greater Exeter community is as welcoming, inclusive and vibrant as the one on campus.

Our faculty also continue their scholarship and curricular work in this area with the spirit of innovation and collabora­tion that defines our school. Sarni Atif, math instructor and interim dean of multicultural affairs, has developed math problems that address societal issues and provide students and teachers with real-world scenarios and a fact-based framework to explore important topics. During this winter term, the English Department, chaired by Nat Hawkins, is piloting a course for lowers designed to aid students in devel­oping the appropriate skills and understanding to engage in respectful, productive conversations about race and identity. You can read more about these examples in this issue’s cover feature (pg. 28).

These efforts extend Exeter’s mission to help students excel academically and develop an ethos of non sibi that will influence their life’s work. As you read this Bulletin, I hope you will be excited by what you see and feel drawn back to Exeter. We would be delighted to have you visit campus, spend time with our students and faculty, appreciate the Exeter of today, and help us imagine the Exeter of tomorrow.

This column was originially published in the Winter 2019 issue of The Exeter Bulletin.

Welcome to George H. Guptill ’57 House

Front Street dormitory named for alumnus and longtime Exeter supporter.

Front Street Dorm is now Guptill House, a fitting tribute to a lifetime of support for the Academy from a generous alumnus.

George H. Guptill ’57 has a long history of philanthropy to Exeter, including support for students from his native Raymond, New Hampshire, to attend the Exeter Summer academic enrichment program and the significant donations to the Academy Music Department of his 1927 Model M Steinway piano and a commissioned Taylor and Boody Continuo pipe organ. Guptill has given annually to the Academy since his graduation.

Guptill, who today lives in Exeter, knows support for buildings and infrastructure is an institutional priority, and he relishes the opportunity for a former day student’s name to adorn one of the Academy’s dorms. The 150-year-old mansard-style mansion on Front Street, purchased by the Academy in 1969, is home to two dozen boarding students and six to eight day student affiliates each year.

Leaving the table,

Leaving the table,

exploring the world

Harkness tables offer a wonderful setting to explore new ideas and tackle foreign concepts. But sometimes, you just have to get out there.

Dozens of Exeter students are carving out time from summer break and availing themselves of a Global Initiatives experiential learning program that reaches around the world. From Iceland’s geothermal pools to Berlin boardrooms, Exonians are gaining first-hand experience in geology, biology, economics, language, archaeology and more.

“At the end of one of our days a student said to me, ‘This has been the best day of my life — I have never been in nature before’,” said Anne Rankin, instructor in biology and a faculty chaperone on a trip to Iceland. “I am sure this student has had many ‘best days of their life’ — but the chance to expose a student to something completely new is rewarding.”

Even several time zones away from the nearest Harkness classroom, Exonians bring the tools they learn at the table to reflect on their experiences.

“Chatting about the day over dinner and realizing each of us loved a different moment of the day or remembered a different part of a story feels easy with a group of Exeter students,” Rankin said. “They are very practiced at sharing their reflections, listening to the thoughts of others and synthesizing a more complete whole than any one of us could have created alone.”

Iceland: A geologic marvel

It is no coincidence that Jules Verne used Iceland as a gateway to the Earth’s core in his novel Journey to the Centre of the Earth. Exeter travelers to Iceland, in partnership with GeoCamp Iceland, experienced one of the most visibly geological active places in the world in a place that not only inspires imagination but also provides an active showcase on earth formation, access to unique geological areas and use of indigenous renewable energy resources.

Students were introduced to the unique and vibrant geology of Iceland and witnessed the regional impact of climate change, environmental challenges and sustainability measures. The group visited some of the youngest landmass on Earth, observed the impact of warmer climate on the island’s glaciers, learned about natural hazards in the Westman Islands, listened to sagas that inspired both Tolkien and the Marvel movies, and experienced culture and museums in Reykjavik. Together they relaxed in geothermal pools, experienced breathtaking waterfalls and savored the tranquility of unspoiled natural wonders.

“[It] was my first time outside of America, and the journey affected me more than I thought it would,” Levi ’28 said. “The awe-inspiring landscape, the rich and layered culture, the close-knit community and the delicious food all added up to an exquisite trip. But what I enjoyed most was exploring a beautiful foreign land with a group of new friends. In particular, I remember a steep hike on the Westman Islands that rewarded us with gorgeous vistas of mossy cliffs — and puffins! My largest takeaway from that hike was not the beautiful views though but the importance of determination and grit that kept us together from start to end.”

Principal Bill Rawson was one of the chaperones on the excursion. “It was a very special experience exploring a new country with 15 curious Exonians,” Rawson said. “We were all learners every step of the way. And for me, it was quite special observing firsthand the impact our global studies programs have on our students.”

Taiwan: Immersion therapy

Taipei — the economic, political and cultural center of Taiwan — is known for its rich history, vibrant cuisine and iconic architectural landmarks. In this three-week immersion program, participants develop their Mandarin Chinese skills and understanding of Taiwanese culture through interactive classes, community-based activities and host family placements in Taipei.

On weekday mornings, students attend three-hour language and culture classes; in the afternoon, they participate in a variety of local activities. Excursions include visits to the National Palace Museum and a local high school and trips to the historic towns of Jiufen and Shifenin. Students make traditional Taiwanese pastries and dishes and participate in a traditional tea ceremony, youth-friendly Karaoke and martial arts lessons; in the evening, they eat dinner and spend time with their host families. Weekend activities with host families include hiking in the mountains of the Shiding district, taking a ferry to Ba Li, going to the beach, visiitng the Taiwan Fine Arts Museum, eating traditional Taiwanese foods and picnicking in the Yangmingshan national park.

“Through learning to fish for shrimp from strangers at a shrimp pond to ordering boba at the night market, I was able to improve my language every day,” Logan ’27 said. “One of my favorite parts of the trip was coming home after a day of Chinese classes and activities to eat dinner with my host family. Dinner would end up taking two hours as we talked about Taiwanese politics, high school and culture over a hot bowl of beef noodle soup. The best part of these conversations is that they were all in Chinese, so I got to learn about Taiwanese culture while my host family helped me practice my Chinese.”

“I am so impressed by students’ rapid growth in their language learning skills and also glad to see them converse with Taiwanese locals with confidence and curiosity,” said Ning Zhou, instructor in modern languages at Exeter. “Like my own high school study abroad trip, I know it will be a memorable experience and life asset for students. Students know that in addition to their own home, they have another home in Taipei!”

Yellowstone: From the table to the park

A trip to America’s first and arguably most famous national park offered Introductory Biology students the opportunity to relate their spring-term curriculum to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Selected students spent spring term together in a special section of BIO 230 that approached the curriculum through the lens of the biology happening in the park. They spent a week making day trips into the park and working with instructors from Yellowstone Forever Institute. Topics covered included wolf reintroduction, grizzly bear conservation and the Bison/Brucellosis dynamic. Students had the opportunity to see thermal features such as Mammoth Hot Springs. They also contributed to a citizen science project to monitor the effects of climate change in the park.

Thinking about the value of studying ecosystems of Yellowstone in class together before traveling to the park, Anvi ‘28 reflected, “By learning about niches and resource partitioning, I could understand the habitats of animals in Yellowstone. Additionally, keystone species and ecosystem engineering helped me understand what the wallows of buffalo do for the environment as I saw them wallow. The study of climax community, and especially us in class talking about pyroclimax communities, helped me understand why so many lodgepole pines were in areas affected by fire, for example. In terms of other terms of biology, the ideas of selective breeding helped me understand more about the cattle at the ranch, and the study of digestive systems in the winter helped me understand how different animals (herbivores, omnivores, carnivores) digestive food and expel it at different rates.”

Greece: Digging into their work

Experiential learning often requires students to get their hands dirty, some more than others. Three Exeter students who have joined an excavation at the Sanctuary of Zeus and Sanctuary of Pan at Mount Lykaion in Arcadia, Greece, under the auspices of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, are quite literally digging into their studies.

The trio and an Exeter faculty member are spending six weeks this summer with a team from the University of Arizona, directed by Exeter alum David Romano ’65. They are working in the lower mountain meadow, where excavation and survey has been underway. Mount Lykaion and the sanctuary was a destination for ancient Greeks to worship annually. Temples, altars, houses for attendants, fountains and a racetrack for running competitions have been identified along with many objects of daily life and ritual celebrations.

South Korea: Witnessing an Asian powerhouse

Once a recipient of global development aid, the Republic of Korea today is a donor, a true success story of economic growth and industrialization. The country now stands as a global industrial powerhouse, known around the world for advances in shipbuilding, steel working and electronics. The growing popularity of all things Korean, from fashion, beauty products and sneakers, to film, music and cuisine, has made South Korea the preeminent conveyor of “modern Asian culture” to the West.

On a 10-day program, Exonians immersed themselves in the modern world of South Korea while also learning about the fragile peace with North Korea, visiting the Demilitarized Zone, and meeting with defectors from the DPRK. They explored Korean spirituality during an overnight at a Buddhist temple. Buddhism, one of the major religions in South Korea, has a rich history that dates back over a thousand years and is an integral part of Korean culture and has shaped spiritual, ethical and philosophical values.

“I really enjoyed seeing how so many different cultures were so deeply integrated into Korea,” Euphoria ’27 said. “In the food, the language, the art, the architecture, to see how one complete, very prosperous culture came from so many different ones. Going to the DMZ made me realize just how heavy the weight of the Korean War was, especially since learning about it from history classes, you don’t necessarily feel how hard it was for the soldiers and how complicated this truce agreement was. It also made me realize how much history was still so relevant in the present world today.”

Added Alex ’27, “This trip has truly been an unforgettable experience! … What I will truly not forget about this trip are the people. With the little kindergartners who bowed to us in the subway station, or the halmonis [grandmothers] who spoke in broken konglish in the park, it has been incredible to see how culture all over the world is built on its people.”

Berlin: Economics with a German accent

Berlin is a world city of culture, politics, media and science. The city has become an entrepreneurial hub over the last decade, and its economy is based on high-tech firms and the service sector, encompassing a diverse range of creative industries, research facilities, media corporations and convention venues.

Exeter’s ECON 502: Principles of Economics and Business course, offered in spring term, was redesigned to increase students’ economic literacy within the German context as an intensive, place-based and experiential learning opportunity. Students studied macro- and microeconomic concepts at work in Germany’s economy and the role that the government play in the country’s economic life. Homework assignments are geared toward the economic history of Germany, recent trends in the German economy, immigration, environmental policy, and the role Germany plays within the European Union. Exonians also study fundamentals of business structure and operation and why some businesses succeed while others do not, the role that businesses can and do play in German society, and the complementary roles of consumer and investor. Guest speakers enhance students’ understanding of the historical and contemporary trends in German economy. The program concludes at the end of June, and students will receive academic credit.

“The program allows us to learn about principles of economics in a classroom setting while also being able to apply our knowledge to the vibrant city of Berlin,” said Ally ’26. “Our group has visited places that have only furthered my interest in the field of economics, whether that be visiting the BMW factory or talking with members of the German parliament and learning more about what they do. Overall, this trip has furthered my passion for economics and has allowed me to gain a new perspective about Germany and the culture and history that makes it what it is today.”

Colorado: Every rock tells a story

The Rocky Mountains in Colorado offer iconic natural panoramas and contain a remarkable geologic record of the evolution of the North American continent. Over the course of one week in mid-July, Exeter students will learn from host and Exeter alum Richard Chuchla ’74 about the mountain-building events that created current landscapes starting almost 2 billion years ago and continuing to the present.

By driving, hiking and rafting through this terrain, students will come to understand how geologic history is unraveled through careful observation and synthesis and appreciate the geologist’s adage that “every rock tells a story.” Key topics covered will include how continental collisions grew mountains and created volcanic events that resulted in the formation of large ore deposits and geothermal systems that we are exploiting today for energy, how mining of these ore deposits has enhanced our lives but has created environmental problems, how relatively recent glaciation has sculpted the Rockies into their current craggy form and how glacial retreat is one of the bellwethers of climate change.