Goucher has perfected the low-residency model of graduate education for working professionals. We've been doing it for years alongside our highly regarded Historic Preservation and Nonfiction programs.

Our low-residency format allows us to:

• Attract exceptional faculty and students from across the country and around the world
• Build diverse cohorts of practitioners bringing rich perspectives and experiences
• Deliver rigorous graduate education without requiring you to leave your job, community, or life
• Create intimate learning communities where you learn from faculty AND from each other

The technology and pedagogy behind our low-residency programs are top-notch, and the experience is as stimulating and interactive as traditional on-campus programs—if not more so, thanks to faculty accessibility and the intentional community we build.

These qualities—diversity, excellence, interaction, and accessibility—are essential for a program focused on culturally grounded leadership across diverse contexts.

On-Campus (Residency)

The residency portion brings all students and faculty together for an intensive one-week experience each summer (mid-July).

During residency, you'll:

• Take core courses through intensive workshops and seminars
• Engage in field experiences visiting cultural organizations, community sites, and partner institutions
• Meet with faculty to discuss your work, refine your focus, and plan your continued learning
• Build lasting networks with fellow students who become lifelong colleagues and collaborators
• Experience transformative learning through immersive engagement with ideas, practices, and people

Additional optional residencies may be offered (such as our DC residency with the Smithsonian, Library of Congress, and other cultural institutions, or international field experiences exploring cultural sustainability in global contexts).

The residencies are intense and rewarding. Our students consistently report feeling transformed by being immersed with their cohort: learning, discussing, and exploring face-to-face and side-by-side.

Field experiences might take us to urban cultural centers in Baltimore and Washington, DC, rural communities on the Chesapeake Bay's Eastern Shore, or international contexts where cultural sustainability work happens on the ground.

Off-Campus (Distance Learning)

While residency brings you together in person, online learning allows you to return home and continue your education—applying what you learn in your own community and organizational contexts.

With over 15 years of distance learning experience, our faculty know how to create engaged online learning communities.

Online courses include:

• Synchronous sessions (live video meetings with faculty and students)
• Asynchronous discussions (thoughtful exchanges that allow time for reflection)
• Guest speakers from the field bringing real-world perspectives
• Collaborative projects working with your cohort
• Individual mentorship with faculty on your work
• Applied assignments you can use immediately in your professional context

Time commitment:

• Most students take 1-2 courses per semester
• Expect 9-12 hours per week per 3-credit course
• Courses run during 8- or 16-week sessions in fall and spring, 4- and 12-week sessions in summer, and 4-week sessions in winter

The formation of an online student/faculty community is key to our program. Faculty facilitate opportunities for students to learn and share their knowledge and experiences within this community. Our format produces a rich environment of discovery where all can learn not only from our eminent faculty, but also from each other.