Mission & Values
Learn closely. Think widely.
Our mission
Alderwick brings rigorous undergraduate study into close conversation with the natural world, creative practice, and the communities students help shape.
Careful inquiry
Begin with a question you can investigate. Use sources and methods that fit it, make the steps of your reasoning visible and leave room to revise a claim.
Creative practice
Work through drafts, models, prototypes and critique. Making something is a form of thinking, and a first version gives the next conversation something concrete to improve.
Shared responsibility
Consider who else is affected by your work. Good collaboration includes preparation, listening, clear expectations and a record that another person can use.
Learning in place
Notice the relationships among a community, a landscape and the questions being asked. A place is more than a backdrop: it shapes what can be observed and what responsible participation requires.
From values to a college day
These commitments appear in ordinary routines: a source discussion in the library, a critique in Foundry Studios, a documented field method at Fern Creek and an advising meeting that connects one semester with the next.