Southern Oregon University is well-known as a public liberal arts university committed to affordability and academic excellence. We offer personalized experiences and a curriculum that prepares students to be productive citizens, creative thinkers, and effective problem solvers. Our graduates thrive in a rapidly changing world.At SOU, students receive more than encouragement in their creative endeavors. They are immersed in a culture of thoughtful expression and critical thinking and exposed to various points of view. Conventional thinking is challenged and students thrive in an open, inclusive environment where they are free to speak their minds. Southern Oregon has a long tradition of doing things differently - unfettered by established traditions and open to innovation. This richly visionary and inventive environment benefits all fields of study and provides a common ground for SOU students from around the world. The local arts community, including the internationally acclaimed Oregon Shakespeare Festival, inspires the imaginations of SOU students, faculty and staff. Our culture reflects a critical way of thinking that stretches boundaries. Interactions with students - in teaching, learning, and community-building - are open, honest and constructive. Members of the SOU community push themselves to find creative solutions to the challenges of today and tomorrow. Business, as usual, is nothing more than a starting point on the route to better solutions. Students can learn theory at any university. SOU students connect to their world as they learn, explore and discover. As our university president says, you can imitate or you can innovate. SOU sets its own course, authentic and effective. Learning extends far beyond the classroom for SOU students, whose professors encourage them to put theory into practice, learn more deeply and make immediate contributions when they enter the workforce. Through connected learning experiences - internships, mentor relationships, field study, capstone experiences, volunteerism, civic engagement and more - SOU students translate classroom lessons into real-world meaning. Southern Oregon University's unique geographic location provides its own special learning and recreational opportunities. Our mountains and rivers are more than just an impressive backdrop. They serve as classrooms for outdoor leadership, environmental studies, science research, hospitality, and tourism. Our students step outside to learn first-hand about grazing rights, land management, water quality and wine production. The wild and scenic Rogue River, the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, Crater Lake National Park, Redwood National Park, the Deer Creek Center, the Pacific Crest Trail and more than 20 miles of hiking and biking trails in Ashland's foothills offer outdoor laboratories and memorable experiences within an hour or two of campus.
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