It is great to hear from you. I will try to be a little more clear now that I know a little about you from your message. (It's hard to write clearly about this particular program to a diverse group of people, because it will be a different experience for everyone.) If this response still leaves some questions unanswered, please feel free to tell me more about your goals, fears, hopes, and expectations for Hampshire College, and we can start figuring out what XP might mean for you.

The classes in the Experimental Program will be based on the participants. This differs greatly from ordinary classes, which are much more based on the syllabus decided on by the professor. My tentative plan for members of my XP classes will be that we get together a couple times over dinner (perhaps at my mod, if you remember the mods at all). We will get to know each other. I'll say some of my ideas, and we'll all have an opportunity to contribute to the direction the class will go. (The direction of the class may even change mid-semester, if this is what the participants decide.) The class members, individually or together, will work out a contract for their plans.

Some things I want to make sure to include in my XP classes are: using the outside community (for instance, the Applied Sustainable Agriculture class will likely be visiting several farms in the area to investigate their methods of season extension), informal gatherings (especially over dinner!), bringing what we learn back to the community (for instance, the class called "Unofficial Hampshire Self-Assessment Squad" will likely have one or more presentations in which they share their findings with the Hampshire community).

I'm not sure if the XP/RD housing will be any more communal than the other housing; there is today quite a range in ways people live. What I hope for out of the housing (it is an experiment) is to see whether a critical mass of people who are working on exciting projects, who are excited about each others work, improves the experience. I think it will.

Taking XP classes will be quite simple -- the student goes to the first meeting of the class. (This is also the procedure for all Hampshire classes. Preregistration is *not* required.) I am still working out the details of how XP classes will be approved, but essentially any individual who wants to teach a XP class will have to write a course description, and then we will include that description in the XP Course guide.

Hope this is of help, and as I said, feel free to ask me more specific questions, or tell me more about yourself if you would like to figure out how specifically you will best be able to take advantage of the Experimental Program.

-Chris K.

ps Would you like me to put you on the xp email list? Right now there is no discussion going on, but it carries occasional announcements and discussions.

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Chris Kawecki

ckawecki@hampshire.edu