During last February’s Leading EDJ conference, through collaboration and support from Hollins’ Career and Life Design and Global Learning offices, 28 Hollins students participated in an Experiential Learning Showcase. They created posters highlighting their experiences in study abroad and internship opportunities. The broad range of experiences and insights is impressive and indicative of the boundless opportunities offered to students as Hollins undergraduates.

During the showcase, posters like the ones you see depicted here were hung throughout the room. Faculty, staff, and student visitors could explore and view or even ask questions of the student presenters, who shared memorable stories and highlights from their experiences.

This was the fourth annual Leading Equity, Diversity, and Justice (EDJ) Conference, a program that continues to evolve since it began in 2020. The theme for this year’s conference was “The Heart of Social Justice” and kicked off on Thursday night, February 15, with a special showing of Professor of Film Amy Gerber-Stroh’s Hope of Escape, a new feature-length historical drama she wrote, directed, and coproduced.

The last three years, classes have been canceled on the day of Leading EDJ to give all members of the campus community—students, faculty, and staff—an opportunity to engage in the conference, either by attending or presenting.

Recent experiential learning experiences: