Sophomore college students line up arm in arm for a photo on a ranch with cloudy blue sky above.

A home for undergraduates

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Dedicated to Serving Undergraduate Students

The Bill Lane Center for the American West offers a range of immersive opportunities designed for Stanford undergraduates to understand the unique dynamics of the American Western region. Our offerings are as interdisciplinary and diverse as the student body we hope to serve. We invite you to explore our programs, courses, events and resources which are intended to inform and inspire future leaders of the American West.

Students interested in applying for any of these programs should join our mailing list.

Students walk through dry brush atop the Stanford Dish alongside a burnbot - a robot that burns away dead vegetation

Research assistants spend a quarter, a summer, or longer working on an existing Lane Center project or an investigation of their own design with mentorship from our faculty director and senior researcher.

A Sophomore College student in an orange hard hat learns how the Spokane Waste to Energy Facility operates.

Incoming sophomores participate in a three-week intensive course where students and professors travel to learn more about a particular topic of importance in the American West.

Claire Peterson in a hat and sunglasses giving a thumbs up to the camera with Lassen Volcano National Park behind her.

Interns join host agencies across the region to complete projects that range from archival research to streamflow restoration to nonpartisan reporting and beyond.

The five teaching faculty of the American West course stand next to one another smiling.

"The American West" is the Lane Center's flagship course, taught by senior faculty from a wide range of departments, making it one of Stanford's most interdisciplinary courses. 

The back of a man in a gray hoodie staring at Iceburg Lake with snow-covered mountains in the background and a small tent in the foreground.

Photo by Kyle Chen

Each summer, our interns write two blog posts reflecting on their paid work experiences in the West.  Prospective interns often peruse the blog for help deciding which internships to apply for. It serves as a rich catalogue of student experiences.

Our students are the heart of the Lane Center, and our ambassadors help connect the BLC with the larger Stanford community. Reach out to them if you're interested in learning about the BLC student experience. They'd love to speak with you.

Student Profiles

There are many ways to get involved with the Lane Center, and each student's path will be different.  We invite you to read the stories of previous Lane Center students who shared their "Western journeys." You may decide to follow their lead, or use their experiences as inspiration to write your own story.

 

 

Join our Student Mailing List