Sophomore College
Sophomore College (known as SoCo in Stanford vernacular) is an immersive, three-week academic opportunity available to rising sophomores. Students arrive on campus on Labor Day, three weeks before the traditional late September start of fall quarter. They join a cohort of 12 students embarking on a multidisciplinary course of intensive study. The Bill Lane Center for the American West sponsors a SoCo course every year covering topics and issues central to the Western region.
The course usually involves a week of on-campus learning and two weeks of field study somewhere in the West. Past courses have taken students to Utah and the Southwest, Washington, the Pacific Northwest and Oregon, Alaska, Montana, Arizona and Nevada, Wyoming, and Hawaii and the Pacific.
Students interested in applying should visit the Sophomore College website.
Up Next
Sophomore College 2026: Culture, Climate, and Food Security in the Alaskan Arctic
This field-based course explores the intersection of Indigenous knowledge, food systems, and climate change in Alaska’s Northwest Arctic Borough, a region largely inhabited by the Iñupiat. Alaska’s vast terrestrial and marine ecosystems support a mixed subsistence and cash economy, where communities depend on land- and sea-based foods that are increasingly affected by rapid climate change. Alaska has warmed two to three times faster than the global average since the mid-20th century, with Arctic regions warming even more quickly, placing local communities on the frontlines of climate impacts.
Students will examine food security and food sovereignty through Iñupiat perspectives, which emphasize cultural continuity, ecological stewardship, and self-determination alongside environmental and human health. The course highlights how Indigenous knowledge systems, resource co-management with state and federal agencies, and stewardship practices grounded in both Indigenous knowledge and Western science support adaptation to climate change and sustain food systems under growing pressure.
Course Structure
The course includes three components:
- Orientation and preparatory lectures at Stanford;
- A field study centered in Kotzebue, Alaska; and
- Meetings with Stanford alumni and Alaskan experts in Anchorage
In Kotzebue, students will engage with Iñupiat community members, tribal leaders, local organizations, scientists, and resource managers. Activities may include visits to subsistence fish camps and nearby protected areas such as Noatak National Preserve, where students will learn about wildlife, ecosystems, and climate-driven changes affecting key subsistence species. Students will complete individual or group projects and present their findings to Stanford alumni in Anchorage.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
- Gain a place-based understanding of social-ecological systems and climate change impacts
- Compare Indigenous and Western frameworks of food security and food sovereignty
- Learn how Indigenous knowledge supports subsistence practices and climate adaptation
- Examine inequities in climate impacts on food systems and cultural well-being
- Develop problem-solving, communication, collaboration, and leadership skills
Instructors:
Roz Naylor
The course is led by Roz Naylor, William Wrigley Professor of Global Environmental Policy, Emeritus, and founder of Stanford’s Center on Food Security and the Environment, whose research focuses on food systems, climate, and sustainability. She is joined by Dr. Kirsten Green, an interdisciplinary social scientist with extensive experience working with Indigenous communities in Alaska on food sovereignty and climate adaptation.
Past Courses
This course examined the practical, social, technical, and political challenges surrounding climate resilience and energy in Hawaii, an island state at the forefront of conservation, climate action, and the clean energy transition.
In 2024, we traveled up and down the West Coast exploring the resilience challenges that coastal areas face in the age of climate change.
This course explored the crucial role of the Columbia River in the past, present, and future of the Pacific Northwest. Instructors: David Freyberg and David Kennedy.
In 2019 and in 2022, our SoCo trip spent two weeks in Hawaii studying the future of sustainable energy sources. Instructors: Sally Benson, Terry Surles and Bruce Cain.
We journeyed to the heartland of the American West to learn about public lands and the issues that surround them. Instructors: Bruce Cain and Buzz Thompson.
This course brought students to the Pacific Northwest to study the ever-important issue of water. Instructors: Sally Benson, David Freyberg, and Bruce Cain.
This course traveled across the Northwest studying contemporary issues facing Native American communities. Instructors: Bruce Cain and Buzz Thompson.
This course examined the technical, social and political issues surrounding energy management and use in California, Nevada and Arizona. Instructors: Sally Benson, Bruce Cain, and David Freyberg.
Students travelled 1,500 miles across Wyoming to study energy generation and extraction. Instructors: Sally Benson, Bruce Cain, and David Freyberg.
2013: The Last Frontier of the American West
2012: People, Land, and Water in the Heart of the West
2011: The Colorado River: Water in the West, as Seen from a Raft in the Grand Canyon
2007: The Federal Government and the West
2006: What's the Matter with California?
2005: Spinning the West
Student Profiles
There are many ways to get involved with the Lane Center and each students' road will be different. We invite you to read the stories of previous Lane Center students who shared their paths. You may decide to follow their lead or use their experiences as inspiration to write your own story.
