2026-2027 Ampersand Programs
Ampersand Programs provide students with at least two consecutive semesters of coursework featuring in-depth interdisciplinary exploration of a specific topic. Ampersand Programs offer a cohort-based, seminar-style learning environment and incorporate a variety of experiential learning opportunities.
Ampersand Programs offered in 2026-2027:
Bring Shakespeare off the page and onto the stage by exploring how his plays are performed, reimagined, and made meaningful for contemporary audiences.
Journey into literature and the arts, by collaborating with local artists, exploring the St. Louis creative scene, and publishing an original anthology of your own work.
Explore the intersections of science, engineering, business, and creativity to discover how science innovations make their way into the real world.
Discover how myth, culture, and democracy shaped ancient Greece—and how their legacies still inform our world today.
Trace what makes us human from our biological and cultural origins to the ways societies navigate crisis and collapse. Discover how human diversity past and present illuminate our capacity for resilience.
Please note: program website coming soon.
Investigate exoplanets and black holes to uncover how planets form, space bends, and life might exist beyond Earth.
LEARN MORE ABOUT Gateway Expeditions into BLACK HOLES AND Exoplanets
Rethink what it means to be a global citizen by connecting critical global perspectives with local engagement and lived experience.
Examine cancer from molecule to bedside, connecting biological mechanisms with the realities of patient care.
Look beyond popular narratives to explore the full landscape of the Holocaust through rigorous study of its history, representation, and enduring legacy.
Learn MORE aBOUT History, Memory AND Representation of the Holocaust
Delve into the rich literary history of Ireland by exploring political movements that informed and inspired some of the greatest literary works of the twentieth century.
Explore the world of medical anthropology—the study of human health across culture, time, and location with particular attention paid to cultural, social, political, economic and ethical dimensions.
Investigate how mind, brain, and behavior connect through hands-on case studies and interdisciplinary research in cognitive science.
Connect place-based learning, global conservation, and real-world problem solving in this multi-year interdisciplinary pathway in environmental leadership and sustainability.
Learn More ABOUT Pathfinder Fellows in Environmental Leadership
Study the connections between our planet and human health to discover creative solutions that promote healthier communities and a more sustainable future.
Embark on a laboratory experience in a national research project by discovering and analyzing your own bacteriophage.
Examine global migration through theory, policy, and lived experience, from international borders to local communities.
Engage the classic texts and enduring ideas that have shaped cultures, societies, and ways of thinking across time and place.
Journey through fashion and power, exploring how style has shaped bodies, identities, and culture from the fifteenth century to today.
Past Ampersand Programs
While not offered in academic year 2026-2027, these programs run in select or alternating years and are listed here to give you a sense of the range of Ampersand Program opportunities.
Explore the beats, rhymes, and cultural creativity that started as a local New York City fad and exploded into a global phenomenon. Also, learn about how this genre shaped race in America.
Please note: This program runs in alternating years and will not be offered in academic year 2026-2027.
If an American landscape could tell a story, what would it say? American Stories is an interdisciplinary approach to reading landscapes from the nineteenth century to today, uncovering untold stories of American places and the people, politics, and power that shaped them.
Please note: This program runs in alternating years and will not be offered in academic year 2026-2027.
Grapple with the legacies of historical injustice in St. Louis and around the world, and build a collective understanding of local and global reparative efforts.
Please note: This program will not be offered in academic year 2026-2027.
Explore the history and ongoing evolution of mass media, including how digital technologies have shaped journalism, publishing, documentary, and more, to then create content specific to traditional and new media channels.
Please note: This program will not be offered in academic year 2026-2027.
Explore the history and culture of ancient Rome and learn how the ancient Romans influenced our modern world, for better and for worse.
Please note: This program runs in alternating years and will not be offered in academic year 2026-2027.