Co-op Communities

Since the 1920s, the Co-op program has empowered generations of Antiochians with a unique brand of experiential education that applies the rigor and reflection of the liberal arts to the complex and challenging realities of employment and community. We recognize that the most powerful educational resource is real-world experience, and that the best teacher is community engagement. With these tools in hand, we have set about building an educational program that produces creative and intelligent adults - artists, scientists and revolutionaries - with a passion for learning and common mission of social and environmental justice.

In a world of cut-throat competition, Antioch has built an educational model that emphasizes the power of cooperation. The Cooperative Education program (Co-op) links students up with unique and valuable employment opportunities that complement their studies on campus. Students bring their passion and creativity to their jobs and in return they gain useful skills and invaluable experience.

Finding Your Way

The most profound learning that takes place on Co-op is the result of students making sense of the new and unfamiliar territory that they inhabit for four months. Although Antioch provides job support and advising throughout the Co-op experience, students become increasingly independent; they find their own apartments, pay their own bills, and learn quickly how to make their own way in the world.

With the basics of independent living under their belt, students are able to begin exploring their adopted communities. They develop relationships with co-workers and neighbors, and engage in the civic, cultural and political activities around them. The co-op semester is an opportunity for students to put the analytical tools of Antioch’s liberal arts education to work. Students are challenged to become “participant observers” in their co-op community, reflecting deeply on their experience in its historical, ecological and political contexts.

Place as Text

In addition to 12 co-op credits, students are able to earn 4 academic credits for completing a community-based course during each co-op. During the first co-op students take “Place as Context: Learning from Community". During the second co-op students build upon that experience in "Place as Membership: Engaging with Community. Finally, during their third co-op students  take "Place as Inquiry: Contributing to Community." This course systematically explores the multiple meanings of place, utilizing local leaders as professors and the community itself as a classroom. Digging deeply into their environment, students develop a greater understanding and appreciation for the complexities of a community, and are able to critically evaluate their role as visitors within multiple contexts. As a result, students become informed, responsive members of their host community, and are able to make a contribution to the place responsibly and deliberately.

The co-op program is fundamentally community-based, and Antioch is dedicated to giving back to the communities that host our students. Co-op communities are cities or regions with a high concentration of co-op employers where Antioch has made a commitment to building a relationship of mutual benefit. Each of these localities is home to an Antioch Co-op Community Center – a liaison office that facilitates the relationship between the college and the host community. Located in Northern New Mexico, Southwestern Ohio, and Washington D.C., Antioch’s Co-op Community Centers act as resource hubs; places where college students, alumni and community residents can share their skills and knowledge and build their collective strength. Most lectures, workshops, and trainings developed for Antioch students are open for community members to participate. In addition, the Center can draw support local organizations and events with volunteers and may function as a staging ground for many community-based initiatives that draw upon the energy of co-oping Antioch students. Ultimately, Antioch’s Partnered Learning Centers break down the boundaries between “higher” education and popular education, thereby enhancing the potential of both.

Co-op Community Pages

Metro DC Co-op Community

Northern New Mexico Co-op Community

Southwestern Ohio Co-op Community

Contact Co-op Community Coordinators

Contact DC Co-op Community Coordinators

Contact Northern New Mexico Co-op Community Coordinators

Contact Ohio Co-op Community Coordinator