Paul Blaschko

Field Notes

Where we’re going, what we’re asking, and what we find along the way.

In January 2027 we set out on a road trip to schools that are trying something different, to see where learning is changing lives and preparing people for good work.

Our home on the road is a Paradigm 395DS, from our sponsor, Alliance RV.

  • Jan 2027 the road trip begins
  • 13 regions
  • 34 schools and programs
  • 4 talks and visits this year
Map of the United States with the road trip route, later visits, and this year’s talks and visitsStart and finish123456789ABCD
Road trip, from January 2027Talks and visits, 2026Later visitsTap a point to open it below.

What we’re asking

Where is learning actually changing lives, and preparing people for good work? Four questions to test along the way.

  • Does work belong inside a liberal education?

    Work colleges, trade schools, and work-study.

    12678ABC

  • Do shared books make shared lives?

    Great Books colleges and common cores.

    23469AB

  • What makes learning go deep?

    One course at a time, seminars, the wilderness.

    4789BD

  • What can new models teach old ones?

    AI tutoring, microschools, new universities.

    35D

This year

  1. JulySteubenville, OHA college that teaches the trades and the liberal arts2 notes

    Why does work you can’t fake feel more real?

    • College of St. Joseph the Worker · Debt-free B.A. plus paid trade training
  2. SeptemberColumbia, MOA session at Main Street Summit3 notes

    What is your “real work”?

    • Main Street Summit · Session: “Finding Work That’s Real”
  3. Oct 29Birmingham, ALTalk: “Being Human in the Age of AI”1 note

    What is still ours to do when machines can do so much of our thinking?

    • Being Human in the Age of AI · AI Day at Samford University
  4. Nov 10Indiana, PAKeynote at the IUP AI SummitUpcoming

    What is real work when machines can do so much of it?

    • Keynote, IUP AI Summit · Topic: AI, work, and the future of higher education (title TBD)

The road trip, from January 2027

  1. Mid-JanThe Ozarks, MOA college where every student worksPlanned

    What happens when everyone works to pay for school?

    • College of the Ozarks · No tuition; every student works on campus
  2. Late JanDallas, TXA shared core, and two ways to work through schoolPlanned

    Can work pay for school without crowding out learning?

    • University of Dallas · Shared core and a semester in Rome
    • Paul Quinn College · Urban work college with a campus farm
    • Cristo Rey Dallas · High school students work to fund it
  3. Late Jan–early FebAustin, TXThree new models of schoolPlanned

    What should students do with the hours AI frees up?

    • Alpha School · Two hours of AI tutoring, then life skills
    • University of Austin (UATX) · A new university with a common core
    • Acton Academy · Learner-driven microschools, 300+ affiliates
  4. Mid-FebSanta Fe, NMSeminars for twenty-year-olds and sixty-year-oldsPlanned

    Does formation look different at 20 and at 60?

    • St. John’s College · Great Books, all seminar, no lectures
    • Modern Elder Academy · A school for midlife
  5. Early MarPhoenix, AZA small college inside a very large onePlanned

    Can a small college live inside a giant one?

    • Mary College at ASU · A Catholic liberal arts college inside ASU
  6. Late MarSouthern CaliforniaA trade school and a Great Books collegePlanned

    What do the trades and the Great Books teach each other?

    • Santiago Trade School · Students build and keep a 500-acre property
    • Thomas Aquinas College · Great Books, all tutorial
  7. Early AprEastern Sierra, CARanch work, study, and self-governmentPlanned

    What do labor and self-government teach that classes can’t?

    • Deep Springs College · Two years, free, on a working ranch
  8. Late Apr–early MayColorado Front RangeImmersion, apprenticeship, and contemplationPlanned

    Which forms of learning go deepest?

    • Colorado College · One course at a time
    • Arrupe Jesuit High School · Corporate work-study
    • CareerWise · Swiss-style youth apprenticeships
    • Naropa University · Meditation across the liberal arts
  9. Mid-MayLander, WYGreat Books, horses, and no phonesPlanned

    What do the wilderness and no phones add to the books?

    • Wyoming Catholic College · Great Books plus wilderness and horsemanship

Later visits

  1. The MidwestTrade schools, work colleges, and two classical coresPlanned

    Can a trade school also be a liberal arts school?

    • College of St. Joseph the Worker · Steubenville, OH
    • Hillsdale College · Hillsdale, MI
    • Harmel Academy of the Trades · Grand Rapids, MI
    • San Damiano · Springfield, IL
    • Blackburn College · Carlinville, IL
    • University of Chicago · Chicago, IL
  2. The NortheastOld cores, co-ops, and self-designed degreesPlanned

    What do the oldest cores and the newest experiments share?

    • Drexel University · Philadelphia, PA
    • Sarah Lawrence College · Bronxville, NY
    • Columbia University · New York, NY
    • Yale University · New Haven, CT
    • Bennington College · Bennington, VT
    • College of the Atlantic · Bar Harbor, ME
  3. AppalachiaTwo work collegesPlanned

    What has a century of work colleges learned?

    • Berea College · Berea, KY
    • Warren Wilson College · Asheville, NC
  4. Pacific NorthwestA required humanities course, and no gradesPlanned

    What happens to learning without grades?

    • Reed College · Portland, OR
    • Evergreen State College · Olympia, WA

The notes are written on Substack as we go. Follow along

Have a question I should ask or a location to recommend? Email me at paul [dot] blaschko [at] gmail [dot] com.

Places are shown by city or region, and dates by part of the month. Plans may change.