How a Lehigh capstone course sent architecture students into a simulated humanitarian crisis—and sparked a student chapter built to carry the work forward
Just days into last fall’s semester, a group of Lehigh University students boarded a plane for rural Oregon, where they would spend several days in a hands-on disaster response simulation.
The trip marked the beginning of a sponsored capstone course in Lehigh's Department of Art, Architecture and Design (AAD), created in partnership with ShelterBox USA, the U.S.-based arm of the international disaster relief organization. For the students, it was an abrupt shift from the studio and a first look at how humanitarian responders assess communities after disaster.
What began as an introduction to humanitarian response has since grown into something more permanent: Lehigh's ShelterBox Student Chapter, which held its inaugural event, Humanitarian Work in Today's World, on April 14, 2026.
Read the full story on the College of Arts and Sciences News.