Experience Lancaster
Meaningful Partnerships. Shared Impact.
Diplomats don’t simply live in Lancaster — we are intricately woven into the fabric of our community. Across the city and county, our faculty, students, and staff work alongside community partners on research, education, service, the arts, public health, and more. These partnerships contribute to the vitality of our community while giving you meaningful opportunities to learn through experience, apply your knowledge, and make a difference close to home.
Explore the interactive map below to see some examples of how F&M faculty and students are actively collaborating with community partners!
How We Do It
You’ll discover Lancaster is the ideal place to practice, participate, and contribute to a thriving community that’s a microcosm of the world. Experience Lancaster, a program distinct to F&M, curates and connects you with opportunities to engage in internships, service, research, and more so you can make an impact in your own backyard.
Research and Community-Based Learning
Lancaster is a living laboratory, featuring abundant research and learning opportunities across a variety of disciplines. Your professors work with Experience Lancaster to team up with local businesses and bring real-world problems into the classroom.
At F&M, you could:
- Investigate the city’s historical roots and uncover Lancaster's secret side
- Decode the language of nature to better understand how Lancaster’s biodiversity and community can thrive together
- Monitor how Lancaster's air-quality index was temporarily affected by Canadian wildfires
Internships
Lancaster is plentiful with internship possibilities spanning a wide range of industries — and Experience Lancaster and our Center for Career and Professional Development will help you discover and land those positions. We proactively build and nurture connections with Lancaster-based businesses, F&M alumni, and parents and friends of the College to cultivate a wide range of internship opportunities that allow you to explore careers of interest and enrich your academic journey.
At F&M, you could:
- Intern with a local art show to get a firsthand look at how communities unite through a shared love of the arts
- Immerse yourself in real-world animal care by interning with a local wildlife rehabilitation center
- Spend a summer as a research assistant and archivist preserving American history
Service and Volunteering
Being a Diplomat means becoming a thoughtful and active member of a community. As the central hub for community-engaged learning, F&M's Ware Institute for Civic Engagement empowers you to turn bold ideas into real-world solutions, forge meaningful connections, and lead positive growth in our home city of Lancaster.
At F&M, you could:
- Connect with local Lancaster leaders through hands-on mentorships
- Assist with a campus-wide effort to redistribute items donated during move-out—ranging from books and clothing to food and cleaning supplies—to local nonprofits and campus resources
- Repair and restore a home in Lancaster alongside fellow Diplomats who share your passion for making the world a better place
Discover & Explore
Uncover the dynamic offerings of our renaissance city. Experience Lancaster orchestrates monthly excursions to local sites of historical and cultural value, so you can develop an intimate appreciation of Lancaster as a historic town and lively city.
At F&M, you could:
- Go tubing along Pequea Creek.
- Pick up local produce, meats, fresh baked bread, flowers, coffee, and more by visiting Lancaster Central Market, the oldest continuously operated public market in America.
- Check out Lancaster’s First Fridays, when 90-plus galleries, museums, shops and restaurants extend their hours into the evening.
“Education doesn’t just happen in the classroom. It happens through community engagement as well.”
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“If you live in a place, if you exist in a place, you should be doing something to have a positive impact on that place.”
— Will Kiefer ’14, founder of the Lancaster nonprofit Bench Mark Program, an organization that uses exercise, academic support, and career counseling to propel at-risk youth toward successful futures.
F&M in Lancaster
September 2, 2026
‘I Find It Important and Necessary’: Uncovering Lancaster's Hidden History
For Frances Taylor ’27, the Lancaster Vice project checked all the right boxes: collaborating with a faculty mentor, exploring how their two majors converge in the real world, and unearthing stories the city had forgotten. “I enjoy learning about hidden history that popular culture often overlooks,” Taylor said.
August 24, 2026
F&M and Fulton Bank: Where Liberal Arts and Innovation Meet
For Moemen Ibrahim ’26, an assignment to reach out to a Franklin & Marshall College alumna on LinkedIn led to much more than a career conversation. It became the beginning of an internship and an introduction to the world of innovation at Fulton Bank — and has also led to a full-time job.
August 10, 2026
‘For the Love of People and Art’: F&M Student Interns at the Mount Gretna Art Show
Layla Beyer ’27 is getting a firsthand look at how communities unite through a shared love of the arts. Beyer, who studies history of art and architecture and theatre, is interning with the Mount Gretna Outdoor Art Show. “It is really inspiring to see this kind of work get done for the love of people and art,” she said.