City as Text™ (CAT) is one of the earliest structural forms of experiential learning created and practiced in the United States. This monograph explores the centrality of writing in the process of active learning, focusing primarily on the Faculty Institutes and Honors Semesters that foster CAT experiences. All manifestations of this pedagogical strategy share basic elements: focus on a broad theme; background reading; explorations; experts as supplements to personal experience; reflections on experience through group discussions; ambitious writing projects; collaboration; and interdisciplinarity. All CAT-centered educational experiences also feature four primary strategies in a set of instructions that is distributed at conferences and institutes: (1) mapping; (2) observing; (3) listening; and (4) reflecting. As this monograph illustrates, City as Text is a site-based form of experiential education that requires rigorous training of its facilitators and practitioners. This monograph contains the following chapters: (1) History and Theory of Recursive Writing in Experiential Education (Bernice Braid); (2) Claiming a Voice through Writing (John Major); (3) The Role of Background Readings and Experts (Ada Long); (4) The Beginner's Mind: Recursive Writing in NCHC Faculty Institutes (Sara E. Quay); (5) Assigning, Analyzing, and Assessing Recursive Writing in Honors Semesters (Ann Raia); (6) Finding Appropriate Assignments: Mapping an Honors Semester (Robyn S. Martin); (7) Adapting City as Text™ and Adopting Reflective Writing in Switzerland (Michaela Ruppert Smith); (8) Writing as Transformation (Rebekah Stone, Nicholas Magilton, Nancy Nethery, and Brittney Pietrzak); (9) Experiential Learning, Reflective Writing, and Civic Dialogue: Keeping Democracy on its Feet (Gladys Palma de Schrynemakers); and (10) The Whole Journey: Observations, First Impressions, and Turning Point Essays from Faculty Institutes (Sara E. Quay, Ada Long, and Joy Ochs). An about the authors section is included. (Individual chapters contain references.)