Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 66.69
Liaison Laurie Husted
Submission Date June 8, 2020

STARS v2.2

Bard College
AC-5: Immersive Experience

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Erin Cannan-Campolong
Assoc. Dir. CCE
CCE
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution offer at least one immersive, sustainability-focused educational study program that is one week or more in length?:
Yes

A brief description of the sustainability-focused immersive program(s) offered by the institution:
1. Annually Bard requires its first years to complete a two week long Citizen Science Program that focuses on a sustainability topic. For the past two years the focus has been on water. The goal of the Citizen Science program at Bard College is to provide students with opportunities to develop their personal science literacy through hands-on, real-world course work and projects. Citizen Science is an innovative program for all first-year students at Bard College. Through two weeks of intensive study during January intersession, students develop a core understanding of both the conduct and the content of science. This foundation allows them as citizens to grapple with the ever-increasing number of national and global issues influenced by science. The first-year experience at Bard is designed as an immersive introduction to the liberal arts and critical thinking across disciplines. This experience serves as a foundation for all students as they pursue their particular area of interest and encounter issues driven by science that permeate society and impact their daily lives. The Citizen Science Program is a dynamic and challenging learning experience aimed at elevating the ability of each student to understand and apply scientific thought and tools. The program emphasizes the methodology and critical thinking skills used by scientists, and their application. During Citizen Science, students learn by doing. Students are fully engaged in problem solving and must learn to identify, obtain, and digest the types of scientific evidence needed to make informed decisions. Citizen Science mirrors what it is to be a scientist.
2. BardCEP students participate in two-week intensive immersion courses during January of each year, known as J-term courses: All MS students participate in a ten-day intensive course, during January of the first year. During this faculty-led experience in Oaxaca, Mexico students work with local NGOs to understand how food, energy and water policies both affect local communities and how those policies evolve in a developing country context. All travel and lodging are included as part of program fees. The course is also open to the public for credit or certificate.

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the institution’s immersive education programs is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Bard Citizen Science: https://citizenscience.bard.edu/
https://www.bard.edu/news/details/?id=11940

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