Chatham University
AC-5: Immersive Experience

In the sense that sustainability is one of the three mission initiatives of the university, and as such is a constant conversation and more and more a part of daily life. There is no formal program in the sense of an isolated "experience." Being at Chatham University itself is a sustainable experience because sustainability is infused into every part of the institution. Below are course descriptions for sustainability-focused immersive programs, including summer courses and Chatham field experiences: Summer Courses: FST 683 Special Topics: Orchard Sustainability 2013 Summer Session (7 wks), Instructor Nadine Lehrer, Independent Study, 3 credits Focusing on field experiences, this course explores food and agriculture, primarily tree fruit orchard production, in central Washington State. Classroom work and field experiences will explore historical, cultural, agronomic, economic, and geopolitical aspects of tree fruit in Washington. Topics include: orchard production, organic orcharding, “local food” politics, and food systems issues (water, climate, culture, politics) specific to the U.S. arid west. OTD 733 Global Health Perspectives: A Field Experience – Kenya 2013 Summer Session (7 wks), Instructor Ingrid Provident, Independent Study, 3 credits This course is intended to provide an opportunity for occupational therapy students to study and experience global health issues by participating in an international fieldwork experience. This experience is intended to give students the opportunity to 1) understand the culture and contemporary health care issues of the visited country 2) illustrate the role or potential role of occupational therapy in contributing to the health and wellbeing of the population and 3) reflect on their personal growth and on the sustainability of their service. FST 616 Cultivating the Midwest: Corn and Soybeans 2014 Summer Session 3 (7 wk), Instructor Nadine Lehrer, Classroom, 3 credits Combined with field experiences in western Minnesota, this course explores food and agriculture in the Midwestern U.S. Classroom work and field experiences will explore historical, cultural, agronomic, economic, and geopolitical issues, including corn and soybean production, processing and distribution, alternative agrifood networks, and other food systems issues in the Midwest. OTH633B Global Health Perspectives: A Field Experience 2014 Summer OT Session 2, Instructor Joseph Schreiber, Independent Study, 2 credits This course is intended to provide an opportunity for occupational therapy students to study and experience global health issues by participating in an international fieldwork experience. This experience is intended to give students the opportunity to 1) understand the culture and contemporary health care issues of the visited country 2) illustrate the role or potential role of occupational therapy in contributing to the health and wellbeing of the population and 3) reflect on their personal growth and on the sustainability of their service. FST 602 Global Agriculture (Focus on Costa Rica) 2015 Summer Session 2 (7 wks), Instructors Nadine Lehrer & John Taylor, 3 credits The three credit course, taught on the EARTH campus and in surrounding farms will: *Address both historically-specific and globally socio-political questions surrounding tropical agriculture, ecosystem services, sustainability, food production, and international development; *Examine the opportunities and challenges to sustainable development, environmental conservation, and agricultural production in Costa Rica; *Analyze the implications of and the relationships between the typically bifurcated agricultural system (commodity export production on one hand and smallholder subsistence oriented farming on the other) of much of Latin American and the global South more broadly; *Develop a comparative understanding of agricultural production in a tropical ecosystem. This course will meet three times in Pittsburgh, and will then center on a two-week trip to EARTH University in Costa Rica in August 2015. Chatham Field Experiences: Brazil: Endangered Species in the Pantanal Faculty: Dr. David Fraser Duration: May 3-May 18, 2014 The Course: This course is designed to guide students through a service learning environment centered on the sustainable development and resource management in the Pantanal region of Brazil. During the course, students will participate in ongoing research projects by doing data collection, analysis, and presentation at evening slide shows. Projects may vary depending on the current research need but will focus on habitat and population monitoring. In particular the pied tamarind and white-lipped peccary are endangered in the Pantanal and students will participate in capture and radio tracking protocols. Prerequisite Course: ENV 129, Our Fragile Earth MWF 2:00-2:50, or CHM 343, Environmental Chemistry MWF 8:30-9:20 (this class has a prerequisite CHM 205) Brazil: Sustainable Energy Practices and Construction in the Pantanal Faculty: Dr. Robert Lettan Duration: May 3-May 18, 2014 The Course: We will be working with a research project in the Pantanal region of Brazil. The project works to support and implement sustainable development and improve protected area management. It also reaches out to ranchers to help minimize livestock-carnivore conflict on private lands. The conservationists on the project are continuing to explore littleknown wild places, particularly in the Amazon, in order to set up conservation priorities and make new contributions to science. Prerequisite Course: ENV 129, Our Fragile Earth MWF 2:00-2:50, or CHM 343, Environmental Chemistry MWF 8:30-9:20 (this class has a prerequisite CHM 205)