Concordia College - Moorhead
AC-5: Immersive Experience

Concordia College offers sustainability-focused immersive experience programs for students that give them the opportunity to witness and learn in-depth about sustainability challenges and solutions. One such program is the study abroad experience called Sustainable Development Practice in India. This amazing program gives students the chance to learn first-hand about current issues in developing countries, by being in contact with people who work every day to improve living conditions in India. By using an "action-reflection" model of learning, students will take a variety of topical courses that include Earth Care and Adaptation; Religion, Ethics, and Social Change; Human Rights and Economic Justice; Community Learning Capstone Experience. Using a combination of in-class orientation lectures and field trips, students learn directly about the subject from and with people who are actually being affected, and those who are working as agents of change.

Additionally, High Impact Leadership trips are week-long sustainability-focused road trips that take place over fall or spring break. The trips are completely student led and always center around a Sustainability centric theme. The trips are planned to engage students in Sustainability topics in new ways by exploring new locations, talking to relevant organizations, and engaging in sustainable travel practives. Pasts trips have included the the study of "Mindfulness in the Wilderness", "Sustainable Developement in San Jose", "Art and Sustainability", and "Sustainable Policy." The students plan the trips with guidance from Concordia's Sustainability Coordinator, and a faculty or staff memeber accomplanies the group to ensure the experience is educational and safe. These programs are a great way to build community between students passionate about sustainability and develop and understanding of how to apply the concepts of sustainability in a variety of circumstances.

There is also ICDS, which, jointly with Universidad Latina de Costa Rica, offers students the opportunity to build their own semester according to their interests and academic needs. Choose from a variety of courses related to sustainable development and social justice including the environment, politics, and human rights. The goal of this program is to help students acquire an in-depth knowledge of these topics and develop cultural awareness through exposure and immersion into the Costa Rican way of life.