Emory University
AC-5: Immersive Experience

Emory University offers several venues for immersive, sustainability-focused, experiences. Each of these programs includes a combination of in-class and off-campus activities to provide students with training in the history and theory of sustainability as well as in the field experiences.

Undergraduate Environmental Sciences Internships: Emory University offers undergraduate students majoring or minoring in Environmental Sciences (ENVS) the opportunity to receive academic credit for off-campus, paid, or unpaid internships in environmental or climate-based realms. To qualify, students must receive approval from the ENVS Department in advance of starting the internship, and then enroll in ENVS 497 in the fall semester after the internship has been completed. This course meets approximately every other week (8 sessions) during the fall semester. The internship itself must consist of at least 160 hours of work. Grading is based on class readings, assignments, and participation in class discussion - which allow each class member to process their summer internship experience, then further develop networking skills, the ability to research future career pathways and develop a career plan that extends forward through graduation. ■ Website URL: http://envs.emory.edu/home/undergraduate/internship-program.html

Community Building & Social Change Fellows Program (CBSC): Through academic coursework, an intensive, paid 10-week internship summer field experience, site visits, small group meetings, and public presentations, CBSC Fellows have opportunities to see firsthand the critical role that collaboration plays in the resolution of important public issues. They can also hone the skills needed to transform their passion for social justice into meaningful actions that revitalize communities and promote positive and lasting social change. Past experiences include Cross Keys Sustainable Neighborhoods to establish a baseline county for affordable housing around Buford Highway, diversifying DeKalb County Parks and Recreation, and sustainable development with the Coalition for a Diverse DeKalb. ■ Website URL: http://community.emory.edu/programs/cbsc.html + https://www.emorycbsc.com/cbscprojects

Turner Environmental Law Clinic: The Turner Environmental Law Clinic provides important pro bono legal representation to individuals, community groups, and nonprofit organizations that seek to protect and restore the natural environment for the benefit of the public. Through its work, the clinic offers students an intense, hands-on introduction to environmental law and trains the next generation of environmental attorneys. The key matters occupying their docket — fighting for clean and sustainable energy, promoting regenerative agriculture and local food systems, and protecting our natural resources — are among the most critical issues for our city, state, region, and nation. Each year, the Clinic enrolls up to 24 Emory Law students. ■ Website URL: http://law.emory.edu/academics/clinics/faculty-led-clinics/turner-environmental-law-clinic.html 

Urban Health Initiative (UHI): The Urban Health Initiative works to provide health disparities education and advocacy, build collaborative partnerships, and develop best practice models with low-resourced communities and those who work with them to advance equity in health and well-being. UHI follows Emory’s Place-Based Strategy for Community Engagement within Emory’s Strategic Plan 2005-2015. This approach focuses in 5 priority areas (NPU-V/Pittsburgh Mechanicsville, East Lake, Edgewood, Northwest Atlanta, and Clarkston) and additional focal areas in the Atlanta community where Emory seeks to concentrate its impact. Staff and volunteers include members of Emory’s undergraduate schools, master's programs, and community members. The Urban Health Initiative carries out a diverse set of projects aimed at sustainably addressing the social determinants of health and health disparities, such as the Street Medicine and Housing Insecurity Program which recruits student volunteers at the start of the semester for involvement throughout the academic year. The Sprouting Readers program is garden-themed for children primarily targeted toward children in K-2nd grade.  Sprouting Readers© utilizes a multi-modal approach to fulfilling its mission to help children develop a love of learning, and knowledge about food and nutrition, which leverages Emory students throughout the K-12 school year Website URL: http://urbanhealthinitiative.emory.edu/index.html

Breaking the Cycle of Environmental Health Disparities in Children: Break the Cycle is a collaborative interdisciplinary research and training program to cultivate leadership in children’s environmental health disparities. The target populations are communities where the environmental hazards are related to circumstances of social and economic disadvantage. University students from a variety of disciplines are encouraged to develop projects that will “Break the Cycle of Environmental Health Disparities” among vulnerable children. Over an academic year, recruited students develop and implement projects, present their findings at a conference, and publish two papers on their work. BTC will be celebrating its 20th year having worked with over 200 students to date. ■ Website URL: https://www.breakthecycleprogram.org/ + https://www.nursing.emory.edu/pehsu/home

Freiburg Environmental Studies and Sustainability Study-Abroad Program: Emory University, in partnership with Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, offers students a semester-long study abroad opportunity focused on the eco-friendly industry that has developed in Freiburg, Germany. Students can take courses in environmental studies, forest ecology, and sustainable innovation – many of which include outdoor research activities in the Black Forest and Rhine River Valley. Courses are designed as three-week modules with an emphasis on hands-on study and experiences with ecological processes and human effects on the environment. Included in the program is also a carbon offset for the approximate round-trip air travel of each student. ■ Website URL: https://abroad.emory.edu/index.cfm?FuseAction=Programs.ViewProgramAngular&id=1703

The Ethics and Servant Leadership Program (EASL): EASL offers students an opportunity to participate in summer internships, alternative Spring Break trips, and the Forum (an academic year program lasting 22 weeks) while teaching students about service and community involvement. The Servant Leader Summer internship requires a minimum of 270 hours of service. Many of these opportunities provide sustainability-focused immersive experiences, including placements at Emory's Office of Sustainability Initiatives, Decatur High School Community Garden, The Carter Center, Greening Youth Foundation, Park Pride, Trees Atlanta, Urban League, CARE, and Gaia Gardens. ■ Website URL: http://www.ethics.emory.edu/pillars/citizenship/EASL/

Environmental Sciences Service-Learning Course (ENVS 491): This semester-long practicum course pairs small student teams with external stakeholders to carry out hands-on projects that serve stakeholder needs. Projects usually involve data collection, data interpretation, and communication to contribute to solving an environmental issue. Stakeholders range from local NGOs and neighborhood groups to the environmental offices of state and federal agencies, and students are paired with stakeholders based on their career goals and interests. Most stakeholders meet with students multiple times throughout the semester to provide mentorship and guidance on their focal project. Student teams report project outcomes in both written reports and as presentations to stakeholder offices. In 2022, the student team focused on opportunities for modifying bridges and culverts so they can function as wildlife crossings to reduce habitat fragmentation and wildlife-vehicle collisions. In addition to searching the literature, the team sent a nationwide survey to all 50 state Departments of Transportation to compile information about best practices and costs in other states. These projects have been mostly remote with occasional visits to GDOT’s Atlanta headquarters for meetings.■ Website URL: http://catalog.college.emory.edu/academics/departments/environmental-sciences.html

Emory COP Delegation: Emory has sent a delegation to the UN Climate Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC since 2015. The delegations were led by Emory faculty and included undergraduate students, graduate students, and staff members. A course component exists for this program, as ENVS 426 is offered to students selected to participate in a one-week fieldwork trip to the U.N. Climate Change Negotiation as a part of Emory's delegation. The course explores interdisciplinary climate change issues from science, policy, and business perspectives. In 2023, thirteen students and faculty represented Emory at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) in December in the United Arab Emirates. ■ Website URL: https://climatetalks.emory.edu/delegations/cop-student-delegations + https://climatetalks.emory.edu/wrapper-wrapper/current-cohort

Social Enterprise at Goizueta Business School: A directed study open to all students at Emory University, the travel module allows students to study and learn in the classroom and then experience it firsthand. A course-based trip, the module provides students a chance to study and experience issues related to sustainable economic development in Latin America through both class meetings on campus and a 9-day experience in El Salvador, Nicaragua, or Guatemala. ■ Website URL: https://goizueta.emory.edu/faculty/social-enterprise/programs

Emory Alternative Breaks: Emory offers various trips that tackle social justice and sustainability concerns across the Southeast. Trips over fall break are 4 days in length and trips over spring break are 7 to 10 days. One example is Interconnected: Rethinking Place and Community in Charleston, SC. Students on the trip explored the interrelated nature of housing injustice and homelessness, racial injustice and discrimination, and environmental injustice through a critical examination of how people conceptualize and interact with their place and their community. ■ Website URL: http://community.emory.edu/programs/alternative-breaks.html

The Farmworker Family Health Program: The Farmworker Family Health Program is an inter-professional, in-country, cultural immersion service learning experience. Each summer in June, select undergraduate and graduate students from the Emory Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, University of Georgia School of Pharmacy, Georgia State University and Brenau University Departments of Physical Therapy, Clayton State University and Central Georgia Tech College Departments of Dental Hygiene spend two weeks delivering vital health care to farm workers and their children in a farming community in southwest Georgia. ■ Website URL: http://www.nursing.emory.edu/student-life/service-learning/farmworker-family-health-program.html

Emory Global Health Institute (EGHI): The two main objectives of the Emory Global Health Institute are to foster global health scholarships and help train the next generation of global health leaders. EGHI has many innovative multidisciplinary learning experiences, with programs and activities such as Emory Global Health Care Competitions, Field Scholars Award Program (usually a least one semester in length), Global Health Scholars Symposium/Hackathon, Global Health Student Photography Contest, and Student Advisory Committee. ■ Website URL: http://www.globalhealth.emory.edu/what/student_programs/index.html

Master’s in Development Practice (MDP): The Master's in Development Practice (MDP) program at Emory combines experiential learning and field-based practicum with rigorous academic training in a broad range of disciplines to meet the challenge of sustainable development. This integrated approach aims to produce a new generation of development professionals - prepared and committed to serving as catalysts to vulnerable people's efforts to pursue livelihood security, economic opportunity, and meaningful empowerment. Emory's MDP program is a two-year course of study and practice that builds on an organic fusion of core scientific disciplines, development themes, and pragmatic skills. The program capitalizes on its partnership with prestigious development-oriented institutions, like CARE, the Carter Center, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These partners' global reach, and the grassroots experience of collaborating organizations in the global South, will provide students with invaluable exposure to the way development practitioners operate in the real world and with a perspective on the different institutional contexts in which they will serve after completion of their degrees. ■ Website URL: http://web.gs.emory.edu/mdp/

All data reported in this section are from September 2022-August 2023.