Goshen College
AC-5: Immersive Experience

The Sustainability Leadership Semester is an undergraduate immersion program offered by Sustainability and Environmental Education Department. This is a fall semester program focused on sustainability and regeneration. A cohort of students spends the semester in full-time residence at Merry Lea's Rieth Village, where they are immersed in the issues they are studying. Students closely evaluate day-to-day decisions and make sustainable living choices concerning both personal lifestyle and community life. They study ecosystems and their functions at Merry Lea and in the surrounding region. The Sustainability Leadership Semester (SLS) is a problem-based learning experience in which students engage in solving real issues of local concern. The learning community provides an opportunity for students and faculty with a wide range of backgrounds and expertise to contribute to the process of understanding these problems and looking for solutions. Students interact with people from the local community who are faced with real environmental issues and learn the complexity of and interdisciplinary nature of possible solutions.

Agroecology Summer Intensive: The Agroecology Summer Intensive (ASI) is a 10 week residential program based at Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center’s Sustainable Farm. Students live, work, eat, and play together in an immersive residential learning community housed within our LEED platinum certified cottages at Rieth Village. This program focuses on sustainable agriculture with emphasis on interconnected systems and interdisciplinary learning, making the ASI program broadly relevant. Agroecology is an important part of the growing effort to make human activities more compatible with natural ecosystems. ASI students not only learn about growing food, but also gain practical life skills while engaging in interdisciplinary, culturally-rich learning. Not only will students learn science concepts, students will also learn about cooking, nutrition, social systems, and the economy of food and farming!

Sust 298 Ecology and Sustainability in India: (1 month program) This course focuses on the intense connection between ecological context and human society by studying across the steep elevation gradient between the North Indian Plains and the Himalaya Mountains. Students will examine the ways that social structures and practices contribute to or detract from the sustainability of human life in diverse landscapes. The course will included project-based analysis of sustainability strategies with an eye towards their applicability in the North American context.

Econ 375 Ecological Economics in Ecuador: (1 month program) Depth study on the interaction between ecology and economics. Intended to accommodate student interest and/or faculty expertise in specific business issues. Specific topics include unique biodiversity, sustainable economic development, and cultural learning.

Kin 255 Camping an Recreation:(1 month program) Students will have hands-on experience in a wilderness setting. They will learn a variety of skills including: trip planning, map and compass reading, environmental care and study, spiritual growth and leadership skills. Other skills will be related specifically to either backpacking and/or canoeing.