Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 57.65
Liaison Michelle Seppala Gibbs
Submission Date March 6, 2020

STARS v2.2

Hope College
AC-5: Immersive Experience

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Steve Bouma-Prediger
Professor of Religion
Religion
"---" 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:

Because of both its academic mission and Christian commitment to care for the Earth, sustainability courses from a wide range of academic disciplines are offered to as many students as possible.

A few examples include:
Our Day One Program which allows students (any major) to plug in to hands-on research projects and solve real-world problems in laboratories and in the field, right from day one. Topics include Michigan Rocks, Watershed, and Great Lakes. For more go to http://www.hope.edu/academics/day1/

The College offers four-week long May, June, and July terms, during which some sustainability courses are offered, e.g. Ecological Theology and Ethics in the Adirondacks, a Geology course in the Bahamas, and Biology courses in Tanzania and Ecuador. For more go to http://www.hope.edu/offices/registrar/registration-schedules/summer-registration.html

In REL 365, students spend two weeks backpacking and canoeing/kayaking in the Adirondack mountains of upstate New York, studying the natural world and the various causes of current ecological degradation as well as the witness of Christian scripture and tradition concerning matters ecological, the duties and responsibilities of humans as Earthkeepers, and the practical implications of living in a more Earth-friendly way.

In GEMS 295, students travel to Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas to study geology and biology, the ways that people have used those geological and biological resources, and how new practices might lead to a more sustainable future.


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:
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