Kwantlen Polytechnic University
AC-5: Immersive Experience

Interdisciplinary Amazon Field School - Arts (3000): Learners will engage in an intensive interdisciplinary field school in the Amazon rain forest. They will take part in cultural and creative immersion activities, participate in community engagement projects, and contextualize their field learning by classroom-based analysis and critical reflection before and after their field experiences. They will develop interdisciplinary skills in creativity, academic inquiry, ecology and conservation, cultural awareness, environmental design, design thinking, and community development. Learners will become familiar with various expressive modalities of the Amazon region (e.g. design, writing, music, movement, expressive arts, materiality, storytelling, etc.) and will explore the application of those modalities in an integrative learning environment. Students will spend two weeks at the Field School site in addition to class sessions on campus before and after travel.

CityLab6 Cultivating Community - Policy Studies (2150): Using the Surrey community as a classroom, students explore sustainability through field trips and investigations, and identify community needs. Students engage in complex thinking about community values and goals, and (re-)imagine possibilities for change. Students research and apply best practices and generate sustainability ideas through team-based design processes. In collaboration with city staff and/or community organizations and members, students develop and present goals, proposals and implementation plans that further community sustainability. Students evaluate their projects and when possible implement them. This course is 6 credits, occurring over 2 semesters or one academic year.

CityLab3 Rethinking Community - Policy Studies (2140): Students will explore sustainability and develop leadership and civic skills by working on projects relevant to community partners. Students will think critically about community and/or project goals, imagining and evaluating possibilities for change. Using team-based processes, students will explore the community through field trips and research, generate, analyze and present sustainability ideas, practices and/or projects. This course is 3 credits, occurring over one semester. Applied Sustainability Seminar - Policy Studies (3110): Working with a community partner, students will investigate a sustainability challenge with a focus on public policy solutions. Students will examine evidence and case studies; explore goals and possible solutions; compare and evaluate policy tools; and, advance recommendations for change. They will produce professional quality reports and presentations. Students will develop insight into the practical difficulties of decision-making and policy development as it applies to real-life situations such as the climate emergency, equity issues such as racial justice, or urban biodiversity. This course is 3 credits and therefore occurs over the duration of one semester.

Archaeological Field Studies - Anthropology (ANTH 3361): This course involves students in active archaeological field research at one or more sites in British Columbia. Students will complete archaeological investigations using field techniques such as site survey and mapping, GPS data collection, excavation, analysis of site stratigraphy; and documentation, collection and curation of field data. Students will clean, sort and properly store archaeological materials in field and in the laboratory and will undertake data analysis. When the field research involves an Indigenous site and is supervised by Indigenous nations students will learn about the role of Indigenous knowledge, cultural information, and material evidence in archaeological field research. Archaeology at Indigenous sites is key to Indigenous self-determination, cultural preservation, decolonization, and reconciliation and therefore contributes to social sustainability in British Columbia and throughout Canada. This course consists of a six-week field studies project.

Design Thinking: Food System Connectivity in Design, Business, and Agriculture (AGRI 2500): The study of agriculture-business and food systems facilitates transdisciplinary learning and research that is intimately linked to the understanding of sustainability and the cultures that they are embedded in. This Field School will provide opportunities for students to implement problem solving and critical thinking methodologies to help students develop an understanding of the important role that agriculture and food systems play in connecting all aspects of the economy, business, environment and society as well as the value of regional food systems. Students will visit farms and food related businesses locally, nationally and/or internationally. When studying food systems, students will compare and contrast financing, marketing, pricing and logistics of food production. Students will spend two weeks at the Field School site in addition to class sessions on campus before and after travel.

Amazon Field School: https://calendar.kpu.ca/search/?search=amazon

Policy Studies Immersive Experience Courses: https://calendar.kpu.ca/courses-az/post/