Lawrence University
AC-5: Immersive Experience

Our Biology and Geology departments regularly offer multi-week immersive experiences as part of their coursework. The Biology department's Marine Term, for example, includes three courses (a full load) and two weeks of field experience in the Caribbean. An interdisciplinary program called Sustainable China is also offered; it comprises a number of compulsory courses including Environment and the Economy and culminates in a 2-3 week trip to China to explore sustainability issues there. This program is funded by a 4 year Henry Luce Foundation Initiative on Asian Studies and the Environment. In addition to our own programs, we partner with study-abroad programs in the Gulf of Mexico, Italy and Costa Rica to offer students immersive experience. Another interdisciplinary program studies Sierra Leone in classroom and in Sierra Leone. Through the efforts of numerous Lawrence students, some working on class projects and others as volunteer, over $35,000 has been raised to place a solar-power, bore hole well in the Conforti School community center. The well will provide clean water to over 500 people, and the school's management of the well should help to ensure that the well is lasting for the future. The sustainability of water projects in Africa is one of the most challenging of all 'sustainability' issues as wells are easy to build but difficult to maintain. The aim of these efforts, coordianted by KidsGive, is that continued connections to the school and the community will enhance sustainabilty of the physical structure of the well, and therefore improve the social conditions of the community. KidsGive is a student club, a practicum offering of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship program, a scholarship program of Lawrence University for children in Sierra Leone.  It members include involve both current students and alums, who serve on its Advisory Board