Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 74.49
Liaison Krista Bailey
Submission Date Dec. 17, 2020

STARS v2.2

Pennsylvania State University
AC-5: Immersive Experience

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00
"---" 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:

Penn State offers a number of courses and programs with sustainability-focused immersive experiences, both domestic and abroad. Topics may change from year to year. Listed below are some examples. Additional information on study abroad programs can be found here: https://gpglobalea.gp.psu.edu

"City Semester Pittsburgh": While living in the heart of Pittsburgh, students participate in a rewarding internship with a prominent community partner, take relevant online courses, and join fellow students in an urban sustainability course taught at the Penn State Center Pittsburgh space in the Energy Innovation Center, exploring issues in climate action, architectural design, clean energy, landscape architecture, urban equality, education, and more.

Students who participate in the course "Issues in Economic, Community and Agricultural Development in Kenya" (AGECO/ CED 499) develop viable economic and social development options in vulnerable youth, culminating with 3 weeks in Kenya.

EGEE 497 - Sustainable Energy in New Zealand: This course examines methods of energy recovery and conversion from conventional fossil fuels through renewables. Students will investigate the political, economic, scientific and technological factors driving the recovery and utilization of energy using New Zealand as an archetypical example.

The Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship (HESE) program is an integrated learning, research, and entrepreneurship program that brings together students and faculty across campus in the rigorous research, design, field-testing, and launch of technology-based enterprises in low- and middle-income countries. Through a series of five courses, HESE teams systematically advance ventures over multiple years with aspirations for large-scale commercialization and dissemination. The overarching goal is to deliver sustainable impact while preparing students for careers in social innovation and global sustainable development.

The Adventure Literature series of courses - offered as ENGL 181 - explores the relationship between culture and nature through reading and place-based experiences. In one course, Sailing the Chesapeake: Cultural and Natural Landscapes, students read classic texts about the Bay while participating in a series of weekend trips meant to deepen their knowledge of the Bay and its watershed. In another, The Beach: Cultural Artifact/ Environmental Reality, students read and study the nature and culture of the shore, with specific attention to the South Carolina Low Country.


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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