Sterling College (VT)
AC-5: Immersive Experience

"Agricultural Adaptations to Climate Change in Chiapas, Mexico": This innovative two-week course will provide students with the opportunity to study the political, ecological, and historical aspects of sustainable agriculture in and around Chiapas, Mexico. This four-credit course is offered by Sterling College. Students will explore this complex, fertile, and productive region. Faculty from Sterling College, an on-site community facilitator and researcher, as well as a Vermont commercial farmer, will guide students through the impacts of climate change in Chiapas, as well as through ecological adaptation strategies such as organic horticulture and community collaboration. The region offers a unique living classroom for students to learn about climate change and sustainable agriculture. Chiapas has coastal mountain peaks and cloud forests that are home to traditional milpa agriculture and coffee production, as well as plains that have been deforested by conventional ranching. The area also has coastal mangroves that serve as a key watershed resource for local fisheries. Students will learn firsthand about the pressures of climate change on agriculture and they will have the opportunity to observe solutions in action, including integrated watershed management, agroecological production systems, shade-grown coffee, and community development programs. In the coastal plains, community ranching groups are re-foresting pastures. In the Chiapan jungle, students will meet with indigenous groups to discuss links between the global economy, deforestation, and palm oil plantations, as well as explore the Mayan heritage of the region. Students will learn about real world solutions to the challenges of climate change, then strategize how to implement these solutions back home, in research, and in service work around the world.

A Sterling education is both local and global. Our sense of place in Craftsbury Common and Vermont is enriched by participation in our Global Field Studies experiences. Through Global Field Studies, Sterling students and faculty have the opportunity to travel together within the United States or abroad to look at issues related to environmental stewardship and to experience rich ecological and cultural diversity. Recent programs have included: Arctic Canada—Labrador landscapes and society Bahamas—impacts of land use on coral reefs Belize—rainforest ecosystems and tropical watersheds Canada—impact of hydroelectric development Chiapas, Mexico—agricultural adaptations to climate change High Sierra Nevada, California—expedition skills, ecology, and natural history of the Sierra Nevada Hudson River Watershed—nature and culture of a changing landscape Maritime Canada—marine natural history and ecology of the North Atlantic