Cornell University
AC-5: Immersive Experience

Cornell University offers several sustainability- focused, immersive educational study programs locally and all over the world.

For example, in the full year course PLHRT 4270 and 4271: Seed to Supper, students work in teams to facilitate workshops to present to garden educators in the spring semester, preparing to lead effective garden-based programs. Gardens are a powerful catalyst for learning and are important to community development. Students examine the garden’s role in community food security/justice. Learn about programs which address food security through gardening, such as Seed to Supper, based on an Oregon Food Bank model. Consider the capabilities and skills needed by facilitators who prepare novice gardeners to connect with others in their communities, grow in confidence, and successfully raise a portion of their own food on a limited budget. Students are expected to take PLHRT 4271 in the spring semester and use their facilitation skills with community audiences. Some gardening included, but the focus is on facilitation.

Cornell also offers the following immersive service-learning courses, among others:
- ALS 2000: Leadership for Sustainability - This course is for students who are interested in becoming leaders for sustainability while on campus and throughout their lives. It is open to all levels. Students will focus primarily on sustainability issues in residence halls but opportunities to address similar issues across campus and/or in the community are also available. In the fall semester the focus is on reducing waste. During the spring semester emphasis is on reducing energy use and the risks associated with a changing climate. Students will increase their leadership and communication skills and better understand how to motivate themselves and others to change behaviors that will improve our stewardship of the world around us.
- BIOEE 3611: Field Ecology - Exercises designed to give students direct experience with field research to address ecological hypotheses, with emphasis on developing observational skills and basic methods in population and community ecology. Topics include methods in plant succession, niche relationships, influence of herbivores and competitors on plant communities, aquatic food web analysis, use of scientific collections, and presenting research results in written and oral form. We will visit a diversity of habitats and natural areas in Central New York. Students will conduct an independent research project and present their findings.
- CRP 3072/5072: Land Use, Environmental Planning, and Urban Design Workshop - Participants provide technical assistance to communities, and have the opportunity to work with communities in resolving critical planning issues. Topics may include development of land use and natural conservation plans, community redevelopment plans, design and analysis of public spaces, and strategies for making communities more environmentally and economically sustainable.
CRP 5660: Planning and Preservation Practice: Urban Field Trip - Students participate in field study of city planning, preservation, economic and community development, and real estate issues in large eastern U.S. cities. Preparatory lecture(s) and a brief summary essay are required.
- DSOC 3400: Agriculture, Food, Sustainability, and Social Justice - In this course we will use a sociological perspective to examine the social, political, economic and environmental aspects of agriculture and food. Engaged, critical learning is encouraged, including regular field trips for hands-on learning, guest speakers and films as well as discussions and lecture-based classes.
- ENTOM 3350: Naturalist Outreach Practicum - An interdisciplinary course on how to do effective scientific outreach. The goals of the course are 1) to train students to speak about science with passion and clarity, 2) for the students to be able to teach science effectively in classrooms, science centers, and in large community outreach events, and 3) to train a generation of civically engaged scientific outreach leaders. Students give presentations in schools.
- HADM 4315: Nonprofit Social Enterprise and Food Justice - This course will provide an overview of nonprofit food service management through service-learning, with a focus food systems, social ventures and economic policies. Key objectives include identifying management best practices for leading nonprofit food service organizations, including strategy, managing employees/volunteers, fundraising, grant proposal writing, board governance, and marketing and social media. Through lectures, class discussions, case study analysis, research, community service work, and a service learning final project working in collaboration with HADM 4340, students will explore the economic, social, and political issues of combating poverty and hunger in the United States. The focus of the course will be on nonprofit food service organizations designed to combat hunger in our communities such as food banks, soup kitchens and shelters, and community outreach programs, and school feeding program.
- HADM 6500: Sustainable Development - An advanced, experiential learning course in which students are primarily tasked to work directly with hospitality companies to solve real sustainability-related issues in the marketplace. Projects are related to the greening of current operations (operational), the refurbishment of existing assets and properties (brownfield), and the establishment of new businesses (Greenfield). The goal is to help students develop and refine critical analysis and decision-making skills related to hospitality management and sustainability through hands-on learning experiences. Short weekend practicum trip required.
- NTRES 3260: Applied Conservation Ecology - An interactive-field and lab course designed to provide direct experience with some of the most important field methods and analytical techniques used to examine species, ecosystem and community-level function, structure, and value, especially within the context of contemporary conservation ecology and evolutionary theory. Tools include field sampling techniques, resource and conservation mapping, spatial referencing, GIS, measures of biodiversity, and manual and automated techniques for studying soil, stream, forest, terrestrial, and marine biota and related physical factors. The class is designed to provide a strong background in field research methods and theory related to ecological conservation.
- IARD 4850: Case Studies in International Ecoagriculture and Environmental Conservation - This course has been designed for students interested in applying their accumulated knowledge and experiences to interdisciplinary, real-world problems facing food and fiber production, environmental conservation, and sustainable development worldwide.
- AquaClara Project Team - Student teams conduct research, build working models, design full-scale prototypes, create design algorithms, and create educational materials for technology transfer to improve drinking water quality in the Global South. For more information, see aguaclara.cee.cornell.edu.