Furman University
ER-12: Sustainability Immersive Experience

Furman offers three-week immersive May Experiences each year. These programs may differ each year, but three example sustainability-oriented programs over the past two years include (titles and course descriptions): -Conservation and Renewable Energy: Fostering and incentivizing conservation behavior and the goal of carbon neutrality and the challenges associated with pursuing those endeavors. Mechanics of renewable energy technologies and the study of encouraging environmentally sustainable behavior. The political context in which college campuses find themselves with regard to renewable energy policy will also be examined. -Environmental Health Perspectives on Greenville County: Topical investigation of the environmental and social components of health in Greenville County. This course brings a systems approach to the multifaceted and diverse applications of environmental health at the local community scale. Integrating sustainability and public health, this course includes field trips, class discussions, documentaries, and guest speakers, exploring the topics of water/air quality, sustainable agriculture, waste management, and environmental justice. This will be an active and participatory classroom experience with the possibility for hikes, local bike rides, poverty tours, and farm visits. -Sustainable Food Practices: This class will explore three popular strategies of sustainable food systems: diets based on organic, vegetarian and/or local agriculture. Students will be asked which aspects are truly beneficial to the individual, the environment, and society; and which aspects are just "greenwashing" or lead to unexpected consequences. To answer these questions, the class will engage in a rigorous examination of the sustainability of food through readings, movies, speakers, visiting local farms and markets, and hands-on experiences. Students will be required to evaluate and synthesize information from diverse sources, including their own experiences. Each student will be encouraged to develop his/her own ethic of being a food consumer. In May 2011 and 2012, several May Experience travel courses were offered that focused on sustainability (titles and course descriptions). -China: In Search of Sustainability: China's rapid economic growth has exacerbated disparities in wealth and environmental degradation. Students will study how the Chinese government is attempting to cope with rapid urbanization, pressures on natural resources, and social inequalities. Students will explore these issues in four of China's wealthiest cities and poorest rural areas in Shanghai, Suzhou, Beijing, and Guizhou. -Global Sustainability in Guatemala: Students will improve and expand their ideas of Global Sustainability through participation in two environmental sustainability programs in Guatemala. During the days the students will provide hands on help with a variety of projects which will range from improving rural potable water supply to participating in a fair trade, shade grown coffee cooperative. Students will learn, through on the job training, how some of the world's best coffee is produced from seed to the grinds. Local guest speakers, including former guerrilla leaders and the national candidate for vice-president, will provide insight into project purposes and rural development. Weekend visits may include a world famous Monarch butterfly breeding grounds, a climb up an active volcano, Mayan ruins, and a swim in hot springs in a crater lake. -Working Toward a Sustainable New Orleans: In this experience the students will examine the city of New Orleans as text, with special attention to its sustainable rebuilding after its recent Gulf-coast catastrophes (2005’s Hurricane Katrina and 2010’s BP oil spill). Students will consider the city’s re-birth as a metaphor for the processes of writing, deep learning, and meaningful change as they work beside the people of New Orleans and engage in 3 service learning projects highlighting cultural, political, and historical context. -Field Study: Sierra Nevadas: A multi-disciplinary field study of the Sierra Nevada Mountains focusing on geology, ecology, conservation, the work and writings of John Muir, wilderness education and medicine, and human modification of the environment. The course will consist of field data collection, interpretation, and reflection. -Slow Food, Italian Style. This course will introduce students to Slow Food, an international grass-roots movement and cultural philosophy. Students will spend several days on campus prior to their departure to Rome. From Rome the group will travel to The Farm, a privately owned organic farm near the town of Sora, in the Lazio region of Italy, where students will remain in residence for two weeks. The course will offer a hands-on and in-depth look at the traditional understanding of food production and consumption in European culture, in comparison with the modern American model.