Connecticut College
AC-5: Immersive Experience

Several courses at Connecticut College are built around semester long, immersive experiences working with community partners on sustainability related projects. In these courses the immersive experience is central to the course and extends throughout the semester.

ES 290 – Goodwin-Niering Certificate Seminar: In this course, taken by sophomores upon admission to the certificate program, students work with a local land trust (Avalonia Land Conservancy) to develop a project at one of the land trust’s preserves. Students work with the volunteers and leaders from the Land Conservancy to develop projects that will positively impact the environment at the sites but also will allow for community engagement and education.

SOC 424 – Genocide/Resistance: Native Americans: This sociology course is entirely focused on working with members of the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation on projects of interest to the Nation. Students interact regularly with members of the Nation and must learn how to develop the project in collaboration (the class does not start with a set project). In Spring 2017, the topic was food insecurity and the development of a community garden to help supplement a food pantry run by the tribal nation. Students worked to discover the needs and desires of members of the Tribal Nation regarding a community garden, studied the issues of food insecurity facing the Nation, and collaboratively worked to plan a community garden that was built after the end of the semester.

ART 310 – Design: Public Practice: This class is focused on developing a design project in partnership with a community partnership that will help address community issues. In Spring 2017, it partnered with FRESH New London, an urban gardening organization that “seeks social change through food justice and youth empowerment” to design public spaces related to food in New London. The goal of the course is to create social change through the power of design in a process of co-creation with communities.
https://www.conncoll.edu/news/cc-magazine/past-issues/2017-issues/winter-2017/edible-landscapes/

ES 295 – Field Work in Environmental Education: this course is entirely focused on an intensive experience working in environmental education at the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center. The nature center focuses on helping the public gain an understanding of the natural and cultural landscape and includes a colonial homestead as well as a working sustainable farm.

Arbo Project: The Arbo Project is a student led environmental education project in the College Arboretum. Students learn about the ecology of the arboretum and conservation issues and then lead tours of the arboretum for groups of for K-12 aged children from the local community. This provides an important environmental education opportunity for youth in the community that are often not connected with the natural world. Students in the program are involved for at least an academic year.
https://www.conncoll.edu/the-arboretum/visiting-the-arboretum/the-arbo-project/