Dickinson College
AC-5: Immersive Experience

Dickinson offers semester-long, sustainability-focused, immersive Mosaics. Their objective is to encourage students to think reflexively about the diverse world in which they live as they engage in collaborative work with local, transnational, and international communities. Mosaics provide opportunities for students to meaningfully apply what they are learning in the classroom, both theoretically and methodologically, to the world beyond – and to bring their experiences in the world back into the classroom.

Dickinson Mosaics challenge students to ask significant and relevant questions of the people and communities with which they are working; to actively listen to what others say about their lives and realities; to reflect on their own lives, worlds, and perspectives; to design research that addresses the needs and interests of their partner communities; and finally to present what they have discovered in thoughtful, effective, and ethical ways to multiple audiences.

In Fall 2017, Dickinson's Climate Change and Human Security in Nepal Mosaic offered students from all majors the opportunity to join an interdisciplinary research team that will explored multiple dimensions of climate change and its connections to human security. Students and instructors explored sustainability with particular focus on Nepal through a Mosaic composed of courses in Environmental Studies, International Business and Management and Interdisciplinary Studies plus an independent research course that will feature a three-week field component in Nepal.

Some other recent sustainability-focused Dickinson mosaics include:

-Sustainability in Italy: Environment, Culture and Food
-Natural History Sustainability Mosaic II, Chesapeake Bay Watershed (Fall 2016)
-Cuba Mini-Mosaic (January 2016, Associated with SPAN 360 and SPAN 380/LALC 300-01/FLST 310-04: Cubania and Cuban Cinema courses)
-Meltdowns and Waves: Responding to Disasters in the US and Japan, Japan (Mini-Mosaic Summer 2016)
-Mediterranean Migration Mosaic: Italy at the Crossroads, Italy (Spring 2016)
-Inequality in Brazil: An Exploration of Race, Class, Gender and Geography, Multi-city Brazil (Summer 2015)
-Race and Education: Assessing American and South African Education Since Civil Rights and the End of Apartheid (Summer/Fall 2015)
-Global Climate Change Mosaic, Lima, Peru (Fall 2014)
-Eco-Entrepreneurship Path Mosaic, Dickinson (Spring 2014)
-Introduction to Sustainable Practices in Public Art, Norway (Spring 2014)

Each summer, Dickinson offers a number of study abroad summer immersion programs, which often include one or more sustainability focused programs. Recent sustainability focused summer programs have gone to Cameroon, Tanzania, China, France, Germany, Israel, and Italy.

The American and Global Mosaics are intensive, interdisciplinary, sustainability-focused, semester-long research programs designed around ethnographic fieldwork and immersion in domestic and global communities. Their objective is to encourage students to think reflexively about the diverse world in which they live as they engage in collaborative work with local, transnational, and international communities. The Mosaics provide opportunities for students to meaningfully apply what they are learning in the classroom, both theoretically and methodologically, to the world beyond – and to bring their experiences in the world back into the classroom.

The Mosaics challenge students to ask significant and relevant questions of the people and communities with which they are working; to actively listen to what others say about their lives and realities; to reflect on their own lives, worlds, and perspectives; to design research that addresses the needs and interests of their partner communities; and finally to present what they have discovered in thoughtful, effective, and ethical ways to multiple audiences. Students learn not only how to design and conduct research but also how to produce their findings and analyses in various forms: written research papers and reports, conference presentations, video documentaries, audio podcasts, and multi-media websites.

The design of a specific Mosaic program is driven by pedagogical and research concerns and faculty interest and availability. A number of different models have emerged, including a full semester of coursework taken by students with 2-3 faculty from different disciplines, cluster courses, and a one credit course that integrates a winter term or a spring break research trip. See what is upcoming here:

http://www.dickinson.edu/info/20056/center_for_global_study_and_engagement/2218/mosaics_and_globally_integrated_courses