Iowa State University
AC-5: Immersive Experience

Statistics and Sustainability in Italy
The College of Engineering hosts a summer program in Turin, Italy centered around statistics and sustainability. Required courses highlight topics in sustainability, including next-generation bio fuels and food engineering. Politecnico Di Torino, the host university, conducts exciting research pertaining to many aspects of sustainability explored in the program. Industry tours include Chemtex, the bio fuel research and development center.

AIFS Study Abroad in the Galapagos Islands
Based at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) extension campus on the island of San Cristóbal, this Ecosystems and Biodiversity in The Galápagos course is taught by USFQ faculty in English. Academic field excursions take you into the designated visitor sites to discover species of flora and fauna that exist nowhere else on earth. Transcripts issued by USFQ. Cultural visits and activities provide a robust experience as students learn about the Galápagos' major ecosystems firsthand.

Cultural Studies in Sri Lanka: Work, the Environment, Religion, and Food
The summer study abroad program, Cultural Studies in Sri Lanka: Work, the Environment, Religion, and Food, heavily explores sustainability, religion, archaeology, culture, globalization, industry/labor relations, and agriculture. Students travel to Colombo and Kandy to view religious sights, horticulture and bio-technology facilities, tour a “green” factory, rubber plantation, tea factory, coconut farm, botanical gardens and an elephant sanctuary.

Creating a School Garden: Service-Learning in Uganda
This service learning internship allows Iowa State students to work in Uganda developing a school garden for an elementary school in Kamuli District. Students will develop a garden and work with the teachers in grades 1 through 7 to deliver curriculum in agriculture, science and nutrition using the garden. Students will also participate in one or more bi-national team projects that support the overall goals of the school gardens program.

Changing Lives in Thailand
This exciting study abroad experience introduces students to Thai culture and social change in a variety of ways. Once in Thailand, students will work with top social and development experts in ongoing service projects, thereby enabling them to have a real and lasting impact. The projects and visits includes a humanely-run elephant preserve, an orphanage providing opportunity for HIV-positive children, an organic Thai cooking school, a Hill Tribe school helping impoverished children, and a Buddhist monastery run by a female Abbott nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Along the way, students visit the architectural and cultural wonders of Chiang Mai, Bangkok, and the old capital, Ayutthaya.

Food, Nutrition, and Health: Experiential Learning in India
Food, Nutrition and Health: Experiential Learning in India, is a program to help students understand the efforts behind tackling nutrition issues in the second most populous country in the world. This program introduces students to the agriculture that sustains and affects food security and rural livelihoods in India and programs developed to impact health and nutrition, particularly in rural areas of India.

Analysis and Management of Agricultural Systems for Conservation of Natural Resources in Panama
During their intensive field experience at the Batipa Field Institute for Conservation and Sustainable Management in David, Panama, students study principles and strategies for managing natural resources while promoting economic activity and the preservation of the biodiversity of the area. Topics covered during the course include field techniques in assessing biodiversity, reforestation of conservation corridors, urban gardening, and ethics regarding indigenous, cultural and natural resources.

Horticulture on St. John
Undergraduate students learn about the culture of the people of the Caribbean and U.S. Virgin Islands’ agriculture and ecosystems, while assisting with teaching about food and agriculture, including horticulture, soil science, culinary science, nutrition, environmental science, and sustainability, at a preK-12 school. Program activities for school children help them learn how to grow, prepare, and appreciate the many facets of agriculture and food and the environment.

Project Jamaica: Greek Affairs
Engage in global service while deeply exploring social issues and building lasting relationships. Turn servant leadership theory into practice by rebuilding schools throughout Jamaica. This program is associated with a full semester course that will focus on servant leadership and social entrepreneurship.

Consortium for Sustainability Collaborative Study Abroad Program in Costa Rica
Hosted at the EARTH University in San Jose, Costa Rica, the Collaborative Summer Study Abroad Program offers students the opportunity to learn in a highly interactive, hands-on format complete with field visits, and trips to destinations in and around San Jose. The program aims to promote sustainable development on farms and encourages a better understanding about Latin American Culture