University of Dayton
AC-5: Immersive Experience

ETHOS seeks to provide service-learning experience through technical immersions, student activities, research, and hands-on projects. Through these experiences, students have gained perspectives on how engineering and technology are influenced by the world. Participating students have been able to use their engineering skills for humanitarian purposes, serving others through practical engineering knowledge. Our alumni learn about the world, different cultures and themselves.

The Sustainability, Energy & the Environment ILLC is for students of any major. You’re invited to think critically about the myriad approaches to sustainability, energy, and the environment by integrating material from several different disciplines throughout two semesters. Humanities Commons courses will share readings and attend events together, and students and faculty in all of the courses will interact and integrate activities. The first-year seminar features guest lecturers from across the University and also includes community leaders, giving you the opportunity to explore sustainability, energy, and environmental themes from different points of view and to contribute your own ideas through projects and student-initiated events. The SEE ILLC is part of UD’s Sustainability, Energy & the Environment Initiative.

Malawi Practicum: Working closely with the local community leaders and organizations and other Malawian university students, each practicum student designs and conducts a research project on a critical human rights or development issue. This research provides the community and leaders with much needed analytics and affords the students invaluable –indeed, life changing –experiences and opportunities to learn from the Malawians.

Sustainability, Ecology, and City Planning in Eastern Europe. Leipzig and the State of Saxony in Eastern Germany give students a fantastic location to study how modern industrial planning and creative solutions are being employed to address myriad environmental issues that have arisen. As “green” thinking plays an increasingly significant role in German society and politics, creative solutions have been implemented to address various environmental issues. Accordingly, sustainability, energy systems, ethical issues and city planning are the primary topics of focus in Leipzig. All students participate in a multidisciplinary and fully integrated program encompassing sustainability, energy, and environment; sociology; and philosophy. In addition, guest presentations may include local political groups and guests from our corporate partner, BMW-Leipzig who will provide a hands-on experience and the tools necessary to evaluate the success of various green initiatives. Additional experiences include visits to wind farms, nuclear and conventional power plants, water treatment facilities, solar farms, a reclaimed uranium mine and a reclaimed brown-coal strip mine. Leipzig and Dayton are comparable in numerous ways and the success of initiatives in Leipzig may be transferable to our Dayton community.