Students will spend their semester in the highlands of Ecuador, learning about local and global environmental challenges while immersing themselves in the Spanish language. The Global Environmental Challenges program explores various environmental issues of today and tomorrow through an integrated lens of science and humanities. The first 12 weeks of the program take place in the highlands of Cuenca, Ecuador, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Students live in a homestay with an Ecuadorian family, being fully immersed in a Spanish speaking community. No previous Spanish language experience is necessary - students will be placed in one Spanish class at the appropriate level. An additional three courses (taught in English) complete the semester, centering around the local and global environmental challenges facing this region and how people are meeting them.
After the initial 12 weeks of the program, students synthesize what they've learned so far in a final three-week module at two remote, world-class ecological research stations: one week at the Tiputini Biodiversity Station in the Amazon River basin and two weeks at the Galapagos Science Center on San Cristóbal Island in the Galápagos Islands. During this intense module, students will gain hand-on experience in data collection and learn about the specific challenges facing this region of the world.
For the entirety of the program, students have the opportunity of a lifetime to will engage in field trips to local communities and organizations to learn more about the environmental issues brought up in class. They will be able to engage with a plethora of environmental issues and reflect on the differences between their own linguistic and cultural backgrounds and those found in their host communities.
Students from three schools, Rhodes, Centre, and Sewanee, will take part in this unique liberal arts collaboration examining these timely and important questions. The Program Leader for each fall will be a faculty member from one of these schools.
This is a Rhodes program and all courses are Rhodes courses. The grades will appear on the student's transcript as grades earned and will be factored into the Rhodes GPA. F11 will be granted for successful completion of the program. Student applications are on the Buckman Center's website.
Courses:
Tropical Biology: ENVS 108, 4 credits. This course surveys the diversity of tropical ecosystems and examines the ecological and evolutionary processes that shape them. Through lectures, readings, discussions, and guest speakers, the course examines foundational theories and major themes in tropical biology, including species diversity, adaptations and coevolution, community structure, biogeography, and conservation challenges. The course uses Ecuador as a model to illustrate general principles and contemporary issues in tropical ecology and conservation. By the end of this course, you’ll be able to A: Identify major tropical ecosystems, describe their climatic and biological characteristics, and explain the fundamental reasons tropical systems differ from temperate ones. B: Understand the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms that shape patterns of species diversity and explain why there are so many species in the tropics. C: Critically examine the assumptions and empirical evidence supporting or rejecting hypotheses that have guided our understanding of tropical ecosystems. D: Understand the major threats to tropical ecosystems and how ecological principles can inform conservation efforts.
Linking the Local to the Global: ENVS 207, 4 credits. This course examines local environmental challenges in Cuenca, Ecuador and nearby locations. Examples of potential topics include, but are not limited to: gold mining and its effects on water quality, eco-agricultural sustainable food production, corn sovereignty (small production vs. large agro-industrial production), and invasive species of flora and fauna (e.g. introduction of trout in Cajas). Experiential learning will be a significant element of the course and students will regularly visit local communities, NGOs, museums, governmental offices, etc. so that students can learn from those who are most affected by these issues. Additionally, students will observe local community members’ engagement in political activism, artistic expression, and cultural practices that illustrate their experiences with the environment and their efforts to pursue alternative ways of interfacing with the natural world. While each of the environmental challenges mentioned above is present in and around Cuenca, the course explicitly explores links to the broader global context. For example, gold mining has a negative impact on the environment in this region; however, mining has similar effects on various communities around the world, from coal mining in the southeastern United States to cobalt mining in central Africa. The course includes discussions around questions such as: How does the practice affect the environment (land, water, air)? What are the reasons for these environmentally damaging practices? How are these practices affecting local and global communities of people? How are the affected communities employing artistic expression to illustrate their experiences? What alternatives have been suggested or implemented? What are the obstacles to achieving solutions?
Environment, Conservation and Policy Issues: ENVS 107, 4 credits. In this course, students will be introduced to the most influential factors shaping the ecosystems and their conservation looking at the global, regional and local factors that determine the climates and the contrasting ecosystems that can be found in Ecuador. The course includes several field visits to the the lowlands of the Ecuadorian Amazon (Tiputini Biodiversity Station) and the Galápagos Islands, allowing students to experience first-hand current topics of conservation and policy issues, while discussing the main environmental challenges associated with the conservation of natural ecosystems in tropical developing countries. Additionally, this course reviews the environmental issues facing contemporary Ecuador in the context of a transforming global reality. We look at specific environmental issues that are of concern for Ecuador and the region including, the oil industry and indigenous communities in the Amazon Basin, aquaculture, and shrimp farming, introduced species, large scale ranching and deforestation, fisheries, and the management of fragile marine ecosystems such as the Galapagos. We investigate possible solutions that consider political and ecological pressures, perspectives of indigenous populations, environmentalists, the governments, NGOs, as well as international investors and multinational companies. It all revolves around this little but diverse country.
Spanish Language Course: (Spanish language, 4 credits). Students will take one Spanish language course at Cuenca's Sampere Institute, ranging from Introductory Spanish 101 through Advanced Spanish 425. Specialized courses at the intermediate and advanced levels include "Cultura y civilización latinoamericana," "Panorámica de la literatura latinoamericana," and "Español para los negocios." F10 is granted for successful completion of Español 201, B1:1. There are no Spanish prerequisites for this program. All students will be placed into a Spanish language course at their level. "Prerequisite" is understood as the Rhodes course listed, the equivalent, or permission of the Rhodes Director of Spanish.