CAMPUS NEWS
LUKE GASCHO
COLLEGE ANNOUNCES SUSTAINABILITY SEMESTER AT MERRY LEA Starting in the fall 2011, undergraduates will have a unique opportunity to earn a semester of college credit in an unconventional way: the Sustainability Semester in Residence for students at the Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center. A cohort of six to 15 students will engage complex problems related to the regional watershed while studying and living at the college’s 1,189-acre nature preserve near Wolf Lake, Ind. “There are no other programs like it,” said Luke Gascho, executive director of Merry Lea. “There are some that have commonalities, but none focused on sustainability that combine all of the aspects of this program in the way that we do.” Students will be immersed in the ecosystems they are studying. The program will incorporate the Elkhart River watershed with an active style of learning with professors and living in community with fellow students. And while the primary focus of study will be water, students will work with such broader themes as regeneration, sustainable living and eco-justice for the entire semester. “Water is a natural central theme for our program for several reasons,” said Merry Lea Environmental Science Educator Lisa Zinn, director of the sustainability semester. “One is that this part of Indiana was at one time a huge complex of lakes, wetlands and swamps that were eventually drained, dramatically changing the landscape. Also, water is one of the things that we all hold in common in this area. We all depend on the water in our watershed for many things, but that water is not owned by one person or entity. Exploring how we manage and treat something that we all value and hold in common is a great model for many environmental issues of our time.” Participating students will live in cottages that make up Rieth Village, which earned Indiana’s first platinum LEED rating from
the U.S. Green Building Council in 2007. Because of the building’s design, students will flush toilets with rainwater, heat their coffee with solar power and stay cool with the help of white metal roofs and careful building orientation. The method of teaching for this semester-long program will be problem-based learning, which means that instead of being passive consumers of lectures, students will be solving problems by asking questions, researching answers, integrating theory with practice and communicating what they learn with others. In particular, this kind of learning expects students to draw from multiple disciplines to find the best solutions. Class time will include activities such as visiting local nonprofits and canoeing on the Elkhart River. During the semester students will earn 15 credit hours in classes about environmental policy and politics, faith and ethics in relation to the environment, the biology of water sources and more. Though this program may be of particular interest for environmental science majors, students from all majors (and from other colleges) are invited to participate and find ways to connect sustainability with their major or a minor. Zinn said, “We hope that students will leave this program with hope for the future and feel empowered to be able to affect change in their own communities. We want them to understand that environmental problems are complex and that there is always a wide range of perspectives on each issue. However, we want them to leave feeling they have the tools to approach those complex problems and work with others to address them in effective ways.” You can learn more about the program at: goshen.edu/merrylea.
– Jodi H. Beyeler
INTERCULTURAL SEMESTER TO BEGIN All Goshen College students will be required to complete an Intercultural Semester as part of their general education under a plan being phased in starting this fall. Currently, all noninternational students are required to take a semester of international education, which can be satisfied by completing the traditional international Study-Service Term (SST), the Domestic SST: Latino Studies in Northern Indiana, or oncampus alternative courses. Under the new model, students will be required to complete an
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Spring 2011
Intercultural Semester, which can be satisfied by the traditional international SST, the Domestic SST: Latino Studies Program (taken in one semester or across one or two years) or other approved international programs. In addition, international students will choose from Domestic SST: Latino Studies or a set of courses on U.S. culture with parallel objectives to international and domestic SST. Academic Dean Anita Stalter said students entering in the fall 2011 will choose between the traditional or domestic SST program. The new model will be phased in over several years for other classes.