IARD 4011

Student-Community Partnerships in Ecuador I

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2014-2015.

Partners students with community practitioners in a rural region of Ecuador and prepares them for a service trip to Ecuador during Winter break. The class will expose students to a community that has rejected the prospect of open-pit mining, and instead attempted to create an alternative model of development focusing on artisan cooperatives, conservation initiatives, and sustainable agriculture. A series of guest lecturers from a wide range of disciplines will contextualize the case-study by addressing issues of sustainable development, community-based conservation, and resistance to extractive industries.  Students will communicate directly with practitioners in Ecuador during the Fall semester and develop projects with their practitioners. Students will be able to choose between three topics: Design and Marketing for Artisanal Women's Groups, Agroforestry and Ecoagriculture for a Shade-Grown Coffee Cooperative, and Ecological Conservation and Reserve Management for a local conservation.

When Offered Fall.

Permission Note Enrollment limited to: juniors, seniors, or graduate students.
Prerequisites/Corequisites Prerequisite: International Experience and some conversational Spanish preferred.

Satisfies Requirement Taking both IARD 4011 and IARD 6011 satifies diversity requirement for CALS.

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