Update March 8: As the class of 2024 is connecting with people, communities, and sites around the globe you can follow along by joining the ASC Global 2021 Facebook Group.
In a bit less than a week, Agnes Scott’s first-year class will begin their week-long Global Immersion Experience. Of course, no virtual learning format can substitute for the stimulation provided by physical travel. While the COVID pandemic forced us to abandon all actual travel, the creative and tireless work of the Journeys faculty leaders has resulted in a range of outstanding global learning opportunities that involve renowned international scholars and activists, bestselling authors, local community leaders, and innovative forms of synchronous and asynchronous engagement. We look forward to the time when the class of 2024 will be able to explore the world through study abroad travel. For now, we keep rooting for them as they lay the foundation for the global perspectives that will guide their learning.
Here are the topics of this year’s thirteen Journeys courses with a few examples from their virtual itineraries.
Journeys Astronomy and Discovery, led by Dr. Amy Lovell, will engage students in global learning by connecting with sites and communities in Florida and Puerto Rico. The Peak Week schedule includes 3D video tours of the Kennedy Space Center and the ISS as well as meetings with scholars and students from the University of Central Florida who work on the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. Workshops with Puerto Rican community representatives, with a historian of the Puerto Rican diaspora, and with local environmental groups in both Florida and Puerto Rico will enable students to learn about local and regional sustainability efforts.
Journeys Diversity and Health, led by Dr. Erin Bradley, provides students with insights into the public health system of Ecuador and Florida. During virtual visits and workshops with the Otavalo Health Clinic and the Chota Valley Cooperative in Ecuador, students will learn about indigeneous approaches to medicine. Conversations with the Overtown Green Haven Project in Miami will enrich students’ knowledge about the connection between environmental conservation and public health. Through virtual meetings with the Ecuadorian League of South Florida students will learn about the global cultural links between the U.S. and Ecuador.
Continue reading