College Credit
What courses are offered?
CELL’s experiential semester programs run 12 weeks and
consist of a combination of structured course work, field-learning
experiences, and service-learning opportunities.
Although all semester programs are interdisciplinary by
design, academic credit is structured into five flexible three-credit
courses that integrate theory with real-world applications.
Courses for Iceland Program:
Icelandic Culture, Language, and History (LINTD
2003)
(Interdisciplinary course designed to fulfill Language,
History, Sociology, or Interdisciplinary requirements - 3 credits)
This course introduces students to modern Icelandic
language
and surveys the history, culture, and civilization of the Viking era
and
its influence on shaping contemporary Icelandic values. Through a
variety
of course activities, including field trips and site visits, students
explore
cultural and historical values that have helped to shape Icelandic
values
in the 21st Century (with a particular focus on what has helped to
shape
Iceland’s commitment to sustainability).
<>Service Learning: Sustainability Through Community
(LINTD 3707)
(Interdisciplinary course designed to fulfill
Interdisciplinary, Sociology, or Service-Learning course requirements -
3 credits) - Course
offered in both Iceland and Central America
This service-learning course challenges students to apply what they are
learning in their academic courses to real-life sustainability issues
and practices in the eco-village where they are living. Students work
hand-in-hand with community partners to create appropriate and
innovative solutions to environmental, economic, cultural, and social
challenges facing a small community’s commitment to living sustainably.
Specific service-learning projects will be driven by the needs of the
local community and the interests of individual students. Through
structured reflection exercises and journaling, students explore how
the principles of sustainability can be applied imaginatively on a
micro- and macro-scale.
Global Warming:
Changing CO2urse (LINTD 2001)
(Interdisciplinary course designed to fulfill Geology,
Geography, Environmental Science, or Interdisciplinary requirements - 3
credits)
This course introduces students to Iceland's unique
geology
and provides inspiring examples of how Iceland is utilizing carbon-free
geothermal
resources for heating and for hydrogen and electricity production. The
course
also explores how communities around the world are experiencing the
effects
of global warming. Although global warming is a daunting issue, the
course
explores new strategies for addressing climate change and considers
personal
action to mitigate the effects of global warming. Note: During
the semester program, students live a carbon negative lifestyle
and personally play an active role in helping to reduce global carbon
emissions.
Sustainability: Secrets of Simplicity (LINTD
3699)
(Interdisciplinary coursed designed to fulfill
Interdisciplinary, Sociology, or Ecology requirements - 3 credits) - Course offered in
both Iceland and Central America
This interdisciplinary course examines the field of
sustainability and explores creative ways to build sustainable
communities. We look at innovative strategies currently being
implemented (both worldwide and in Iceland/Central America) to
proactively address issues threatening sustainability. The focus of
this class is to examine the choices we make and to look at how to
incorporate sustainable practices into our lives. Students also explore
the principles of voluntary simplicity and the relationship of
these principles to sustainability and to their own lives. Students
live in one of the world’s oldest and unique eco-villages and have
ample opportunities to apply what they are learning in the classroom to
real-life sustainability projects (these projects will be coordinated
with students’ service-learning course).
Crossroads Thinking
Skills for the 21st Century (LINTD
4000)
(Designed to fulfill English, Philosophy,
Sociology, or Interdisciplinary requirements - 3 credits) - Course offered in
both Iceland and Central America
 |
| Student with solar cooker |
<>This course grounds students in a new and
interdisciplinary way of
thinking. Crossroads thinking
combines elements of critical and creative thinking and helps students
to
develop skills in questioning, imagining possibilities, exploring
opportunities, analyzing alternatives, synthesizing ideas, and
evaluating
thought. Through a variety of course activities, students identify
essential
intellectual traits, question long-held assumptions or biases, evaluate
ideas,
reason honestly and open-mindedly, problem-solve, and form objective
conclusions. Students learn that “things are not always as they seem,”
and they
develop the capacity and skill to be able to examine thought from
different
points of view (e.g. cultural, political, social, economic, scientific,
artistic, gender-based, multi-age-based, spiritual, philosophical,
historical,
empathetic, and integrated perspectives). This course will stretch both
the
depth and breadth of your thinking. Note: The skills students learn in
this
course are infused across the
curriculum(i.e. applied in all of the
courses and activities that students participate in during the semester
program).
Courses for Central America Program:
Language, History, and Culture of Costa Rica,
Honduras, and Nicaragua (LINTD 2003)
(Interdisciplinary course designed to fulfill
Language, History, Sociology, or Interdisciplinary requirements - 3
credits)
 |
| student with local children
|
This interdisciplinary course provides students with an
immersion experience in the language of the host country. Through
classroom instruction and living with a host family, students develop
an ability to converse in basic Spanish. Students who have already
completed one year or more of college-level Spanish, receive more
intensive intermediate Spanish instruction and practice. In addition,
this course also gives students an overview of the culture of the host
country.
Service-Learning: Sustainability Through Community
(LINTD 3707)
(Interdisciplinary course designed to fulfill
Interdisciplinary, Sociology, or Service-Learning course requirements -
3 credits) - Course
offered in both Central America and Iceland
This service-learning course is designed to immerse
students in another culture and to provide real-life opportunities to
assist a community in becoming environmentally, economically, and
socially sustainable. Students participate in a dynamic process
involving local participants in the evolution of new habits-of-living
and making-a-living that incorporate renewable energy and other
environmentally sound strategies for achieving sustainability.
Specific service-learning projects will be driven by the needs of the
local community. Through structured reflection exercises and
journaling, students will constantly evaluate their progress, examining
how theory relates to their real-world experience in the community.
Human Ecology: Humans and Their Environment (LINTD
3700)
(Interdisciplinary course designed to fulfill
Geography, Sociology, Environmental Science, or Interdisciplinary
requirements - 3 credits)
This interdisciplinary course provides students with an
understanding of how ecological systems work, how the structure and
function of these systems is altered by human activity, and how we can
minimize our impact on these systems. The course is designed to help
students understand the relationships between the principles of ecology
and human environmental decision making. Students develop an
understanding of biologic and biomimicry (i.e., human innovations
inspired by nature), as well as sustainability, and have opportunities
to visit a number of community-based, ecologically sustainable
projects.
Sustainability: Secrets of Simplicity (LINTD
3699)
(Interdisciplinary coursed designed to fulfill
Interdisciplinary, Sociology, or Ecology requirements - 3 credits) -
Course
offered in both Central America and Iceland
This interdisciplinary course examines the field of
sustainability and explores creative ways to build sustainable
communities. We look at innovative strategies currently being
implemented (both worldwide and in Iceland/Central America) to
proactively address issues threatening sustainability. The focus of
this class is to examine the choices we make and to look at how to
incorporate sustainable practices into our lives. Students also explore
the principles of voluntary simplicity and the relationship of
these principles to sustainability and to their own lives. Students
live in one of the world’s oldest and unique eco-villages and have
ample opportunities to apply what they are learning in the classroom to
real-life sustainability projects (these projects will be coordinated
with students’ service-learning course).
Sustainability Global Environmental Issues: Problems
and Solutions (not taught every year - LINTD 3703)
(Interdisciplinary course designed to fulfill
Environmental Science, Sociology, or Interdisciplinary requirements - 3
credits)
 |
| Totogalpa, Nicaragua |
This interdisciplinary course
explores environmental problems and solutions. Students examine a
civilization in trouble and the major environmental problems our planet
is facing: exploding population, rising temperatures, falling water
tables, eroding soils and expanding deserts, shrinking food capacity –
in short, the course will explore how we are exceeding our planet’s
carrying capacity.
In the solutions part of this course, we examine successful strategies
currently being implemented to proactively address the problems our
planet is facing: from conserving shrinking water tables to raising
land productivity, from cutting carbon emissions through
renewable-energy systems to stabilizing population growth, from
preventing soil erosion to innovative livestock-management strategies
and holistic development. This course examines initiatives in
environmental stewardship currently being implemented in some countries
and how they can be adopted worldwide. It also encourages students to
explore other creative sustainability solutions.
Crossroads Thinking Skills for the 21st Century
(LINTD 4000)
<>
(Designed to fulfill English, Philosophy,
Sociology, or Interdisciplinary requirements - 3 credits) - Course taught in
both Central America and Iceland
 |
| Student with solar cooker |
This course grounds students in a new and
interdisciplinary way of thinking. Crossroads thinking
combines elements of critical and creative thinking and helps students
to develop skills in questioning, imagining possibilities, exploring
opportunities, analyzing alternatives, synthesizing ideas, and
evaluating thought. Through a variety of course activities, students
identify essential intellectual traits, question long-held assumptions
or biases, evaluate ideas, reason honestly and open-mindedly,
problem-solve, and form objective conclusions. Students learn that
“things are not always as they seem,” and they develop the capacity and
skill to be able to examine thought from different points of view (e.g.
cultural, political, social, economic, scientific, artistic,
gender-based, multi-age-based, spiritual, philosophical, historical,
empathetic, and integrated perspectives). This course will stretch both
the depth and breadth of your thinking. Note: The skills students learn in
this course are infused across the curriculum (i.e. applied in
all of the courses and activities that students participate in during
the semester program).
 |
