Classes

I will be taking a total of 14 credits (the number listed for each course is flexible). Of what is offered, these are the courses I'm most likely to take. Work Experience is the only required course and is supposedly very well-liked.

(the descriptions are translated from Spanish)

Contemporary Issues (2 credits)
HUM 202 Ethics and Critical Thinking - Two hours of class per week.

This course offers the student the opportunity to examine the questions about the meaning of “good” and justice in the moral content of our action in present-day society. The analysis is done through the study of the work of both classic and modern thinkers.

Tropical Silviculture (3 credits)
RCN 301 Tropical Silviculture - Two hours of class and four hours of lab.

This course develops within the student the ability to characterize the tropical environment and its relationship with the forest and agricultural resources, and apply the concepts of forestry for the management of natural forests, forest plantations, and agro-forestry systems.

Tropical Fruit Cultivation (3 credits)
CUL 401 Tropical Fruit Production - Two hours of class and four hours of lab.

In this course, the student amplifies and deepens his/her knowledge related to the production of fruit of both annual and perennial cycles, as well as designs strategies for sustainable production in the humid tropics and proposes real-life solutions to minimize post-harvest losses pf fruits.

Waste Management (3 credits)
IGA 401 Waste Management - Two hours of class and four hours of lab.

The student learns to identify and explain the problems involved in waste disposal and the mechanisms available for the prevention of these problems, the natural mechanisms of assimilation of wastes, and methodology available to alleviate contamination caused by waste disposal, by reviewing information about the general problem of wastes generated by the community, farm, and agro-industry.

Work Experience (2 credits)
EXP 300 Work Experience

In the 3rd year at the University, the Work Experience courses take place outside of the university campus. The student demonstrates his/her ability to interact with the community and rural family, contributing to the improvement of their quality of life while at the same time learning from and taking advantage of the knowledge and experience of the farmer. The student plans, organizes, directs, and evaluates work done by those in production agriculture. Each model consists of ten hours of fieldwork and one hour of review per week.

This course is composed of two modules in rotation: EXP 301 and EXP 302

EXP 301 - Community Work Module

This course involves the use of the necessary tools of communication to design, implement and evaluate activities that pertain to the development of members of a rural society. The student applies techniques used in agricultural extension programs as a way to teach, and also implements techniques of rapid investigation and evaluation to develop resources management plans within a community and with a group of farmers.

The student interacts with the rural communities that surround EARTH by participating in the community projects. The student closely examines the problems that the community organizations frequently encounter, the ways in which the community leaders cope with issues and the mechanisms used to make decisions.

EXP 302 - Sustainable Agricultural Practices and the Rural Family Module

The student works closely with a rural family on special farm projects so as to create analyses of farms with the objective of finding opportunities for producers to better the use of the land for production, implement sustainable agricultural practices, and stimulate the families to better their quality of life. The student becomes more sensitive to the plight of the rural farmer and better understands the barriers that exist to become better equipped to achieve development in the societies. The course also stimulates creativity in the search for solutions to problems.

The student participates in a process of learning by doing with the producers of the region oriented toward sustainable agriculture. In this way, the farmer can share his/her knowledge with the student, and the student can share his/her experiences at the EARTH Organic Farm with the farmer.

EARTH University

I'll be taking classes at EARTH University for the next 17 weeks Starting in early January. Here is some info from EARTH's website:

"EARTH is a private, international, non-profit university offering an education in agricultural sciences and natural resources in order to contribute to sustainable development in the humid tropics."

"The University was created in 1990. One hundred new students from Latin America, Spain, and Uganda enter its Licentiate program each year."

"The EARTH educational model is based on four pillars: social commitment, environmental awareness, an entrepreneurial mentality, and the development of human values."

"The EARTH educational system combines technical instruction in agriculture with a series of practical experiences developed on the basis of a participatory learning methodology."

History of EARTH University

"The early 1980’s were a time of economic turmoil in Central America. The United States and others responded with a great deal of emergency funds to the region."

"Representatives from the Costa Rican Government, the Kellogg Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) finalized details for the project. Costa Rica enacted a law creating EARTH University in 1986, and USAID secured over $100 million in funding towards its startup."

(note: no mention of what else the US did in the region...)

3-D tour of the campus (need to have Quicktime)