Center for Ecological Resilience Studies

Biodiversity and Sustainable Food Systems

Costa Rica

Summer Session 1

4 Weeks

4 Credits

Summer 2024

Jun 3 - Jul 2

Closed

Program Costs

Tuition$4,850
Room & Board$1,650
Total$6,500

Application Deadlines

Summer 2024

April 1, 2024

Resources

Costa Rica Field Guide + Financial Planner

SFS Policies and Procedures (2023)

SFS Academic Handbook (2024)

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Summer Session 1 Program

Biodiversity and Sustainable Food Systems

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Costa Rica

You’ll never look at a cup of coffee the same way again. Using coffee and chocolate as case studies, explore the relationships between food systems, ecology, conservation, and sustainability. Learn how different agricultural techniques have the potential to restore biodiversity and combat climate change. Study the sociocultural history of coffee and cacao, from Indigenous histories to modern production and exports.

Visit an agroforestry cocoa system, where you’ll get hands on with local methods of chocolate production and processing.
Visit El Toledo Coffee farm to learn about environmentally sound methods of coffee production and discuss the history and impacts of chocolate and coffee production in Latin America.
Engage in the Center’s sustainable food efforts – gather fresh mangoes from campus trees, visit the chicken coop to gather eggs, harvest kale from the garden, master composting, and more.

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Academics

This academically rigorous program follows a five-day/week schedule. Most weekends are open to explore Costa Rica or relax at the Center. Each program combines theory learned during classroom sessions with field-based applications. The interdisciplinary curriculum is designed to help students actively discover and understand the complexities of environmental, social, and economic issues in Costa Rica.

Major academic themes include:

Climate change adaptation
Agriculture and agroforestry
Ecological impacts of coffee and cacao production
Ecotourism and culinary tourism
Social justice issues surrounding sustainable food systems
Alternative strategies and methods of coffee and chocolate production

Courses

On the Biodiversity and Sustainable Food Systems program, you will take one 4-credit course. This course is participatory in nature and is designed to foster inquiry and active learning combining lectures, field exercises, assignments, and tests. This course is taught in English.

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to view a description and download the syllabus.

SFS 3141

Coffee, Chocolate, and Sustainable Development

4 credits

Core Skills

You will gain practical skills in the field such as: agricultural impacts assessment, ecosystem health survey, water quality testing, quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis, scientific writing, and research presentation.

Field Sites

You will visit different ecosystems and communities which may include coffee farms, cacao plantations, other agroecosystems and farms, agrotourism businesses, and the forests and rainforest ecosystems around agricultural areas.