“Pura Vida” was the theme for the JanTerm Course, Urban Education, which took students to Costa Rica to engage in the culture and explore the country. In her first time taking students to her home country, Associate Professor of Education Ivannia Soto-Hinman wanted participants to experience the assets of a small Latin American country. The goals of the course included learning about language and literacy, global/cultural understanding, environmental awareness, and digital literacy. Students engaged in a project while in Costa Rica and worked with DigLibArts to develop digital stories connected to what they learned.
Participants worked with school children and adults learning English by using the children’s story Pura Vida Mae. The story teaches the acceptance of differences, which also prepared the students for interacting with diverse communities while in Costa Rica. One of their assignments was to write blog posts about their experiences throughout the duration of their stay. Click here to visit the course blog.
“[Studying abroad] allows students to experience humanities, language, literature, and culture in context,” said Soto-Hinman. “It also reinforces multiple perspectives, social responsibility, and knowledge of the wider world.”
Students in Assistant Professor of Environmental Science Cinzia Fissore’s course, World’s Views: Globalization, Environment, Agricultural Economy, also traveled to Costa Rica. During their stay, students had the opportunity to visit EARTH University, where students from third world countries study sustainable agriculture and leadership so that they can change their communities when they return. They also visited Peace University, whose mission is conflict resolution and cooperation among nations.
