In Short : Augustana is taking a unique approach by sending 155 students worldwide for a carbon-neutral January Interim. Combining jet-setting with carbon-offsetting, the initiative aims to provide global experiences while maintaining environmental responsibility and sustainability.
In Detail : A total of 155 Augustana University students are studying away for January Interim (J-Term) 2024 — a 4-week session between semesters designed to be a time of curricular exploration and enrichment for students. This January, Augustana students, along with 17 faculty members, are traveling to 17 countries.
“J-Term study-away courses may tick a box in the Augustana plan, but the value of opening yourself up to a new place and people will continue to reveal itself throughout your life,” said Erin Kane, AU interim co-director of International Programs and study-away advisor.
There are nine faculty-led courses, including courses in Austria; Costa Rica; London, England, & Dublin, Ireland; Spain & Morocco; Germany & Norway; Florida; Kenya; Ecuador and Norway. The majority of students will travel within these courses, while 24 are studying away with partner programs.
Dr. Jay Kahl, assistant vice provost of assessment & academic excellence, is leading the course Race and Religion in London and Ireland with Willette Capers, assistant vice provost of diversity, equity & inclusion.
“As someone who never took the opportunity to study abroad, I relish this chance to see students’ perspectives change as we travel through Europe,” Kahl said. “This is my second time teaching alongside Willette, and this time, we can be considerably more flexible with the schedule due to lessened COVID-19 restrictions. Along with going to London and Dublin — as we did last time — we are headed to Belfast and will try to get to Paris, France, and Galway for a full day.
“The opportunity to experience a wide array of cultures and perspectives is especially important with our topics of race and religion,” Kahl continued. “As the course comes to a close, I like to ask the students what they have learned about themselves as part of this experience. More often than not, their world views — and their place in it — have been challenged and forever changed. I am truly honored to get the chance to guide students through this and widen my world view aperture at the same time. Plus, they have delicious crepes everywhere!”
Offsetting the Jet-Setting
Augustana made its 2023 J-Term study-away travel carbon neutral for the first time in university history, through the support of generous donors and a decades-long relationship with a forest reserve in Guatemala called Bio-Itzá. Augustana secured $10,000 in funding for Bio-Itzá to offset the cost of travel for J-Term in 2023.
“We have again committed to sending $10,000 in funds to Bio-Itzá for the 2024 offset of carbon,” Kane said. “It is our hope to sustain this moving forward through the already established International Programs Office (IPO) fee. We are not changing the fee, but allocating part of the funds toward carbon offset.”
Bio-Itzá is a nonprofit, community-based association founded by indigenous Maya-Itzá people in an effort to rescue their ancestral heritage and culture, including knowledge of the tropical forests where they lived for more than 1,000 years. Bio-Itzá has been partnering with Augustana since 2006, and student groups have been visiting the reserve since 2007 — studying forest ecology, sustainability, non-government organizations and language (Spanish-immersion classes).
Bio-Itzá used the 2023 funds from Augustana for forest management, including planting trees in the Bio-Itzá Reserve, protection of trees in the reserve threatened by illegal logging and acquisition of additional land in the Maya Biosphere Reserve that’s in danger of deforestation.