As fall semester inches closer, we wanted to highlight a couple of ongoing, exciting opportunities, as well as one brand new course for your consideration during Phase II registration!
If you are contemplating a minor, take a close gander at the SLS-affiliated Sustainable Cities Minor! The minor in Sustainable Cities emphasizes sustainability, community engagement, and social justice. It provides students with a deep learning experience that integrates classroom learning and real-world, community-based project experience in creating sustainable communities, with a focus on the built urban environment. You can learn more about the minor, and all the details on how to integrate into your present course of study, by visiting SCARP’s information page. The course listing on that page will give you a sense of just how diverse the offerings are - from public policy, to computer science, to biology – there are courses across all six colleges that count toward this dynamic minor! You can also use SLS’s search function to scope out courses that count towards the minor, just by searching “Sustainable Cities Minor”’; some courses for fall are already listed, and several more will be listed in the coming weeks so don’t forget to check back again as you create your fall schedule. And if you’d like to discuss how the minor fits into your current trajectory and understand how to fulfill its requirements, you can contact SLS Program and Operations Manager, Kris Chatfield, for an advising appointment.
HTS 2803: Organizing for Social Change
How do ordinary people change their communities when they are fed up with the status quo? How do students change their campuses and leave them better institutions than when they arrived? This course, co-taught by Rebecca Watts Hull and Ruthie Yow, explores social change and how it happens in and through the institutions that most shape our lives. In the course HTS 2803: Organizing for Social Change, students will explore several frameworks and 20th-century traditions that guide change agents within organizations and communities in the U.S. They will draw on contemporary and historical examples and collaborate with Serve-Learn-Sustain community-based partner organizations to understand and practice strategies and skills used to advance social change. Students will apply the knowledge and skills they develop to “map” community assets and power, develop change narratives and strategy, and engage in social change work themselves. In 2022, student teams chose issues such as gender equity, mental health, sexual violence and the affordability of a GT education, and each team enjoyed the mentoring of a seasoned organizer familiar with their issue as they constructed their campaign. This fall, the course joins the other great offerings of the Honors Program Service Pathway. It is open to all majors, and the instructors warmly welcome any interested student to register and join our social change journey! If you have questions about the course, don’t hesitate to contact the instructors at ryow6@gatech.edu or rwattshull@gatech.edu
VIP: Building for Equity and Sustainability
A unique structure that allows long-term collaboration with a diverse group of peers, Vertically Integrated Projects (VIPs) are a wonderful way to enrich your academic journey at GT. The VIP on Building for Equity and Sustainability, led by Jenny Hirsch (Director, Center for Serve-Learn-Sustain) and Juan Archila (Director of Facilities and Capital Planning, College of Sciences), is an opportunity to join a lively, interdisciplinary community focused on equity in the built environment and community engagement via the Kendeda Building and EcoCommons. Past blog posts by undergraduate and graduate students in the VIP can led rich insight into what kinds of projects and questions you might undertake in this course. Katie Popp’s post describes how, as she came to the end of her civil engineering education at GT, the VIP offered her “the social piece” that allowed her, as she wrote, “to take my perspective to the next-level and challenge me to become a more holistic engineer.” Similarly, Jordan Tyndall’s post shares her appreciation of how the VIP centered questions she cared about but hadn’t been able to plunge into, like: “What is equity beyond accessibility? How are equity and sustainability linked?” As the VIP continues to evolve and deepens its relationships with community partners around the Kendeda building, this is a great time to join the team! The team is open to students in all majors and all years!
A LOOK AHEAD AT SPRING 2024!
ECE 2804 Special Projects: Community Engagement & Engineering
Conceived by Serve-Learn-Sustain’s second cohort of Public Interest Technology Student Fellows, this special, first-time offering will welcome engineers in all fields—as well as computer science students. It is intended to introduce the fundamentals of community engagement through guest lectures, site visits, and events as well as readings and reflections on themes such as equity and justice, community engagement case studies, ethical leadership and followership, and asset-based community development (ABCD). The course will be co-taught by Dr. Raghu Pucha (ME) and will feature other experts in equity and engineering, such as Dr. Joe Bozeman. Through Serve-Learn-Sustain’s Partners in Residence Program, students will also enjoy case studies and reflections guided by Garry Harris (Center for Sustainable Communities) and Darryl Haddock (WAWA). If you’re interested in learning more about the course and understanding how it will complement your planned course load and trajectory, please contact Ruthie Yow or if you want to talk about the development and content of the course (or have ideas!) please contact Lead Fellows Megan Jermak (CEE ’25) and June Sloman (MSE Fall ’23).