Kristina Chatfield serves as the Program Manager for the Center for Serve-Learn-Sustain.
During the fall semester, SLS issued a call for student organizations interested in partnering with us for the 2016-2017 academic year, specifically seeking student organizations focused on environmental, social, or economic sustainability; social justice; and/or cultural diversity. Student organization applicants were also encouraged to tie their organization’s mission or work to our four themes for the year: Environmental Justice, FEWS (Food, Energy, Water Systems), Smart Cities, and Social Sustainability.
SLS is pleased to announce that we approved partnerships with 19 student organizations and awarded mini-grants to those organizations that requested funding during the application process! We held our first…
We are pleased to provide you with the sixth in a series of blog posts from our 2017 Global Student Ambassadors. This week, we highlight the Language for Business and Technology (LBAT): Spain program which provides students with the opportunity to spend six weeks in Madrid and Grenada, studying current issues in politics, socio-economics, and sustainability in Spain and the European Union. Our Global Student Ambassadors in this program, Abhita Moorthy and Caroline Kajzer, wrote a series of blog posts about their experiences exploring sustainability initiatives in Spain, as related to the 17 U.N. Sustainable Development Goals. Read their complete set of blog posts…
Serve-Learn-Sustain is proud to announce the two team winners of the 2017 Civic Innovation Award, sponsored by the Commerce Club Foundation of Atlanta. The teams and their projects are described below, in blog posts written by the students.
The Award funds both teams to work with SLS partner the Center for Civic Innovation to support development of a social enterprise that addresses a local community need. CCI will train and support the teams in:
- Identifying a real community need
- Business model canvassing and financial modeling for the social enterprise
- Developing mission and problem solution statements
- Developing a pitch
Students will also receive co-working passes to CCI that will give them access to a community of social entrepreneurs in Atlanta. In addition, they will be able to attend events and programs at CCI throughout the semester.
As explained below, one of…
Rebecca "Beki" Grinter is a Professor of Interactive Computing in the College of Computing and (by courtesy) the Scheller College of Business. Her research focuses on improving the experience of computing by understanding the human experience in the building and using of technologies. Beki is serving as the faculty co-director for SLS' Spring 2017 Smart Cities, Connected Communities Fellows Program.
This spring, SLS launches its Fellows Program, focused on Smart Cities, Connected Communities (SCCC), with 29 fellows representing all 6 colleges, GTRI, and various other units on campus, and including faculty, research scientists, graduate students, a post doc, and staff.
Over the course of the semester, the SCCC Fellows will have a number of gatherings including the fellows and public, private, and non profit sector partners, on campus and also at least once off campus at a local…
Rebecca "Beki" Grinter is a Professor of Interactive Computing in the College of Computing and (by courtesy) the Scheller College of Business. Her research focuses on improving the experience of computing by understanding the human experience in the building and using of technologies. Beki is serving as the faculty co-director for SLS' Spring 2017 Smart Cities, Connected Communities Fellows Program.
This spring, SLS launches its Fellows Program, focused on Smart Cities, Connected Communities (SCCC), with 29 fellows representing all 6 colleges, GTRI, and various other units on campus, and including faculty, research scientists, graduate students, a post doc, and staff.
Over the course of the semester, the SCCC Fellows will have a number of gatherings including the fellows and public, private, and non profit sector partners, on campus and also at least once off campus at a local…
Dr. Jennifer Hirsch serves as the Director for the Center for Serve-Learn-Sustain. She is an applied cultural anthropologist specializing in community sustainability, cultural diversity, experiential education, and network building.
Thanks to all the partners and participants who made the Fall Semester launch of our year-long Environmental Justice Series a great success! The semester comprised 16 events and activities hosted by SLS together with 16 partners and drew close to 1,000 participants. A number of faculty used series’ events to enhance their courses and encouraged their students to attend by offering extra credit or tying events to course assignments.
We have an amazing line-up now for spring, with 15 more events and activities, co-sponsored with 20 partners.
Check out our…
December 20, 2016
SLS Staff - Jenny, Christian, Kris, Jamie, and Carol
To celebrate the holidays, we are sharing here a few highlights from the past year that we haven’t written about before.
Thank you to all of our partners who worked with us to launch SLS this year – with a bang! We look forward to seeing you in 2017.
Wishing you a healthy, happy holiday season full of love and cheer.
Best wishes from the SLS Staff:
Jenny, Christian, Kris, Jamie, and Carol
P.S. We’ll throw in a book recommendation as well! While people may associate sustainability with giving things up—it’s actually about creating healthier, happier communities. Check out this book full of essays from prominent sustainability and community scholars about sustainability and happiness. Happy reading! Sustainable Happiness: Live Simply, Live Well,…
Sarah O’Brien is a Marion L. Brittain Postdoctoral Fellow in the Writing and Communication Program in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at Georgia Tech. As a Brittain Fellow, she teaches first-year English courses oriented around her disciplinary interests in film studies and the emergent humanities field of animal studies. She also works as a Professional Tutor and as the Consultant for Faculty and Postdoctoral Fellows at Tech’s Communication Center.
As a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature who teaches English at Georgia Tech, I spend a lot of my time remarking on how different my students here are from me and from the students I have previously taught. There are, of course, the stark disciplinary divides: teaching English at Tech requires that I teach my students something about the language, methods, and traditions of the humanities, while I also try to learn—or at least to develop basic proficiency in—those of STEM fields. My students here also (…
Dr. Christian Braneon serves as Assistant Director, Service Learning and Partnerships for the Center for Serve-Learn-Sustain. He is a water resources engineer specializing in water resources engineering, data science, climate change assessments, and community engagement.
It is truly an honor and a pleasure to return to Georgia Tech this Fall as a CEE alum and a former vice-president of the Georgia Tech African-American Student Union. I have so many fond memories from my days as a student actively involved with student organizations such as AASU, EWB-GT, SGA, ASCE, GTSBE, BGSA, and AABE. I did not realize at the time that my roles in these organizations and external nonprofits would provide much needed training and experience related to working with…
Dr. Jennifer Hirsch serves as the Director for the Center for Serve-Learn-Sustain. She is an applied cultural anthropologist specializing in community sustainability, cultural diversity, experiential education, and network building.
Since Serve-Learn-Sustain officially opened its doors last January, we have been working closely with faculty, staff, students, and partners to define together what it means to “create sustainable communities” and to collaboratively develop programs that will nurture interdisciplinary learning, teaching, and action. One approach we have come up with is to work with different colleges, schools, and programs across campus to develop tailored strategies for SLS engagement that simultaneously promote SLS and the specific unit’s goals and objectives. For this academic year, we have launched this strategies program by partnering with nine units. Next year, we will expand the program to more.
This program is resulting in a diverse…