Study Abroad Opportunities with ESGS
Studying abroad can be one of the highlights of your WKU experience, and the Environmental, Sustainability, and Geographic Studies program is proud to offer global opportunities in helping you achieve your academic and professional goals.
Islands of Oahu and Hawaii, based in Honolulu and Kona
This academic program combines traditional classroom learning with visits to Hawaiian cultural and environmental sites. These excursions include locations on the islands of Oahu and the Big Island. Students will be introduced to and engaged in a variety of field collection techniques to enable them to better understand the complexities of the country’s 50th state’s location, site, and situation. Spending time in Hawaii will allow students to see first-hand how it is interconnected in the era of globalization. Topics and materials covered in this program will help students attain an appreciation of the complexity and variety of the region’s cultures and geography. Students will have opportunities to collect data and study the impacts of topics such as economic and social systems, geopolitics, tourism, agriculture, homelessness, public health, ethnicity, environmental, volcanism, earthquakes, tsunamis, weather and climate, marine life, folklore, and much more while participating in this program.
Iceland: Reykjavik, Vik, and Akureyri
The Iceland study abroad course is designed to demonstrate the importance of and interconnectedness between climate change science, sustainable tourism and development, and environmental communication. The course explores glaciers, glacier lagoons, fishing villages, industrial facilities, and many natural sites to study these topics. The country of Iceland is circumnavigated via the Ring Road, to expose students to the complexity of these issues from urban (in Reykjavik) to rural (in Vik and other small towns) perspectives. We work with partners at the University of Akureyri in the north of Iceland to also learn directly from Icelandic faculty and study alongside Icelandic students at that institution. Students complete service-learning projects throughout the duration of the program and present these to an audience at the University of Akureyri at the conclusion of the course.
Ireland: Mystic Landscapes of the Emerald Island
Ireland and Northern Ireland: Dublin, Killkenny, Killarney, Lisdoonvarna, Doolin,
Galway, Aran Islands, Donegal, Ballintoy, and Belfast
This program is designed to explore the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland from a physical, cultural, and environmental geography perspective. It is a three-week program that starts and finishes in Dublin along with an opportunity to circumnavigate the entire island while exploring these themes. Throughout the program's existence, there have been many relationships created with locals, allowing students to explore and investigate the area. Many students from a variety of majors are drawn to this program because of the flexibility of the courses within their graduation requirements.
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