ENVIRONMENTAL
SECURITY, SUSTAINABILITY,
AND
PEACE KEEPING
Led
by
Professor Troy Abel, Department of Environmental Studies,
Western Washington
University
Professor
Dave Davis, Director, Peace Operations Policy Program, GMU
Michal McElwain
Malur, Director of External Programs, School of Public Policy, GMU
Week
1
The first week will be based at the University for Peace and EARTH University.
The University of Peace is an international treaty organization affiliated to
the UN, which offers a variety of postgraduate programs to students from 40 nationalities
and runs cooperative programs worldwide. The students will be introduced to the
practical interrelations between environment, peace and security in Costa Rica,
a developing country with a rich and diverse experience in these regards. First
hand visits to, and contact with, relevant urban and rural sites around the capital
city of San Jose will be organized for the students to relate the concepts discussed
in the classroom to practical situations. EARTH University is a private, international,
university dedicated to education in managing natural resources in order to contribute
to sustainable development in the tropics by seeking a balance between agricultural
production and environmental preservation.
Week
2
Pure life, or Pura Vida as they say in Costa Rica will be the theme of
this program's second week. This week's courses will combine readings, lectures,
and field-based ecological experiences. The theme of the week will be sustainability
and an exploration of environmental science and conservation policy interactions
in Costa Rica, with a particular emphasis on what that means for the nation and
region.
This
travel course takes adventurous students first to Costa Rican national parks on
the Atlantic Coast. Students will become immersed in an ecosystem thriving with
scarlet macaws, toucans, and the flora and fauna of the rainforest canopy. Our
second stop will be the internationally renowned Montverde Cloud forest region
that exposes participants to an entirely different ecosystem and its unique set
of conservation challenges. Our last stop will be to explore the exceptional tropical
dry forest ecosystem and to examine the complex impact for difficult policy challenges,
including environmental Security and Sustainable Development.
Lecture
topics will include: - Environmental
Security
- Natural
Resources and Sustainable Development
- Tropical
Conservation Science and
Policy
- Peace
Education, including Economic Development and Peace; The
Practices of Conflict
Management and Peacebuilding; Children and Armed Conflict; and Media, Peace
and
Security
| |
| Michal
McElwain Malur, Director of External Programs, with the Costa Rican Ambassador
and his wife. |
The
program is in conjunction with The
University for Peace, located in San José, Costa Rica and Earth
University in Guácimo, Limón, Costa Rica.
Program
Fee: $2,999 (not including international airfare). Private room is an extra
$375.
A maximum of 25 participants.
Application
Deadline March 5, 2008
Contact: Michal McElwain Malur mmcelwai@gmu.edu
School
of Public Policy George Mason University
703-993-1577 phone 703-993-8215 fax
Application
Hotels
Packing
List
Useful
Travel Information
About
Costa Rica
2006
Syllabus, Schedule, Required Readings, and Assessments (2006 information
for an idea of the program itinerary)
2006
Trip Photos
Currents,
a Web journal on the activities of George Mason University's School of Public
Policy features the Study Abroad program.
School
of Public Policy Study Abroad Programs
