Program Overview

ECON364B is a 3 credit course on campus in May followed by a 3 month international service learning placement from June to August. This page describes the international service learning placement associated with ECON364B; find more information about the regional service learning placement associated with ECON364B here.

To take ECON364B, students must first complete its mandatory prerequisite course, ECON364A, during Winter Term 2 (Jan-Apr 2020). Students can register for the prerequisite course on the SSC here. Acceptance into ECON364B is by application. A link to the application can be found in the left sidebar.  Students who apply to ECON364B and are not registered in ECON364A will be force registered in the course when accepted into the program.

ECON364B is a part of the International Service Learning program, which includes pre-departure learning sessions, a mid-placement workshop, and post-placement coursework, discussion and public engagement (see below).

Course Description

ECON 364 A/B- The Economics of Sustainable Development: Communities, Markets and Technology is a six credit course integrating an international service learning approach with rigorous academic studies. The aim of the course is to both deepen and broaden students’ understanding of the process of economic development as it affects disadvantaged communities in East Africa, India and Latin America. In particular, students will explore the problems and concerns of developing communities in relation to ways that resilient, healthy communities are able to create sustainable livelihoods, to support rather than deplete the local or regional environment, and to build local economies that ensure the well-being of all community members.

International Service Learning Program 

Student enrollment in ECON 364B is part of the ISL program and requires full participation in:

• • ECON 364A classes on campus from January-April 2020
  • Pre-departure learning sessions from March-May 2020
  • ECON 364B classes on campus during May 2020
  • 12 week International Service Learning (ISL) placement from beginning of June to the end of August 2020
  • Mid-placement workshop
  • Return seminar and final course-work on campus in September 2020
  • Re-entry debrief and public engagement presentation on campus in September and October 2020

More information

Course Overview

ASTU 401G “WICKED PROBLEMS” is an upper-level interdisciplinary course designed for students with an interest in global sustainability, students will focus on a case study in India and study the societal complexity of international community development. Students from all faculties are encouraged to register. 

In partnership with SELCO Foundation, an NGO in the Bangalore area, this course will collaborate on cases to approach complex social issues such as:

• urban homelessness and housing;
• agricultural (un)sustainability and sovereignty;
• clean energy solutions for social services;
• refugee migration; and
• nomadic communities.

Students will learn to utilize the trans-disciplinary tools of systems theory, forum theatre, critical systems heuristics, strategic design and, of course, current best practices in international community engagement. Assignments will be grounded in solidarity practices with the mission of the organization. Students will gain the tools to untangle the complex systems and structures, drawing on theories such as critical pedagogy and post-development.

In their influential paper of 1972, design scientist, Horst W. J. Rittel and city planner, Melvin M. Webber, coined the term “wicked” to describe “problems of governmental planning – and especially those of social or policy planning” that are “ill defined; and […] rely upon elusive political judgment for resolution.” They considered these problems to be of a fundamentally different nature to “problems in the natural sciences, which are definable and separable and may have solutions that are findable.” According to Rittel and Webber, the intrinsic complexity of such “wicked problems” as poverty, homelessness, and environmental degradation could not be solved but only “tamed” or “at best […] re-solved – over and over again.” Perhaps the single greatest consistent contributor to “wickedness” is the lack of consensus among stakeholders as to the correct description of the problem itself, let alone the nature of any possible intervention. This vexing conundrum is often due to differing tacit judgments regarding the “boundaries” of the “system or area of concern” to be addressed (i.e. Should an intervention to address homelessness include strategies around education and employment?) as well as a lack of clarity regarding the specific socio-political contexts and power distributions within any particular development context. The ways that these often unvoiced assumptions can surreptitiously constrain dialogue and action can be particularly acute when well-intentioned citizens from the “developed world” attempt to participate in community development projects with vulnerable populations in parts of the “developing world.”

Focusing upon a case-study situated in India and utilizing the transdisciplinary tools of systems theory, forum theatre, critical systems heuristics, strategic design and, of course, current best practices in international community engagement, this course will engage students in a probing, practice-based dialogue exploring contemporary approaches to the “taming” of “wicked problems” in an international community development context.

Course time:

W2021 T2 Tuesday and Thursday 11:00-12:30pm. Classes will be primarily synchronous for team-based activities.

Eligibility Criteria:

Open to all UBC students with a minimum 3rd year standing by January 2020.

This course can be counted towards the Faculties of Science and Engineering’s undergraduate students arts course requirement.

This course runs from January – April 2021.

How to register: Register on the SSC here.

Applications for this program are currently closed.  Applications for fall co-circular programs will open soon. Check back in July/August for more information about summer 2020 programs.

Course Overview

Credits: 3

Term 1 (May 6th-June 20th), Summer 2019

Tues/Thurs 12:00-3:00pm

Point Grey Campus, UBC Vancouver

Room: Henry Angus Building, room 293

Instructor: Dr. Laura Lee; see bio below.

Course Description

This course, Global Women’s Health and Human Rights, will focus on critical issues related to global women’s health and her/their ability to exercise human rights. Using an inter-sectional approach, this course will examine a number of factors that women face in their pursuit of achieving and maintaining health, including, but not limited to economic, social and political factors.

Successful applicants to this course will receive a full conference admission to Women Deliver 2019, and will be required to attend as much of the conference as possible from June 3^rd-June 6^th 2019.

Students will be introduced to frameworks and theories through which to understand women’s health and rights. Incorporating lectures, guest speakers, readings, classroom discussion and experiential learning, this course will explore the Women Deliver 2019 conference theme of Power: Individual, Structural and Movements.

Students in this course will be required to apply their classroom-based learning to participation in the conference sessions and dialogue with organizations and individuals from diverse settings to inform their academic activities and understanding broadly.

For further information about Women Deliver 2019 conference visit https://wd2019.org/

Eligibility Criteria and Application Process

Students interested in ASTU 401C: Global Women’s Health and Human Rights are required to submit an application, as there are limited seats in the course and the $500 Women Deliver 2019 conference fee will be paid for each student from the ORICE Experiential Immersion Award fund. Applications are open to upper-level (min. 60 credits) students in the Faculty of Arts.

To apply, please follow the link below and answer the questions. Applications will be reviewed as received and the portal for applications will close when the course is full.  It is highly recommended to apply ASAP for this course. Students accepted into the course will be contacted and asked to accept the offer, before being registered into the course on the SSC. Students not accepted into the course will also be notified by email. Please note that you may not be able to save your application and return to it at a later time once you have begun. You can preview the application below. 

ASTU 401C Application PREVIEW

When ready, apply here: ASTU 401C Application 

Course Instructor:

Dr. Laura Lee is a scholar practitioner in global child health. Laura has more than 15 years of experience in strengthening global child, adolescent and youth health programming, protection and services in adversity settings. Specializing in community-based participatory research methodologies, gender, child protection and participation, social justice and health equity and participatory program planning and evaluation, she has designed, implemented and analyzed research projects with children and youth in various countries in East and Southern Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and North and South America. In 2015, she obtained her PhD from University of British Columbia (UBC) for her work on the sexual health of young women heading households in Nakuru County, Kenya. She holds an MSc in International Health (Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, 2006) for her thesis focused on community-based responses to strengthen the psychosocial wellbeing of child-headed households in Rwanda. She is an Adjunct Professor at the UBC in the Faculty of Medicine, teaching program planning and evaluation and topics around global health. In the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University, Laura has participated in HIV research with youth in South Africa and is a sessional instructor. Contractually she has worked with Proteknon Consulting Group, the International Institute of Child Rights and Development (IICRD), Queen Margaret University, World Vision, Terre des hommes (Tdh), Provincial Health Services Authority, and Vancouver Foundation, most recently exploring the role of sports (IICRD, Tdh, UNHCR and the International Olympic Committee) and the arts (IICRD, Tdh) in the protection and psychosocial wellbeing of youth in migration and adversity settings.

Additional Details

Inquiries about this course can be directed to ubc.orice@ubc.ca

Program Overview

Applications for this program are currently closed.  Applications for fall co-circular programs will open soon. Check back in July/August for more information about summer 2020 programs.

Eligibility Criteria

Students who have completed their second year (54 credits) by January 1, 2019. A major in History is not required for this course, we encourage all disciplines to apply! ARA Funding eligibility information can be found here.

History 403K has multiple components

• Pre-departure learning program from Late January – May 2019
• Intensive Seminars run during the month of May on the UBC Vancouver Campus
• 12 weeks of fieldwork in an International Service Learning placement in Costa Rica from early June – August 2019
• Return seminar and final coursework on campus in September 2019
• Re-entry debrief and International Development Symposium on campus in September – October 2019

Course Description

Costa Rica encompasses one of the most ecologically diverse regions of the world, with 10,000 kinds of trees and plants, almost 900 species of migrant and indigenous birds, more than 30,000 types of insects, and 200 varieties of mammals. History 403 is a three credit course that will give students an in depth look at the ecological and environmental history of Costa Rica through a transnational perspective. This course will explore the history of human interaction with, and challenges to, that ecology, as well as past, ongoing and current state and NGO efforts to preserve it. Specific topics include the emergence and impact of plantation economies of coffee and bananas on local the ecology; the growth of efforts to protect biodiversity in the country; the successes and failures associated those efforts; the origins and history of national parks, reserves, and conservation regions; recent critiques of sustainable development in the region; the history and challenges of eco-tourism, including human interaction with animals; and the role that protected areas play in reducing poverty in the country. In examining these topics the course will take a broadly comparative and international perspective, and will fulfill the History as well as International Relations BA major seminar requirements. Students will relate their classroom learning to the “real- world” through an international service learning placement in Costa Rica.  Students’ field placements will be organized and facilitated by staff at UBC’s Office of Regional and International Community Engagement.

*Course credit for this course is 3 credits.

Placement Descriptions

As a part of History 403K, you will be enrolled in an International Service Learning placement in Costa Rica. Placements go from late May – August 2019.

Costa Rica:

Our community partner is ASVPA, with two locations, one in Barra del Pacuare and the other one in Matapalo, Costa Rica. Students will work on an ecological service project alongside Roberto Solano Cordero, the lead biologist overseeing the project. Roberto is a biologist by profession although he also carries titles as an educator among other things. At ASVPA, Roberto oversees projects in sea turtle, sloths, and other species conservation as well as training and education in the area of sea turtle ecology and biological management. He has also worked for the National Maritime Patrol, the National Coast Guard Service, the Ministry of Education, as well as different associations and non-governmental organizations dedicated to conservation. Roberto has been a teacher, naturalist guide for tourism, environmental consultant, project manager, volunteer coordinator, and youth leader. He strongly believes in experiential learning as it is the best way to gain fulfilling work experience that will help shape future career paths.

Living Environment

In Costa Rica you will live in hostel-style accommodations with modest living conditions on the placement site.

Program Dates

**Please note these dates may be adjusted but will be confirmed prior to offer

Program Costs

NOTE: The ISL Program fee is separate from UBC course tuition. Tuition dues will be appear on your Student Services Centre account at the beginning of the term(s) in which you receive course credit.  

Program cost includes:

• Pre-departure learning sessions at UBC
• Room and board
• Transportation from the airport to your placement site
• Orientation in host country
• In-session debrief and workshop part way through your placement
• Reflection materials
• Community partner management fee
• Program management fee

*Fees may be adjusted before offer. Program costs vary primarily due to cost of living expenses per country and region. Placements may be in other countries where ISL community partners are located

Program cost does not include:

The following expenses are not covered in program costs and are the responsibility of the student.

• Tuition
• Airfare* (see ARA funding notes for airfare coverage information)
• Visas
• Vaccinations
• Local transportation while in country
• Transportation from the project site back to the airport at the end of the placement
• Personal items, and daily incidentals. You will be required to bring your own laptop

Process & Timeline

Selection Process

Applications for this program are currently closed. To apply please fill out and submit an online application. Successful applicants will be invited to an interview. After interviews, you will be notified of a decision; successful candidates will be sent an offer letter with further details on the program and detailed instructions on how to accept. You will have approximately one week after receiving the offer letter to accept and pay a program deposit. Your selection into the ISL program includes meeting eligibility requirements, as well as your initial application and your performance in the interview.

Don’t wait to apply, spaces are limited!

Pre-Departure Overview

The pre-departure learning program is designed to prepare you for an international service learning placement. This will include:

• Pre-departure learning sessions taking place over the academic term leading up to departure led by staff and community development professionals.
• Creation of a learning and development plan
• Participant-led events/presentations
• Facilitated meetings with your placement team to explore learning topics

Post-Placement Overview

You will participate in post-placement activities in September – October 2019, including:

1. A full day to debrief in September 2019
2. Return seminar and final coursework in September 2019
3. Presentation at an International Development Symposium in October 2019

Program Overview

Registration open on the SSC!

Eligibility Criteria

Open to all UBC students

Upper level 4th year ASTU 401G Wicked Problems course also open for registration.

Course Overview

An interactive and blended learning experience introducing a suite of collaborative methodologies (systems thinking, strategic design, forum theatre) designed to prepare students for upper year courses across the campus in social change and community development. Students will be drawing upon these methods to explore a problem space (Global Migration) related to one of the Sustainable Development Goals.  This course will engage students on the topic of migration using virtual reality and other creative technologies to increase contextual understanding.Emphasis will be placed on bridging theory to practice around collaborative methods for problem or opportunity finding, problem solving, co-creation, and working in cross-disciplinary teams.

Within this course, students are expected to be active learners in the classroom, meaning that they must actively contribute to classroom discussion and studio sessions. The course will utilize a “studio approach” to learning where students will be expected to respectfully give feedback to their peers and incorporate the feedback into their work. Students should come to class having read the assigned articles and/or having watched any videos for each class.

Additional Details

ASTU 204C is a 3 credit course taught entirely at the UBC Vancouver campus. Register now for Winter term 2 at ASTU 204C.