Meet other students, first homestays, first assignments. Orientation and an introduction to the diverse parts of the global ecology equation. Participate in Outward Bound on Thompson Island in Boston Harbor. Begin classes with ecologist Jim Kettler and anthropologist Karen Saenz, who will travel with the program for the entire year. Study in rural Cornwall at the Wadebridge Ecological Centre, and for two weeks in Cambridge.
Farm stays during part of the time in Cornwall offer the opportunity for hands-on study.
Examine India's ecological priorities and debate issues of science and technology, knowledge systems, development, biodiversity, patenting of life and the relationship between nature and culture. Start with two weeks in Shimla, in the Himalayas, where for the past four years R.S. Pirta of Himachal Pradesh University has organized a program of village homestays and discussions with local leaders. The rest of the India program is coordinated by Smitu Kothari. Discuss India's cultural, political and ecological issues with some of the country's leading scholars, government officials, scientists and educators including Ashis Nandy, Bina Agarwal, Sumit Sarkar, Swami Agnivesh, Madhu Kishwar, Anupam Mishra and Imtiaz Ahmed. Engage the issues raised by some of the most remarkable ecological struggles in the Indian subcontinent.