We'd like to let you know about exciting opportunities for socially engaged students to learn and earn college credits at Cornell University this summer. Please share this information with your students and colleagues.

Creating Green Cities & Sustainable Futures, June 20–July 11. Taught by Alex Kudryavtsev, an environmental educator with Cornell University's Department of Natural Resources (3 credits; open to juniors & seniors)
https://sce.cornell.edu/precollege/program/green-cities
 

Social Entrepreneurship, June 20–July 11. Taught by Dr. Anke Wessels, executive director of the Center for Transformative Action at Cornell (3 credits; open to sophomores, juniors & seniors)
https://sce.cornell.edu/precollege/program/social-entrepreneurship
 

Most applications are due May 1. 


 

Creating Green Cities & Sustainable Futures
Taught by Alex Kudryavtsev, research associate, Cornell University's Department of Natural Resources

Learn how "green" ideas can affect city planning

In this program you'll examine the past, present, and future of the ecological city and the technological and social forces that shape it.

You'll look at various aspects of an ecologically sound and socially just urban society, including

• Alternative transportation
• Renewable energy
• Green infrastructure
• Recycling and resource management
• Sustainable economics

You'll discuss the history of environmental city development in the western planning tradition, focusing on the classic period as well as 19th-century garden city planning. In addition, you'll review present-day efforts to apply these approaches in the face of modern challenges.

Throughout the program, you'll dive into case studies and review the cultural and political issues that impact environmental efforts.

Program highlights

• Explore how "green" ideas have shaped city planning in the past.
• Learn about early efforts to establish solar design, mass transit, and green infrastructure.
• Look at contemporary efforts to apply sustainable resource management to urban systems and infrastructure.
• Understand how natural systems influence and are influenced by human activities.
• Express your thoughts about daily readings in a creative journal, to which you are encouraged to bring your creativity, relevant personal experiences, poetry, art, prose, drawings, and more.

Social Entrepreneurship: Transforming Lives, Resolving Problems Taught by Dr. Anke Wessels, executive director of the Center for Transformative Action at Cornell

Transform yourself & the world

"There is no passion to be found playing small—in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living." – Nelson Mandela

This highly interactive, award-winning program tackles nothing less than helping you identify your hopes, dreams, and plans for transforming yourself and the world. The course is fast-paced and largely discussion-based

Under the leadership of Dr. Anke Wessels, you'll learn the fundamental principles for solving problems, fostering innovation, and creating change—and you'll then apply this knowledge to your own social venture.

Recognized as one of the 10 best social entrepreneurship courses in the country, this popular offering has won several awards from the Ashoka Foundation, a global association of the world's leading social entrepreneurs.

It is offered through the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, part of Cornell's SC Johnson College of Business, and is affiliated with the university-wide Entrepreneurship@Cornell program.

Note: The application for this program requires one additional essay.

International students: Due to the volume and complexity of the reading material, we recommend this program for students who have earned a 103 or higher on the TOEFL exam and at least a 7 on the IELTS exam.

 

Program highlights

• Develop a set of skills, tools, and practices to support you in being an agent for change.
• Evaluate and create business models for mission-driven social ventures.
• Discuss the characteristics of social entrepreneurs and what motivates them.
• Examine topics from leadership to nurturing community, fostering creativity, and responding to failure.
• Compare traditional methods of activism with a new, pragmatic approach called Transformative Action.
• Review case studies, meet with guest lecturers, and engage in self-reflection, critical analysis, research, and action.
• Learn how to use a Business Model Generator and Canvas to map out nine critical components of any project.
• Apply what you learn in the program to a cause in which you believe by designing your own "Big Idea for Social Chang
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