Some students are all set for a one-of-a-kind experience this spring break.
Starting March 1st, a select group of students will be flying out of the city to Arcosanti, Arizona. The trip is a ten-day Study Away program where students have a chance to immerse themselves in a unique urban lifestyle—all while earning three credits.
Director of Klein Global Opportunities at Arcosanti, Doctor Barry Vacker, explains the concept of the experimental town.
“Arcosanti is a prototype for an ecologically grounded city,” he says. “It’s one hour north of Phoenix in the Sonoran Desert and its entire design and structure is based on ecological principals that merge architecture and ecology.”
In addition to learning about arcology—the blend of ecology and architecture—participants will come to understand how technology plays a role in environmental awareness.
“You get a new perspective about the literal world that you live in, how we’re all going to fit here with a growing population that just keeps getting bigger and bigger,” says past Arcosanti participant Gabrielle Verzella.
Another past participant, Greta Phillips, explains the lesson she learned on her trip.
“What I got out of it was that without the media and technology kind of conveying messages of how humans are rapidly contributing to changes in our planet, the public wouldn’t know about it,” says Phillips.
“You get a much bigger picture about where we are on earth and where we are in the universe because there’s starry skies every night,” says Dr. Vacker. “And it’s about altering your consciousness to get into a perspective that is not available inside the standard urban environment.”
For those interested in the Arcosanti program and other Study Away opportunities, more information can be found at the Global Opportunities office in Annenberg Hall, or on their website.
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