Each summer, Professor Todd LeVasseur teaches a course titled “Nature Spirituality, Ecotopia, and Applied Ecovillage Living”. The interdisciplinary course explores ecovillages and how these intentional communities may help humans live more sustain-ably by incorporating ecocentric ethical values, ecological design and environmentally friendly technologies. Students meet in the classroom for two of the three weeks. Then, they spend their final week in North Carolina’s Earthaven Ecovillage to interact with residents who involve the students in an assortment of experiences, from classes on ways to build holistic topsoil to participating in a solstice ceremony.
The School of Humanities and Social Sciences financially supported a portion of the course for the students who reflected about their experiential learning opportunity. Read about their experiences below:
Milly Bina: “I am so grateful to have had this experience at Earthaven Ecovillage. To see such progressive work happening in the movement toward a more sustainable future was commendable and absolutely inspiring. Because of this experience, I am now an environmental studies minor.”
Lizzy Beyer: “Spending a week at Earthaven was a profound intellectual experience that I will carry with me throughout the rest of my life. I met, learned from, and interacted with some of the most revolutionary and intelligent people in the field of sustainability and had an amazing time.”
Olivia Sackler: “This is experience was eye-opening on a spiritual, educational and human-level. I learned that it’s tangibly possible to truly act on your values and live pursuing the most important things in life- one’s relationship to food, the land, the community, and one’s spirituality. Happiness is a measure of wealth and it forced me to question why I’m here and why I do what I do every day. It allowed me to open up and access an energy that hasn’t been tampered with enough. Earthaven provided a foundation for what I want to pursue including sprinkles of fun and laughter- which is always just as important.”
Dillon Biering: “The Summer Eco-Village course with Professor Todd was truly a life changing experience. Learning about the necessity of sustainability in our modern society is of vital importance however the ability to see genuine sustainability in practical application is an experience of even greater magnitude. This course was a profoundly eye opening experience and I would definitely recommend it to other students!”
Adeline Rawl: “My time spent at Earthaven was one of the most beautiful and eye opening experiences in so many ways. It was not only incredible to see a culture of people trying to live sustainably in the world but it was also a culture of individuals coming together as a community. It was an inspiring experience and I am so grateful to have been a part of this amazing program.”
To learn more about the environmental and sustainability studies minor at the College of Charleston, click here.
To learn more about the College’s Quality Enhancement Plan, sustainability literacy, click here.