SFS COSTA RICA: BIODIVERSITY AND SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS
(SUMMER I)
PROGRAM DETAILS
Term | Summer Session I
Credits | 4 semester-hour credits (8 credits if taken with Session II)
Prerequisites | No course prerequisites | 2.5 GPA | 18 years of age
Application Deadline | April 1st. Early applications encouraged!
Financial Aid: All accepted students can apply for need-based scholarships, grants, and loans.
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OVERVIEW
You’ll never look at a cup of coffee the same way again. Using coffee and chocolate as case studies, explore the relationships between food systems, ecology, conservation, and sustainability.
Learn how different agricultural techniques can potentially restore biodiversity and combat climate change. Study the sociocultural history of coffee and cacao, from Indigenous histories to modern production and exports.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT
→ Visit La Iguana Chocolate Farm, where you’ll harvest cacao by hand and learn about permaculture, sustainable living, and local methods of chocolate processing.
→ Visit El Toledo Coffee Farm and learn about organic coffee production methods. Then, discuss the history and impacts of chocolate and coffee production in Latin America.
→ Engage in the Center’s sustainable food efforts: gather fresh mangoes from campus trees, visit the chicken coop to collect eggs, harvest kale from the garden, master composting, and more.
LOCATION
SFS students live and study at the Center for Ecological Resilience Studies. The Center is an active farm overlooking the vibrant Central Valley, where green is the predominant color as far as the eye can see.
Dorms and classrooms are intertwined with gardens, and Center dog Hera watches over everything. The friendly town of Atenas, which offers restaurants, shops, parks, and cultural events, is a 10-minute cab ride away.
SUMMER COMBINED
Take back-to-back summer sessions and get the hands-on learning and skill-building experiences of an internship while also going off the beaten path and exploring the world. Each summer session focuses on a different topic, and you’ll have time to travel independently between sessions.
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CONNECT WITH SFS
SPECIAL CSU INSURANCE NOTE
CSU students attending School for Field Studies programs will be automatically enrolled in additional travel health insurance. This very affordable insurance supplements the gaps, which U.S. insurance plans typical do not cover abroad (including evacuation coverage, out-of-network deductibles/co-pays, etc.). This insurance fee will be included in your CSU RamWeb charges approximately 10 days prior to the term start at CSU. For more information about the insurance benefits and costs, please reference the
CSU Education Abroad insurance website.
