Study away is an important part of a Sewanee student's experience. We encourage students to complement their experiences on the Domain with environmental study in other regions of the United States or the world.

Many of our students take advantage of programs that are taught and managed by our faculty. Other opportunities are are available through the Office of Global Citizenship.

Sewanee's Environmental Study Away Programs

Rainforests and Coral Reefs & Field Study in Belize

A field immersion into two of the most biologically diverse ecosystems on earth: coral reefs and tropical rainforests. Students live in remote field stations in Belize, where they examine the ecology and natural history of these two systems through extensive field exploration and research. The course consists of two classes - a seminar class where students learn the fundamentals of tropical ecology and conservation using Belize as the focus. And a ten-day field immersion course that takes students to two Belizean field stations - one on the island of South Water Caye and the other to the interior rainforest in the Maya Mountains

Iceland: Sustainability & Global Environmental Change

This class gives students a chance to explore inhospitable extremes and in doing so, to learn more about the earth and how people relate to it. We focus on two complementary facets of the relationship between human societies and the natural environment: natural resources and natural hazards. Both are central to life in Iceland.

New Zealand: Sustainability & Global Environmental Change

Sustainability and Global Environmental Change is a two part class that begins on campus in the fall semester and continues with a two-week field trip to New Zealand during winter break. The class focuses on topics of biodiversity, natural resources, and natural hazards, using New Zealand as a case study.

Readings in Island Ecology & Field Study

The Island Ecology Program is an interdisciplinary summer field school. Following a seminar during the spring semester students study geology, hydrology, soils, plant communities, land use, coastal marine biology, invertebrate zoology, vertebrate ecology and animal behavior for five weeks on St. Catherines Island, a barrier island off the coast of Georgia. The experience emphasizes the interdependence of these disciplines by exploring how the island ecosystem functions.

Geology of the Western United States

The course focuses on the geological evolution of the Colorado Plateau, the Rio Grande Rift, and the Rocky Mountains. Extensive use of geologic maps and periodicals. The course concludes with a three-week field study trip to the many of the locations studied during the semester.

Haiti Institute in Sewanee

The Haiti Institute in Sewanee is a center for collaborative educational partnerships between Haiti and the University of the South. It’s goal is to promote, foster, and envision scholarship and research across a broad spectrum of interests pertaining to Haiti and Haitian studies. Opportunities include summer research internships and a spring break outreach trip.