After returning to campus, the Sichuan and Hong Kong winter term groups presented on their experiences in China to President Ambar, as well as members of the grants office, the Office of Communications, as well as each other.
The Sichuan trip served as a practicum in understanding the nuances of national park and resource management, environmental tourism, and environmental ethics in Sichuan province, China. Students attended a half-module course in preparation for the trip, where they conducted research in small groups and educated each other on the different destinations. Over the course of the trip, they hiked several mountains with extensive Buddhist and Daoist histories, learned about different types of indigenous wildlife, observed many UNESCO world heritage sites, and collected water and soil samples for future geological research projects. The trip group also partnered with students at Sichuan university to visit many of these locations and to collect data.
The winter term trip in Hong Kong focused on three main themes; community-based learning, environment and public health, and “ecologies of comparison,” or NGOS, philanthropy, culture, and history in environmental contexts. Professors and students on the trip were able to learn more about the field of Service Learning from leading liberal arts institutions in Hong Kong and their students, knowledge which they now have brought back to campus. “Through our site visits I have adopted practices and tools to use in my own service here in Oberlin,” said Darian, an Oberlin student and Bonner Scholar who went on the trip this winter term 2019.
