Create sustainable redevelopment plans for Farsa Village, a historic Venetian village overlooking the sea that fell during the 1953 island earthquake. Surrounded by its traditional economic base of olive orchards ready to help sustain its rebirth, the village is a perfect location for this program. Work in small, interactive groups, develop research, attend classes, and apply your knowledge to the development of designs that preserve the character and traditions of this historic community.
Classes are taught by a U.S. visiting faculty member and a faculty of local instructors from A World Institute for a Sustainable Humanity-Hellas (AWISH-Hellas).
All courses, with the exception of Language and Culture of Kefalonia, are taught in English.
SPRING 2007 COURSE LISTING
Click links for course descriptions.
Sustainable Tourism and Economic Development
Sustainable Infrastructure Design
Language, History and Culture of Kefalonia
Uncovering the Social Community
Planning Studio with Community Based GIS
FALL 2007 COURSE LISTING
Click links for course descriptions.
Uncovering the Social Community
Planning Studio
Sustainable Tourism and Economic Development
Language, History and Culture of Kefalonia
Sustainable Infrastructure: Venture Development, Financial Planning and Community Regeneration
SPRING 2008 COURSE LISTING
Click links for course descriptions.
Planning Studio
Sustainable Tourism and Economic Development
Language, History and Culture of Kefalonia
Sustainable Community Resiliency Planning
Sustainable Infrastructure: Venture Development, Financial Planning and Community Regeneration
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
Click on course titles for syllabi.
Sustainable Tourism and Economic Development
(45 contact hours)
Examine the principles of economic development and design for community sustainability. Consider environmental equity, social justice, and the underlying human values, processes, and methodological approaches for achieving community tourism and economic development. Explore sustainability and the impacts of tourism on social, environmental, and economic development.
Agroecology and Sustainable Agricultural Communities
(45 contact hours)
Study ecological concepts and principles applied to design and manage sustainable food production to support community culture and economy. Examine technologies and policies that promote energy, soil, biodiversity, and water conservation as well as social and economic equity in agricultural systems.
Uncovering the Social Community (45 contact hours)
Reconstruct the Farsa Village historic community with particular attention to ethnohistory. Apply cultural resource management and methods in community reconstruction. Prepare a cultural resource development plan for sustaining local community values.
Language, History and Culture of Kefalonia
(45 contact hours)
Discover modern Greek language and comparative studies in traditional and contemporary Greek culture. Explore the idea of “community” through artistic mediums such as dance, photography, theater, and video. Examine the traditional and contemporary cultures of Greece and the interpretation of “place” through local music, dance, and myth narratives.
Sustainable Architectural Design Studio
(30 contact hours)
Expand your drawing, rendering, and construction design skills. Develop alternative designs for sustainable reconstruction based on historic building design practices and available materials.
Sustainable Infrastructure Design (45 contact hours)
Explore community infrastructure design and sustainability principles as applied to the design of individual and community water supply, multimodal transportation, wastewater treatment, communications, and other systems infrastructure.
Sustainable Energy Systems Design (45 contact hours)
Evaluate and examine the application of alternative technology to achieve individual and community energy self-sufficiency through design approach.
Planning Studio (45 contact hours)
Create master plans for community redevelopment. Synthesize social, cultural, economic, biophysical, technological, and urban design considerations in planning. Produce physical development plans and present them to the local community.
Sustainable Community Resiliency Planning
(40 contact hours)
Kefalonia is located in an earthquake zone. Develop the skills needed to plan for disaster mitigation for community safety, resiliency, and recovery. Focus on the principles of disaster reduction and mitigation plan formulation, with emphasis in earthquake risk reduction, food security, emergency housing, transportation, water supply, communications and related topics in community resiliency.
Sustainable Infrastructure: Venture Development, Financial Planning and Community Regeneration
(40 contact hours)
Learn the foundations of community development project implementation. Explore the topics of project entitlements, public/private venture development, project management, and social and ecological values in community economic development. Evaluate project cost estimating, public/private cooperative models, funding, and alternative financing structures and establish financial feasibility for community development.
SPRING SEMESTER 2007 U.S. VISITING FACULTY MEMBER COURSES
U.S. Visiting Faculty Member: Marc Schlossberg, Assistant Professor of Planning Public Policy and Management, University of Oregon
Uncovering the Social Community (30 contact hours)
Explore sustainable development with a focus on the social aspect of community making. How does "community" get created, sustained or limited? What are the different ways of understanding and planning for the social community?
Planning Studio with Community Based GIS
(45 contact hours)
Translate your ideas about the rejuvenation to Farsa Village and move the community forward. Use community based GIS on a hand held Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) to collect data for analysis.
FALL SEMESTER 2008 U.S. VISITING FACULTY MEMBER COURSES
U.S. Visiting Faculty Member: Wendy Walker, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies, Western Washington University
Uncovering the Social Community
Explore and analyze ways in which humans have adapted to their ecological habitats globally and on Kefalonia in the past and in the present. This course emphasizes the ways in which the practice of environmental stewardship has increased the sustainability of human cultures. Class projects will include creating educational/interpretive materials about these subjects that can be used as ecotourism tools by local businesses, non-profits, individuals and other groups.
This class will produce an overall interpretive plan for ecotourism for the island of Kefalonia. Students will focus on sustainability as a theme and on a set of pre-selected sites that are likely tourist destinations. The old village of Farsa, the Blue Village and sustainability design and development will be an emphasized site and subjects.
EXCURSIONS
Greece is your classroom—explore urban community neighborhoods in Athens and rural communities on the Island of Kefalonia. Excursions are designed to offer you an opportunity to experience first-hand Greek urban and island communities.
Not all courses listed are offered every term.
Course offerings are subject to change depending on enrollment and availability.
ACADEMIC CREDIT
All courses offered in Kefalonia are recognized and approved for academic credit by various NCSA member institutions. Actual credit awarded is determined by the relevant department at your university in consultation with the study abroad office. Check with your study abroad adviser for more information.
