Interdisciplinary Community Service Learning (ICSL) @VU
Interdisciplinary Community Service Learning (ICSL) AURORIZED course: addressing challenges through transdisciplinary research will take place from February to June 2023.
We are inviting interested Master students in your programme/department to join this course. The course is aimed for Master students from any discipline working on a thesis/internship/project-work related to any of the four thematic categories that also relate to AURORA pilot domains (1. Energy Transitions; 2. Food System Transformation; 3. Inclusive and Resilient Societies; 4. Mental Health and Wellbeing).
The course provides students with the opportunity to work on their own graduation project, while at the same time work in a transdisciplinary team with students from other master programs and other countries working on a similar topic and involving local communities. This course runs parallel to Master Internships and provides opportunity for students to collaborate across different disciplines in their Internship theme/topic. It aims to maximize the internship experience of students by engaging them in interdisciplinary and international collaborative ventures that are geared toward solving complex societal problems. The course also helps students build professional network, develop soft skills relevant for professional development, and be better prepared for a successful career after graduation. This course will also engage the Supervisors in co-creation activities and reflections. You can read more on the course here.
This year the course will be even better and bigger – marking the final year of the current AURORA project. We aim to have students representing all AURORA Universities and other allied/partner Universities from Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and Americas (possibly from Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Philippines, Kenya, Brazil). This year the iCSL course will be focusing on four thematic areas : 1. Energy Transitions; 2. Food System Transformation; 3. Inclusive and Resilient Societies; 4. Mental Health. If your students are working in their Masters graduation product (thesis, research report, project) on any of these thematic focus areas, it would be great to have your student interns join this course.
Our vision is to form a mini- interdisciplinary consortium or working group of students working on different aspects of the four thematic areas – where they can learn from each other and respective disciplines, and also build professional network. I am attaching a brochure and flyer herewith. For more information, you can contact the course coordinator – Dr. Eduardo Urias (eduardo.munizpereiraurias@vu.nl)
