A unique 经济学 course at Oxy took students to four German cities for a dynamic summer field component following a spring semester on campus.
安德鲁Masciarelli ’25 didn’t have a sense of the true scale of wind turbines until he was standing inside one. 还有一小群西方学生, 他的教授和导游, 他当时正在参观诺得克斯在汉堡的工厂, 德国, 世界领先的风力涡轮机制造商之一.
“在工厂的培训区, we got to go inside the main chamber of a wind turbine to see the technology that is fueling the future of sustainability,Masciarelli说. “It was so cool to step inside and see how complex these machines are—machines that are generating energy, 真的, 凭空而来.”
Masciarelli was one of 18 students enrolled in “ECON 312: Political Economy of Sustainable Development: Case of 德国” taught by Assistant Professor of 经济学 Jason Wong, 可持续发展方面的专家. 春季学期开学后, 该班于5月30日至6月17日前往德国, 允许学生在现实世界中应用和扩展他们的学习.
The course was designed to introduce students to 德国’s political and economic structures in addition to the primary environmental and sustainability debates in the country, which has emerged as one of the world leaders in innovative sustainability since World War II.
Masciarelli, 经济学 a专业 政治 他来自俄亥俄州的一个小村庄贝莱尔. 他说他一直对可持续发展充满热情.
“这是我所信仰的一切的根本. 我对资源的稀缺性有着深刻的理解, 这也是经济学研究的核心. It’s important to acknowledge that we have limited resources on this planet and we need to be cognizant of how we’re using them.”
On campus, students worked through readings and wrote papers in addition to contributing to a 类的博客 通过每周的帖子. Their posts were based on topics students learned about in class and invited them to expand their research and understanding in ways that were personally interesting to them.
The course’s international component brought students to four core cities: Stuttgart, 弗莱堡, 汉堡, 和柏林. 一个雄心勃勃的行程安排包括范围广泛的活动, 包括参观德国议会(Bundestag), 黄曾在那里实习), 与斯图加特城市规划部门负责人的会面, 参观奥迪工厂, 参观了一个叫做Freiamt的能源独立农业村庄, 专家客座讲座, 空中客车工厂, 东德博物馆, 以及其他文化旅游和活动.
在柏林, 学生们见到了一位国会议员, where they also sat in a plenary session where laws are passed (something they once simulated in class). 学生 also talked with members of sustainability start-ups about entrepreneurship.
Penelopi佩雷斯, 23岁，a 生物学 芝加哥专业, 参观弗莱堡特别兴奋吗, “德国最可持续发展的城市.” There, she enjoyed listening to guest speaker and 经济学 advisor Sara McLennan.
“We reviewed a number of environmental policies as well as case studies in Europe and 德国. 例如, alternative transport subsidies in 德国 have enabled 65% of 弗莱堡 residents to have a tram stop within 300 meters of their homes. 因此，弗赖堡的汽车密度是德国所有城市中最低的.”
Perez says she was motivated to apply to this course because it dealt with the essential subjects impacting global sustainable development: governance and 经济学, 环境可持续性, 社会可持续性. 她对交叉环保主义很感兴趣, which has evolved into wanting to pursue a multidisciplinary career within the sustainability sector.
马斯恰雷利称这门课程“令人难以置信，令人难忘”.“这次经历的一个主要收获是, 为他, is understanding the kinds of attitudes that are necessary to implement the measures that 德国 has championed.
“I’ve been reflecting on how we can bring ideas that are so revolutionary and put them together with the American Dream and find solutions that work for our country,他说.
黄说，他为这群特殊的学生感到非常自豪.
“The students were incredible in enduring such a packed and intense program by all measures,他说. “They took the material seriously and everyone was present at each and every event. The speakers and firms we visited were thoroughly impressed at the level of their engagement and the depth of their questions. 带领他们穿越德国是我的荣幸.”
The course culminated in a set of presentations in which groups of three students pitched an idea or solution to a sustainable development challenge they encountered in 德国. 这使他们能够综合他们的政治经济学知识, 实地的第一手经验, 以及他们与专家和利益相关者的多次对话.
“It is my hope that Oxy students will become part of the new generation of leaders in transatlantic sustainability cooperation,黄说。. “我们现在比以往任何时候都更需要他们.”
