{"id":135,"date":"2023-08-14T20:18:08","date_gmt":"2023-08-15T00:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/sustainability-social-justice\/mexico\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T15:13:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T19:13:17","slug":"mexico","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/sustainability-social-justice\/experiential-learning\/mexico\/","title":{"rendered":"Immersive learning in Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Join us on the project \u201cCo-Creating Capacities to Understand, Visualize, and Mitigate Climate-Change Impact Cascades and Inequities in Central Mexico,\u201d in partnership with the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), funded by the National Science Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earn your master\u2019s degree from globally ranked and recognized Clark University. Join our interdisciplinary team of faculty and graduate students as a member of the second research cohort and collaborate with the first cohort for transformative team-based work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project Background and Details<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, \u201cCo-Creating Capacities to Understand, Visualize, and Mitigate Climate-Change Impact Cascades and Inequities in Central Mexico\u201d was awarded a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation\u2019s Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) program (award #2230723).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The project involves nine Clark faculty from the Department of Sustainability and Social Justice<\/a>, Graduate School of Geography<\/a>, and Becker School of Design & Technology (BSDT)<\/a>. Our partners in Mexico include faculty from the National Autonomous University of Mexico\u2019s (UNAM) Laboratory for Sustainability Sciences (LANCIS), Institute of Atmospheric Sciences & Climate Change (ICAyCC), and Program for Climate Change Research (PINCC), as well as the Mexico City government and local communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project co-creates and integrates four components:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. A regional climate-change atlas using web-based GIS to map and spatially analyze climate, water, food\/agriculture, ecosystem, health, and livelihood conditions<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. A system dynamics model (SDM) to represent interactions among these sectors, impact cascades (one sector\u2019s impacts propagate through others), the unevenness of impacts across populations\/landscapes, and the simulation of alternative futures<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. An eXtended Reality (XR) platform that allows stakeholders to inhabit those futures virtually to chart sustainable, socially just, climate-resilient pathways<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. A research\/practice-based suite of courses that Clark and UNAM students take together \u2014 including field research with local community partners<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Interdisciplinary stakeholder co-creation is central to the work. Cohorts of Clark students spend months in the field, living and working with community partners and UNAM peers, which results in a transformative team-based experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Choice of Degree Paths<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \"Students<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Five experiential learning opportunities are available, aligned with five of our highly regarded master\u2019s degree programs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    M.S. in Environmental Science & Policy<\/strong><\/a>: Co-create knowledge and decision-making capacities with partners from local communities and the Mexico City government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    M.S. in Geographic Information Science<\/strong><\/a>: Develop and pilot a regional climate-change atlas, co-created and co-owned by our community and government partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    M.A. in International Development<\/strong><\/a>: Be part of a social-technical enterprise that represents a new  co-creation paradigm for sustainable development work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    M.A. in Community Development & Planning<\/strong><\/a>: Build relationships with communities impacted by climate change by working alongside them to build collective capacity to understand and respond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    MFA in Interactive Media<\/strong><\/a>: Help develop an exciting eXtended Reality (XR) platform that allows diverse groups to visualize and interact with alternative climate\/development futures.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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