ECo + the CALL

The Earth Commons and the Capitol Applied Learning Labs (CALL) have teamed up to develop a slate of undergraduate courses to kickstart your career in environment & sustainability—or to simply explore your passion for positive environmental impact. With downtown D.C. as your classroom, you’ll learn about the local and global ecosystem, gain new perspectives on environmental changemaking, and network with D.C.-connected environmental organizations.

Environment & Sustainability Courses—Spring 2023

UPDATE: Spring 2023 CALL course application window is now closed.

Professional Experiential Seminars

Wednesday 1:00pm-3:00pm or Friday 10:00am-12:00pm
The CALL Internship Seminars offers students the chance to integrate their professional experiences with their personal, academic, and career goals. UNXD 250 is a required course for all CALL students.

Thursday 6:30-9:00pm
The CALL Internship Seminars offers students the chance to integrate their professional experiences with their personal, academic, and career goals. This section would place students in an internship focused around disability and activism. UNXD 250 is a required course for all CALL students. 

Curated Coursework

Wednesday 6:30pm-9:00pm.

Course Description: This course is designed as a lecture-discussion to explore topics related to agriculture and sustainability that influence global food security. This course is interdisciplinary in nature touching on environmental science, the economy, innovation and technology, policy, and justice. Defines and applies basic principles of sustainability to address urgent agricultural, environmental, and societal challenges. Students will participate in interactive discussions, investigate current global challenges, and engage in critical thinking to derive solutions to these challenges.

UNXD 269-90 is 2 credit Mod A course, meets select F1-3:30pm, select Sat 1-4 (Jan 20-Feb 18)

UNXD 269-91 is1 credit Mod B course (optional), meets select F1-3:30pm, select Sat 1-4 (March 31-April 22)

Course Description: How do we tell stories of climate crisis? Since long before the advent of the written word, humans have told stories, transmitting the earthly wisdom—and warnings—of our ancestors from generation to generation. But what artistic forms can hold the dizzying complexities of the climate emergency? What tales can capture the interlocked crises of extraction and extermination? What legends invite us to imagine radical futures? With a special emphasis on contemporary performance, this course offers a survey of methodologies for climate storytelling rooted in creative nonfiction, literature, and cultural criticism. While forging connections with DC-based arts and environmental workers, students will craft and present an original climate story as the culmination of a two-credit Module A. Students will also have an opportunity to publicly perform their story as part of the Kennedy Center’s upcoming RiverRun Festival for an optional third credit (Module B).

Students are strongly encouraged to register for both credits. Due to the cumulative nature of the final creative assignment,, students must enroll in Mod A in order to participate in Mod B. 

Tuesday 6:30pm-9:30pm

Course Description: The goal of this course is to provide a broad perspective on the field of environmental law. What is environmental law? Where does it come from? How does it work? What are some of the problems with the system of laws currently in place?

Wednesday 6:30pm-9:00pm

Course Description: This course uses a cross between conceptual and experiential approaches to teach the relationships  between environmental protections, human health, and government regulations. It focuses on the  core concepts embedded in U.S. and international governance frameworks, using individual statutes  and cases as examples, and by the end of the course students will have a thorough understanding of  major health and environment protection concepts. An important issue to consider during this  course is to understand that without good science, there can be no meaningful environmental law or  policy, and without good environmental protections, human health protections cannot exist.

Workshops

Wednesday 4:00pm-6:00pm

1 credit course

Course Description: This seven-week seminar course provides an introduction for how to apply principles of directed campaigning to win outcomes and goals that benefit the environment from governments and corporations. Students will hear directly from leading green campaigning and political practitioners at agencies, nonprofits and businesses and learn basic principles and how to leverage them on behalf of the environmental objectives of an NGO, movement, or business. Topics addressed will include public affairs and political change analysis, market research and the use of grassroots (and movement building) campaigns, the role of social media, celebrity and influencers, and corporate campaigning.  Students will create a campaign plan (and conduct opinion research and analysis in support of this plan) on behalf of a real or theoretical “client” (either selected by the students or assigned by the professor).

Ready to Apply?

Talk to your Academic Advising Dean on whether the CALL makes sense with your current course load and class standing. Start the Interest Form to claim your interest in the program for Spring 2023! UPDATE: Spring 2023 CALL course application window is now closed.

Environment Innovation Fellowship

UPDATE: Spring 2023 Environmental Innovation Fellowship application window is now closed.

The CALL is creating a special “Design and Growth” semester program to engage students interested in Environment & Sustainability in the continued development of the CALL.

Fellows will:

Fellows receive a $3500 Summer Professional Experiential Award (paid in Summer 2023) that can be used to cover the expenses of an unpaid internship, supplement a paid internship, undertake a research opportunity, or use as start up funds for a non/profit venture.


More about the CALL

The CALL offers a core suite of classes curated to complement the students’ professional experience and life downtown

View all CALL courses