Alternative Grad School: Adventures in Alternative Learning
What is Alternative Grad School? It's a multi-collaborative project designed by SongAnh Nguyen and Alison Cole of Boston MA. Our goal is to create an example of Do-It-Yourself higher learning in the fields of ecological engineering, rural energy resources, and open source information sharing.
Where is Alternative Grad School? The physical project itself started in the ecovillage of Auroville, India. Auroville was founded on a dusty plot of land four decades ago and has flourished into a settlement of multi-national inhabitants working to create sustainbale solutions for our human community. Now our work is conducted from many parts of the globe.
Why Alternative Grad School? We seek a meaningful alternative to the unsustainable expense of university education. It is our belief that the intellectual capacity of graduate level work should be matched in skills acquired and simultaneously benefit the community in which it is conducted. We believe that the debt incurred through undergraduate and graduate education prohibits degree holders from continuing their work in low-paying but globally meaningful careers.
How? Out of respect for skill-building, we sailed a 51ft yacht across the Atlantic and then traveled over land to India with our starting point in the Caribbean Sea.
ALTERNATIVE GRAD SCHOOL COLLABORATORS
Sadhana Forest Restoration Project
Sadhana Forest's main project is the reforestation of 70 acres of severely eroded land. Aviram and Yorit Rosin along with many volunteers are working to re-create the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest indigenous to the area. This forest type is found only in Southern India and Sri Lanka and provides a rare biological richness due to its very high species abundance (over 1000 species of trees, shrubbery, and liana). The Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest is now close to total extinction as only 0.01% survives. This is a last moment effort to keep this very rich and beautiful Forest on Earth. Water conservation and soil management are central to the effort.
Offshore Passage Opportunities
OPO has helped thousands of sailors make successful passages by connecting them with skippers and sailboats in the 40 to 60 foot range. OPO also runs an Offshore Adventure Sailing Program aboard Swan Sailboats (perhaps the best built small sailboat in the world, according to Hank Schmitt) and berths aboard a Swan 48 or 56 in the Caribbean Big Boat Regatta (Feb to May 2009). OPO is not for the novice sailor, but if you are looking to make your first offshore passage and meet like minded people (or try and hitch a ride to Europe like us), check out the website of this awesome organization!
Don't forget to check out, Skylark, the 51ft yacht we sailed! www.skye51.com
Peer2Peer University
We will be designing a course in Land Restoration & Afforestation for Peer 2 Peer University based on the work being done in Sadhana Forest. P2PU is an online community of open study groups for short university-level courses. Think of it as online book clubs for open educational resources. The P2PU helps you navigate the wealth of open education materials that are out there, creates small groups of motivated learners, and supports the design and facilitation of courses. Students and tutors get recognition for their work, and are building pathways to formal credit as well.
City of Dawn Documentary
We will be working with Paul Kakert on his documentary of Auroville. His film tells a timely and inspirational story of human unity and critical issues of environmental sustainability. At its core, the film asks one question – “Can the blueprint for the future of mankind be found in a tiny community in a developing country?”
Reach The World!
Have you traveled? Has anyone shared their travel stories with you? Has this affected your worldview? If you can answer “Yes” to any of these questions, then you understand the mission of Reach the World. RTW is capitalizing upon an existing energy in our society – travelers – and turning it into an educational resource for all children and teachers. Through Reach the World, the age-old tradition of traveling and sharing stories makes the leap into the digital age – and for once, disadvantaged students are along for the ride. Click on the title to learn more about this stellar program!