SLS Launches Public Interest Technology Student Fellows Program

We are so excited to introduce our inaugural cohort of SLS Public Interest Technology Student Fellows! Funded by a grant through the Public Interest Technology University Network and the New America Foundation, this program seeks to support undergraduates, especially underrepresented students, in learning to work with community partners on public interest technology projects, and through that experience, identify and embark upon public interest technology…


In the wake of racial justice protests this past summer, countless organizations, institutions, and important figures in our society have responded and made commitments, Georgia Tech included. Different units of the Institute responded to this peak in social unrest with action.  Why is it important that we identify and recognize these efforts? The answer is twofold.

  • We must recognize where work is being done to ensure sufficient support is being given internally to those doing it. This support can come from any Georgia Tech affiliate: students, faculty, staff, even fans!
  • Georgia Tech’s motto is “Progress and Service.” The initiatives that will be recognized are this motto exemplified. Additionally, our motto complements the overall mission of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In seeking institutional transformation, Tech can find a useful framework in the UN Sustainable Development Goals; the…


Global Conference on Sustainability in Higher Education (Oct. 20-22) - STARTS TOMORROW!

Join SLS at NO COST - Georgia Tech has unlimited FREE registration for anyone with a GT email IP or email address

About the conference:

This week, October 20-22, is this year’s virtual AASHE conference - the Global Conference on Sustainability in Higher Education. GCSHE offers 3 full days of live content and networking, plus thirty days of on demand access (through November 22). You can attend as many or as few sessions as you’d like (even just one!). AASHE is our professional association – the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.

The conference theme focuses on justice and equity and features a number of wonderful keynote speakers, including Ibram X. Kendi,…


Bill Winders is Professor of Sociology in the School of History and Sociology at Georgia Tech. One of the courses he teaches regularly is HTS 3068: Social Movements.

Over the years, some of my research has examined different aspects of social movements, including how social movements influence political policies. I am pleased to have this opportunity to reflect on the current and historic protests about racial injustice and inequality that have enveloped the country.

The scale and persistence of these protests are remarkable. We have not seen such widespread and ongoing protests like this for several decades, that have struck scores of cities throughout the United States – and even across the globe. This is clearly an historic moment, and there is a palpable sense of change in the country.

Many people have raised questions about protests and their efficacy, and I would like to respond to a couple of questions that I have heard in recent weeks:…


SLS Global Student Ambassador Mynah Holloway, shares her experiences with the Serve-Learn-Sustain in Spain study abroad program through her own blog.  Read more HERE.

The Serve-Learn-Sustain in Spain program is offered in spring semester by the School of Modern Languages.  Take 12 to 15 credits of upper-division Spanish and earn a Spanish certificate (12 credits) or a Spanish minor (15 credits) in just four months abroad.  The Serve-Learn-Sustain in Spain program is based in Granada, Spain and combines intensive conversation practice with service-learning projects and sustainability studies.  This study abroad is part of the SLS Sustainable Cities Minor.

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“Creating sustainable communities” requires understanding issues from multiple perspectives and within broad contexts. To that end, each semester, SLS links together classes from multiple GT colleges and schools with some key community partners, under broad sustainable communities themes. Through a series of joint workshops and activities, students, faculty, and partners jointly explore problems and solutions from different academic and practitioner perspectives.  This semester, faculty Manu Platt (Biomedical Engineering) and Jennifer Singh (Sociology) bring together the components of cell biology and social reality, challenging students from their classes to think more critically about the historical, social and economic challenges and considerations and disparities within the nation's healthcare system.  

Read the …


We are pleased to provide you with a blog post from one of our 2019 SLS Global Student Ambassadors.  This week, we highlight the Language for Business and Technology (LBAT): Germany program, which takes students throughout Germany and explores regional perspectives in lifestyles, history, and traditions, as well as from an industrial point of view.  Our Global Student Ambassador in this program, Emma Axelson, writes about her observations regarding approaches to building climate control and a unique approach to preschool.


Windows in Germany

In my time in Germany, I have discovered that the German culture has a very different approach to climate control and to opening windows. In my experiences in the Southern US, we are often averse to opening windows except when the conditions are just right. However, in Germany, opening windows to let in fresh air is a daily activity at minimum. Many…


Doug Joiner, a lifelong child and adolescent activist and RCE Greater Atlanta partner, recently wrote a column for the Saporta report, about the importance of embracing children as commuting stakeholders in the development of child friendly transportation initiatives in cities.

READ MORE


This summer, Isabelle Musmanno served as the SLS Global Student Ambassador for the Nature, Governance, and Sustainability in Costa Rica study abroad program.  For her project, she created and ran an Instagram site for the program.  Click here for a glimpse of the Costa Rican experience!

Interested in a study abroad experience that embraces the economic, environmental, social, and cultural aspects of creating sustainable communities?  SLS partners with ten GT Study Abroad programs - visit our Study Abroad page to check out our study abroad partners.

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In AY 18-29, SLS sponsored its third Global Student Ambassador Program, partnering with ten Study Abroad programs at Georgia Tech.  The Global Student Ambassador Program is designed to provide students with the opportunity to meet each other and learn cross cultural perspectives on sustainable communities and share their experiences with other students.  As part of sharing those experiences, we are pleased to provide a blog post from Anna Montgomery, SLS Global Student Ambassador with the Leadership for Social Good (Central and Eastern Europe) program. Anna writes about her internship experience with No Bad Kid, a non-profit in Hungary that works to provide resources and training for schools across the country to better equip and encourage children who face behavioral problems. 

The Leadership…