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  • Locations: Atenas, Costa Rica
  • Program Terms: Summer
  • Homepage: Click to visit
  • Program Sponsor: The School for Field Studies (SFS) 
  • Restrictions: WVU applicants only
Dates / Deadlines:
Dates / Deadlines:
Term Year App Deadline Decision Date Start Date End Date
Summer 2025 02/01/2025 02/03/2025 TBA TBA
Fact Sheet:
Fact Sheet:
Language of Instruction: English Minimum GPA: 2.5
Program Description:

SFS COSTA RICA: BIODIVERSITY AND SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS (SUMMER I)

sfs costa rica1


PROGRAM DETAILS

  • Term: Summer Session I
  • Credits: 4 semester-hour credits (8 credits if taken with Session II)
  • Prerequisites: No course prerequisites, 2.5 GPA, 18 years of age
  • Application Deadline: April 1st. Early applications encouraged
  • Financial Aid: All accepted students can apply for need-based scholarships, grants, and loans


OVERVIEW

You’ll never look at a cup of coffee the same way again. Using coffee and chocolate as case studies, explore the relationships between food systems, ecology, conservation, and sustainability. Learn how different agricultural techniques have the potential to restore biodiversity and combat climate change. Study the sociocultural history of coffee and cacao, from Indigenous histories to modern production and exports. 

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT:
  • Visit La Iguana Chocolate Farm, where you’ll harvest cacao by hand and learn about permaculture, sustainable living, and local methods of chocolate processing.
  • Visit El Toledo Coffee farm and learn about organic methods of coffee production. Discuss the history and impacts of chocolate and coffee production in Latin America.
  • Engage in the Center’s sustainable food efforts – gather fresh mangoes from campus trees, visit the chicken coop to gather eggs, harvest kale from the garden, master composting, and more. 

SFS students live and study at the Center for Ecological Resilience Studies. The Center is an active farm overlooking the vibrant Central Valley, where green is the predominant color as far as the eye can see. Dorms and classrooms intermingle gardens, while Center dog Hera keeps watch over it all. The friendly town of Atenas is a 10-minute cab ride away, offering restaurants, shops, parks, and cultural events.
 

SUMMER COMBINED

Take back-to-back summer sessions and get the hands-on learning and skill-building experiences of an internship, while also going off the beaten path and exploring the world. Each summer session focuses on a different topic, and you’ll have time to travel independently between sessions. 


LEARN MORE

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CONNECT WITH SFS

Visit the SFS website
Email admissions@fieldstudies.org
Read updates from the field on the SFS Blog
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Watch student videos on YouTube and Vimeo