Dear students,
On this site you will find information about the Iceland study course that we are offering in Spring 2024 (ENST/CHEM/ESCI 254). Because the costs for the field trip are covered by the Environmental Studies Program, there is a competitive application process to get into the course. The application form can be found below along with information about the field component. We ask that you read over the information thoroughly before submitting your application.
Please note the unusual timing of the course. Ordinarily, the field trips associated with ENST 254 take place over October or spring break. Our course will be different due to the bad weather in Iceland during those months. Our field trip will take place in late May of 2024 after finals week, a time frame that includes graduation weekend. As a result, seniors are not eligible for the course. As far as the classroom part of the course goes, we will have a couple of planning meetings before spring break in 2024, but will really dive into the course after spring break. There will be some work (final paper project, group paper project) that will need to be wrapped up in the first couple of weeks of the summer, so if you know that your summer plans will preclude you from being able to finish up the work for the course, you should reconsider applying. Final work will be submitted by the second or third week of June, and we will be grading it over the summer. Your grade for the course will be available at the beginning of the 2024-2025 academic year.
Please feel free to contact us with any questions you have. We look forward to a great course and trip!
Sincerely,
Kirsten Menking (Prof. of Earth Science, kimenking@vassar.edu)
Alison Spodek (Prof. of Chemistry, alspodek@vassar.edu)