About CSEJ
The Center For Social and Environmental Justice was established by Fondation Haïtienne de Développement Agricole Durable (FONHDAD) and Faculté d’Agronomie et de Médecine Vétérinaire (FAMV), State University of Haiti, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Haiti.
Mission
Our mission is to empower global citizens to become stewards, not only of their own lives and the lives of others, but of the environment in which we all live. CSEJ’s curriculum is designed for scholars and practitioners concerned with social and environmental justice. Our philosophy is shaped by Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy which empowers learners to think and act critically with the aim of bringing about social change. It is, simultaneously, a learning philosophy and a social movement for emancipation from inequality, injustice, apathy, and oppression. We emphasize understanding how the production, distribution, and consumption of knowledge affects power relations, while seeking ways to navigate the knowledge-power nexus to make this world a socially and environmentally better place in which to live. In collaboration with communities and organizations, our practice-centered curriculum focuses on critical reflection and the search for creative and practical solutions to social, economic, and environmental issues.
Goals
- To create a transnational and transdisciplinary community of scholars and practitioners committed to social and environmental justice.
- To foster critical thinking and develop knowledge and skills with which to craft innovative and sustainable solutions to social, economic, and environmental issues.
- To create a social and environmental justice-related research and data clearinghouse that enables community groups to access research on issues of concern to them.
- To integrate community research and practical needs into graduate and undergraduate learning experience by opportunities for learning, research, and internships.
- To help build the capacity of organizations involved in development by assisting them with leadership development, monitoring and evaluation, and grant proposal writing.
Courses
All have a field component because the learning is derived from practical engagement with communities and development organizations. Courses for each session will be selected according to the needs of the student groups. With our flexible and negotiable approach to course content, we hope to create a continuity and positive synergy between the courses taken by participants at CSEJ, their home institutions, and their career interests.
Maximum number of participant per session is fifteen.
Course Duration: 7 weeks
Course Fee: The fee would be inclusive of room, board, and local transport.
- Critical Pedagogies for Environmental & Social Justice (H200/300)
- Ethics, Morality, and Justice (H201.1/301.1)
- Political Economy of Haiti (CSEJ 202.1/302.1)
- Decolonizing Development Theory (202.2/302.2)
- Solidarity Economics (CSEJ 202.3/302.3)
- Islands of Sustainability (CSEJ 203.1/303.1)
- Class, Race, Gender, and Power (CSEJ 203.2/303.2)
- Feminist Political Ecology: Global Issues and local experience (CSEJ 203.3/303.3)
- Education: Economy, Hierarchy, Power (CSEJ 203.4/303.4)
- Peasants: Vulnerability, Resilience, and Resistance (CSEJ 203.5/304.5)
- Youth Bulge: Lifeworlds and Cultures of Youth (203.6/304.6)
- Rural and Urban Poverty (CSEJ 204.1/304.1)
- Climate Change, Agriculture, and Migration (CSEJ 205.1/305.1)
- Rural Energy Crisis, Climate Change, and Gender (CSEJ 205.2/305.2)
- Agriculture, Capitalism, and Sustainable Development (CSEJ 205. 3/305.3)
- Gender, Neoliberalism, and Micro-Finance (CSEJ 205.4/305.4)
- Non-Governmental Organizations and Development (CSEJ 205.6/305.6)
- Natural Disasters and Humanitarian Assistance (CSEJ 206.1/306.1)
- Local Climate Change Mitigation Practices (CSEJ 207.1/307.1)
- Rural Sociology (CEEJ 207.2/307.2)
- Introduction to Agronomy (CSEJ 207.3/307.3)
- Community Health Practicum (CSEJ 207.4/307.4)
- Grant Proposal Writing Practicum (CSEJ 207.5/307.5)
- Monitoring and Evaluation Practicum (CSEJ 208.1/308.1)
- Applied Research Methods: GIS, Quantitative and Qualitative Methods (CSEJ 208.3/308.3)
Credit Transfer
All courses offer the equivalent of 0.5 credit hours on a 1-point scale. Each course group will meet once a week for three hours for seven weeks, including field trips. Prior to arriving in Haiti, participants must inform FONHDAD regarding their credit transfer requirements and protocols. FMMV will transfer the official transfer to the institutions specified in the application.
Accommodation
Accommodation will be provided at the highly secure facility at FONHDAD’s premises. All rooms are air-conditioned and equipped with bunk beds and shared bathrooms.
Transport
Participants will pay for air-travel. Local transport relating to courses, including to and from the airport, field trips, and emergency medical transport to local hospitals will be included in the course fee.
Our Partners
- FONHDAD
FONHDAD is a unique model in the history of Haiti’s agricultural development. It was established in 2014 with assistance from USAID, the Ministry of Agriculture, Haiti, and local and international universities. It is equipped with an experimental farm, soil, water, and plant pathology labs, and agriculture technologies.
It is a leader in innovative approaches to sustainable agriculture development, disaster management, and climate change. - School of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine
The School of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine is one of the most prestigious schools of the Université d’État d’Haïti (UEH). Since being founded in 1924 during the US occupation of the country, it has trained generations of practitioners in the field of agriculture and rural development. It consists of the following departments:
(1) Rural Development and Economics;
(2) Rural Engineering;
(3) Animal Production;
(4) Crop Science;
(5) Natural Resources and Environment;
(6) Food Science & Technology.
The School of Agronomy is one of the founding members of FONHDAD.
Information and Application
For additional information and the application please contact the CSEJ administrators.
Applications are due six months prior to the planned visit and they should be submitted through the home institution of the applicants.