Green City Berlin: Course Offerings!
The "Green City Program"—the German-Engineering Foreign Study Program—in Berlin has four course options. In this blog post, I will explain the options to choose from and tell you a little bit about the courses I took!
1.) ENGS 37: Introduction to Environmental Engineering
2.) ENGS 45: Sustainable Urban Systems
3.) GERM 44.07: Metropolis Berlin
4.) GERM 2-3 Introductory German (the accelerated German language course)
I decided to take ENGS 37, ENGS 45, and GERM 44.07. Here is a little bit about each of the courses I took during my abroad in Berlin!
ENGS 37: Introduction to Environmental Engineering
Petra Bonfert Taylor taught ENGS 37, which focused on human-caused environmental pollution. We learned methods to mitigate, treat and prevent environmental issues. One of the main sections of the course was air quality, where we learned how to analyze air quality data using the coding language R. My team and I analyzed air quality data in Cologne, comparing the air quality near a green space to a heavily trafficked street. There were homework sets scattered throughout the term. Before every class, we had a reading quiz to complete after watching a video and going over some slides. For me, the best part of the class was a media piece we made for our air quality project about Cologne. My team decided to do a website and ad campaign. We realized something was missing throughout our media piece and wanted a creative aspect. With this in mind, we created a children's book to explain the benefits of green space. It was an extremely rewarding course, and I love how much I learned during the creative process. Professor Petra Bonfert Taylor was incredibly supportive, and I had a great time learning with her!
ENGS 45: Sustainable Urban Systems
I am passionate about sustainable design, and I was excited to learn more about urban systems in this class. It was taught by Professor Hossein Sagheby. The class followed a lecture style, with occasional quizzes. Our main project was a 40-page sustainability report of a city in the United States—including water supply, urban agriculture, green spaces, PV potential, transportation updates, and greenhouse gas emissions. We were tasked with assessing the current status of these sectors, developing a 5-year plan of action for the city, and analyzing its feasibility according to the city's annual budget. It was a lot of work and required great teamwork to make it successful. I had an excellent team to work with. I enjoyed learning about sustainable applications in a real-world scenario. We had excursions on some days to companies that delve into sustainable urban planning.
GERM 44.07: Metropolis Berlin
A study abroad in Berlin would not be complete without learning its history and culture. This class included excursions to important sites in Berlin on most Friday afternoons. It was an amazing way to explore the city and learn about the culture. This class was taught by Professor Michael Saman.
I elected to not take the intensive GERM 2-3: Introductory German class while in Berlin. Instead, I tried to make do with my Duolingo lessons. I loved the combination of classes that I took, it was completely manageable and a great learning experience!