Our proposed workshop will share the design, process and learning outcomes of two  experiential learning projects with Chemistry and Management undergraduates enrolled in a physical science research practicum and a labor relations course, respectively. We describe how we challenged our interdisciplinary student teams to ideate solutions to crises currently unfolding in sustainable farming and health.  

The content of the course readings and lectures informed management students about the history of labor relations, while experiential learning components provided students with the opportunity to engage with representatives and/or practices from the communities at stake. Emphasis was placed on contextualizing problems within the lived experience of communities, learning through hands-on experience with peers, and on collaborative, culturally relevant solution-delivery. Stemming from this approach, students reported a greater sense of curiosity and fulfillment in their work, leaving them better equipped to innovate effective and accessible solutions. 

The first cohort brought together students to investigate factors influencing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and vaccination rates across different regions in the world. Chemistry students researched the synthesis and composition of different vaccines, while management students focused on barriers to vaccine access in countries such as India, Sri Lanka, South Africa. Students presented recommendations from their inter-disciplinary collaborations to community stakeholders (e.g., local community leaders) from these areas. These included how to counter anti-vaccination misinformation campaigns spread via social media and how to set up supply chain notification systems to enable medical health institutions to provide vaccines to disadvantaged groups members in a timely manner. 

The second cohort examined sustainable agricultural practices for cash crops grown in Sri Lanka and Ghana. This subject is entangled with multiple salient crises: adverse health outcomes in farm workers, contamination of soil and water by illness-inducing agrochemicals, ecological degradation and destruction, and global food cost inflation and insecurity (World Bank, 2023). Chemistry students prototyped accessible and environmentally informed alternatives to chemical pesticide use in accordance with the principles of green chemistry, while management students designed initiatives that would facilitate the effective and lasting implementation of organic alternatives. This project allowed students to identify and explore the needs of a global community of vulnerable, low-income farmers, grounding their learning in social justice and community practice.   

The student teams recommended how farmers could unionize effectively by teaching them the skill of advocacy. They also created illustrated guidebooks, folksongs, hands-on demonstrations and provided advice on how farmers can form partnerships with agricultural agencies and educational institutions focussed on farming. Students also created content for interactive, community-engaged workshops (e.g., mass media communiques for spreading awareness and knowledge in the Ghanaian and Sri Lankan farming communities).  

In addition, to creating resources in virtual collaboration with international community partners (e.g., faculty and students from Sri Lanka) the project process helped students to learn history and current issues faced by the community. Finally, working in an interdisciplinary and international community allowed students to stretch their thinking beyond the course curriculum and see the application of their respective disciplines to a crisis unfolding in real-time. Students found this global classroom experience intriguing and challenging at the same time. This led to higher curiosity levels and an engaging learning experience, helping students to think critically, and come to their own insightful conclusions. On a broader level, students learned reciprocity and embraced partnerships based on the mutual benefit for all groups involved in the worldwide network. Implementing this project required considerable logistical coordination and communication with internal and external partners. This workshop will comprehensively summarize this project's development, implementation and impact on students' learning outcomes. 

The workshop will help participants identify what potential areas they may seek to do inter-disciplinary work on, and with who! Participants will identify types of collaborators they may like to do that – e.g., global collaborators etc. The workshop will also provide participants with an opportunity to network with potential Global collaborators attending the meeting.