Ecotourism Course:

Heighten your GIVE experience, deepen your learning, and earn academic credit


Earn Academic Credit with GIVE

This is not your average college course. Make your education an adventure.

Heighten your experience I Transform your worldview I Deepen Your Learning I Form new communities

Step out of the classroom and into the world to earn 3 academic credits with our Ecotourism Course. Deepen your cultural discovery and immersive experience on your transformative journey. This is education reimagined: explore ecotourism and global sustainability, broaden your perspective, and shape your future. Go beyond traditional learning to form new communities, embrace global perspectives, and achieve personal growth while earning college credit.

“The course gave me an experience that I will forever treasure. It taught me what it is to have a truly transformational experience and how to bring that feeling home with me. It provided me with a new understanding of the world and changed how I interact with it. In my GIVE classroom, I learned more about myself, relationships, and the world than I would anywhere else.”

– Madi, Past Traveler & 2x Course Participant

What is GIVE’s academic course?

Designed around GIVE trips, our interdisciplinary, accredited 3-credit Ecotourism course deepens your learning, cultural immersion, and transformative journey. This course enhances and aligns seamlessly with your GIVE trip, allowing you to fully engage on the trip itinerary while receiving academic credit. Our Ecotourism Course for undergrads and Expeditionary Learning Practicum for graduate students is offered by SUNY Cortland, a member of the widely recognized SUNY system of New York and credits are transferable.

Taking the Ecotourism course on your GIVE trip will expand your global perspective and experiential learning. You’ll learn about ecotourism and the three pillars of sustainability (economic, environmental, and social), and reflect on your potential to change the world. By blending experiential learning, dialogue circles, and self-reflection, this course challenges you to think critically and act globally. It’s time to make your education an adventure.

“I found that participating in the academic course created a deeper relationship between the experience and myself. Overall I felt more involved, engaged, and connected to what I was doing.”

– Corrine Pruett, Past Traveler

How Does our Ecotourism Course Work?

A combination of pre-trip online assignments, discussion groups on the ground, and a meaningful post-trip final project will deepen your learning, immersion in the local community, and leadership skills that will set you apart! 

Pre-Trip

Complete pre-trip projects online at least 2-weeks before your trip.

During

Engage in dialogue circles, collaborative community projects, and reflective journaling.

Post-Trip

Create a final project to share and inspire others.

After your trip, you’ll stand out from the crowd with your leadership skills and resume! You’ll also join a network of like-minded students who want to continue their positive impact on the world.

Course Dates & Fees

Our tuition is much less than most universities: our 3-credit course is $990 for New York in-state residents, which is included in the prices below. There’s an additional $464 for out-of-state residents. All prices are in USD. Tuition varies for graduate students

🇹🇭 Thailand Volunteer + Course I 14-days 

Earn 3-academic credits with our Ecotourism Course!
$4,185     $3,685      $500 OFF     *In-state NY tuition included

*Price includes in-state tuition of $990 for New York Residents. Out-of-state tuition is an additional $465.
Tuition varies for graduate students.
See trip dates
Summer 2025    $500 OFF: $3,685 

July 18 – July 31, 2025


*Price includes in-state tuition of $990 for New York Residents. Out-of-state tuition is an additional $465.
Tuition varies for graduate students.

 

What's Included

When you travel with GIVE, you won’t be surprised by hidden fees upon arrival. Dive into all that’s included in our all-in-one trip prices.

  • All accommodations
  • Transportation (not including flights)
  • 3 meals per day & clean drinking water
  • 24/7 guide support 
  • All adventures and cultural experiences
  • Funding for volunteer projects & sustainability initiatives
  • Pre-trip & in-transit support from GIVE’s Travel Specialists
  • Access to your personalized GIVE Profile
  • Access to GIVE’s preferred insurance & flight partners
  • Trip preparation tools, guides and checklists
  • Access to GIVE’s Ambassador Community post-trip

Simply put: we care. GIVE goes above and beyond for our travelers before, during and after your trip. See all that’s included in your GIVE trip here!

What's Not Included

Once you arrive at your destination, everything is organized and included, so you can fully immerse yourself in the experience without having to worry about your wallet GIVE helps you organize all your travel logistics to make your trip preparations and travel smooth.

  • Flights and Travelers Insurance (mandatory)
  • Passport, visa (if required), and vaccinations (if required)
  • Immigration entry/exit fees (depending on location)
  • Personal souvenirs, snacks and refreshments (drinking water is included 24/7)
  • See all that’s included in your GIVE trip here!
* GIVE reserves the right to change program dates
* Winter trips are slightly shorter due to school/holiday breaks

 

“The immersive experience can’t be replicated in a classroom. Standing knee-deep in water clearing invasive species side-by-side with local leaders who describe the intricacies of their ancient fishponds is not something students can absorb by reading.”

– Ken Cohen, Ph.D FCS/Recreation and Sustainable Tourism (read more!)

“The English language could not adequately describe how intellectually enriching the course was. It serves to educate individuals on their host land before they get there and the discussions during the trip push boundaries to make you think more deeply about yourself and the world around you.”

– K.T., Past Hawai’i Travaeler (read more!)

Still deciding?

Our academic course is an ecotourism course focused on sustainability and transformative travel. It also has elements relating to economics, business, English, education, environmental science, global interactions, and much more, so it can be applied for credit to a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate majors!

Want to take our Ecotourism Course but aren’t sure how to approach an advisor or how it would apply to your major? No need to worry, we’ve got your back. Contact us to chat and check out our FAQ’s below.

Academic Credit FAQ’s

Is the course accredited?

Yes, our Ecotourism course is an accredited, 3-credit course for grads or undergrads. The course is in partnership with the University of Cortland, a member of the SUNY system of New York, the largest comprehensive system of universities in the United States. The SUNY system is widely recognized and credits are transferable to other universities. 

What academic courses are available?

We have an academic course available on select GIVE trip dates in Tanzania, Thailand, and Hawai’i to enhance your experience and further immerse you in our host communities. Course options:

  1. Ecotourism 315 course for undergrads

  2. Expeditionary Learning Practicum 678 for graduate students

Who can take the course?

Anyone can take our courses! The majority of course participants are undergrad and graduate students, however, you don’t have to be a student to take the course. It applies to a wide range of majors and disciplines and is transferable to other universities. Our courses are an unparalleled experience that will enhance your GIVE trip, heighten your experience, deepen your learning on the ground, and transform your worldview.

Program Overview

In partnership, SUNY Cortland (a member of the State Universities of New York) and GIVE provide credit-bearing academic opportunities for students, from a variety of disciplines, in an international setting that optimizes cultural immersion to deepen learning and enrich personal growth. The course is challenging intellectually, physically, and emotionally. Students engage in hands-on experiential learning side-by-side with community members to address complex issues and deliver sustainable solutions.

Course Format

Our 3 credit course hybrid course is offered to complement GIVE’s excursions on specific trip dates and locations. Online modules are delivered online pre-trip with an international immersion component added in-country.

Pre-Trip (Online): Prepare for and enhance your trip by understanding the local community you will live in as well as gain a firm understanding of sustainable development techniques before you even leave! The online course will start one week prior to your trip departure date.

In-Country: The international coursework during your excursion consists of a daily journal and interactive dialogue circles to process your day’s activities and reflect on discoveries. Students engage in hands-on experiential learning side-by-side with community members and fellow volunteers to address complex issues and deliver sustainable solutions. Together the students, instructor, guides, and local community members co-generate learning.

Post-Trip Project (Online): Create a portfolio that synthesizes your trip’s experiences, issues, impacts and insights. Submit your project online one week after you return home.

Course Description

Academic Course (3-Credits) to enhance your GIVE trip: Study away, explore the field of ecotourism on your GIVE trip and earn 3-course credits! Led by Professor Ken Cohen, this course (REC/GRY 315) explores sustainability issues and opportunities related to ecotourism and how they work within cultural, environmental, and economic frameworks. Volunteer with local non-profit organizations and partners that focus on preserving the environment while welcoming tourists.

Students will apply critical thinking skills, field observations, and reflective processing to explore and reveal the contextual impacts and opportunities associated with international sustainable development projects. Through cultural immersion and experiential learning in an international setting, students engage in applied activities designed to broaden international perspectives while providing opportunities for personal and professional growth. Hybrid course: experiential learning session in an international setting and pre and post-online assignments. Note: if your university is on semesters, your university will convert credit hours to semesters in the transfer process.

Course Design

The course is based on a transformative service-learning pedagogy that delivers a precise sequence of activities (contextual border crossing, dissonance, personalizing, processing, reflection, and integration). The design is generated to elevate the students’ experience to transcend their self-referential experience into a shared experience with the destination communities that compels a greater understanding of the students’ role as a member of a global community.

Learning opportunities are embedded throughout the program’s itinerary and enriched through activities typically associated with service-learning: cross-cultural engagement, field notes, dialogue, reflective journaling, and cumulative analysis of how the experience will be integrated into the student’s personal, academic, and professional aspirations.

Sample learning opportunities and projects include: living in the host community, and collaborating with local community members to design and construct community infrastructure (examples include a technical school in Nicaragua built from recycled plastic bottles and a freshwater delivery system for the village of Cairo, Zanzibar). Tours and projects include visiting a mangrove sanctuary and doing a hands-on planting project, measuring and releasing endangered sea turtles, exploring the economic and cultural complexities associated with poaching prior to participating in a safari, assisting a women’s art cooperative, and developing and delivering an after-school English education program for elementary school children. All projects are part of a long-term strategic approach to community-based economic development.

Course Evaluation

The course has four components, each worth 25% of the total available points for the course. Details for each of the assignments below will be provided via the syllabus once the student is enrolled in the course.

1. Pre-departure on-line assignment

a. Students are provided with sources to navigate and discover information pertaining to the cultural, political, economic, and environmental dimensions of their destination country and community. Students may select from a variety of prompts and resources that reflect their interests and academic field of study.

b. Self-assessment to consider how the information retrieved relates to their cultural awareness of the destination community and how it influences their expectations in light of their own cultural context.

2. Participation
Experiential learning requires a commitment to fully and positively participate in all programs, projects and activities. Participation will be evaluated by the on-site GIVE lead guides.

3. Reflective Journal
Students shall keep a double entry field journal noting key observations and their interpretation of those observations. These notes will be shared as part of regularly scheduled group dialogues. The notes and group discussions will enhance the students’ ability to process and reflect on their experience. Each student will generate a reflective journal. Reflection is a critical dimension of experiential learning. Exemplar quotes from the journal will be shared with the instructor.

4. Final Project
The culminating project synthesizes the assignments above into a presentation that communicates the students’ experience and its present and anticipated future impact on their development personally, academically, and professionally. The students may select from a variety of mediums (video, annotated powerpoint, paper) to convey their findings.

Where can I find the course syllabus?

You can find the Hawaii course syllabus here, Thailand course syllabus here, and Tanzania course syllabus here. To transfer course credit to a different university, download the syllabus to share with your advisor.

How much does the course cost?

The course tuition is much less than tuition at most institutions! For undergraduate students, tuition is $990 for New York in-state residents or $1,465 for New York out-of-state residents. The tuition for graduate students varies. You must be registered for a trip to take the course as it’s a hands-on, experiential learning course. To reserve your space, log into your Volunteer Profile, select trip dates with the course and solidify your spot with a deposit.  Remember, the deposit(s) are included in the total cost. The course will add a whole new dimension to your excursion!

I have questions about the course, who do I contact?

Questions about the course:

Amy Direnzo (course instructor)

Email: amy.direnzo@cortland.edu I Phone: 607-753-4968

Questions about registration, credit transfer, and financial aid:

Hugh Anderson
Senior Study Abroad Advisor at SUNY Cortland
Email: hugh.anderson@cortland.edu I Phone: (607) 753-2209

Questions about the trip experience, itinerary, and trip prep:
GIVE Volunteers
Email: info@givevolunteers.org I Phone: (206) 973-7991

How do I register for the course?

After you’ve been accepted to volunteer, it’s simple! Select your preferred trip dates with the course from your Volunteer Profile and secure your spot on the trip and course with a deposit. The trip deposit is $299 (for limited time) and course deposit is $200 (all deposits are included in the total cost!). Once your spot is secured on a trip and course, we’ll connect you with SUNY to complete your registration on the university side.  

Note that you must be confirmed on a GIVE trip to take the course. If you haven’t applied for the GIVE excursions, click here!

*GIVE’s Academic Course is only offered in certain locations and seasons

“It’s a unique opportunity. I’ve never seen anything like it, in fact, where by design, the students are engaging in their interests at the same time doing good and getting credit for it… all the while in some of the most beautiful landscapes imaginable.”

Ken Cohen, Ph.D FCS/Recreation and Sustainable Tourism.

Ready to start your adventure?