An innovative, interdisciplinary
approach to international education teamed engineers with
liberal arts students in a study of the water resources
of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
For eleven students, spending December
in sunny Sao Paulo was the chance to do an integrated
international program between terms — a first for Union.
Led by Professor of Sociology Martha Huggins, a specialist on Brazil, and Professor of Civil
Engineering Phillip
Snow, the group assessed
the political, cultural, economic, historic,
environmental, and ethical facets of water resource
problems in Brazil.
Working in teams of two or three,
students with different backgrounds put their heads
together to evaluate specific engineering projects as
they conducted independent research on a variety of water
resource issues. In addition to their independent work,
the students spent five days a week, eight hours a day,
on field trips to relevant sites or hearing guest
speakers.
Students say that in Sao Paulo they
encountered engineering and sociological problems they
had only read about, and the interaction between
engineering and societal factors quickly became apparent.
For example, they point out that Sao Paulo boasts that it
has the best drinking water in the world. That may be
true, they say, but when the water leaves the plant, the
city pipes are so rusted and cracked that by the time it
reaches residents, it is contaminated. Still, the
engineers that they met said that once the water leaves
their plant, it's not their problem. “They think
they're providing the best water in world,” says
Erika Migliaccio '99.
“Everyone would tell us something
else depending on who they worked for and their position.
It was incredibly frustrating,” says Kathleen
Ruggiero '99.
The students encountered an even
greater link between engineering and societal ills when
they visited the favelas — or shantytowns — at the
center of the city. Since the city does not have an
extensive sewage system, much of the city's waste dumps
into its river, which runs through the center of the
favela. “It makes the East River look pretty
good,” says Greg Skalaski '98.
The students say that they enjoyed the
interdisciplinary studies and agree that overall it was a
great experience — especially the chance to do
international study between terms. “It was a great
opportunity to see a different culture and take a class
that wouldn't put me behind in engineering,” says
Mary McKay '98.
During the winter term the students
continued their independent projects from Brazil, working
on final papers and planning to participate in the
Steinmetz Symposium this spring.