WHO WE ARE
The Transformative Sustainability Project (TSP) is a virtual exchange program, supported by the Stevens Initiative, between the American University of Sharjah in the UAE and three US universities: Dickinson College, Haverford College and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Dedicated to increasing awareness of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, as well as bridging barriers between people of different cultures and nationalities, the TSP allows for students to work in tandem to critically approach and evaluate different real-life problems. Split up into ten pairs, each involving one AUS and one US class, students participate in global engagement and collaboration to tackle difficult yet salient questions about sustainability and our duty towards addressing the UN SDGs. The virtual exchange culminates in a final group project that showcases students’ conversations, proposed solutions and, ultimately, their teamwork. The TSP has been an incredibly rewarding program, driving students of various different nationalities and in wildly different fields to meaningfully analyze the importance of sustainability across a plethora of different contexts, locations and societal climates.
Beyond building conversations around sustainability, through giving students the opportunity to collaborate with peers across cultural and disciplinary boundaries, this project effectively prepares them for diverse environments and cross-cultural exchange.
Professors Kristen Highland and Kristina Katsos, co-directors of the TSP.
Over a period of two years, the TSP has witnessed many exciting projects as a result of unique course combinations. From merging 20th Century British Literature with Music Composition, to studying Environmental Studies with Marketing, our students have capitalized on varying skillsets to produce final projects that efficiently and thoughtfully address the UN SDGs.
As of 2024, we have engaged over 1500 students, all of which have become alumni members of The Stevens Initiative.
The TSP website thus serves as an archive of all of the excellent work that has been completed as part of this virtual exchange program, a platform to learn about different elements of the TSP in more detail and a way to find out where else you can reach us.
OVER 1500 students in THE SPAN OF TWO YEARS
32 COURSE COMBINATIONS
13 ACADEMIC DISCIPLINES
CONVERSATIONS WITH STUDENTS
What have you gained out of this virtual exchange?
We tend to contextualize information in ways most
familiar to us, so it was good to listen to people who
had contextualized the same information in their
own context. I think if we hadn't had these conversations with people from different backgrounds, we wouldn't have been able to learn what we did.
Maryam Kifani
How did the project make a difference?
One of the fundamental pillars of the program is to work together to break down cultural communication barriers. I believe that our project is helping to foster connections cross-culturally and teaches us to build connections with those we don’t have the opportunity to meet and connect with, otherwise.
Carter Wood
