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Morven in Summer (MIS) is an expanded offering of the former Morven Summer Institute. MIS is an innovative sustainability-focused teaching, research, and engagement program for students and community members hosted on Morven’s 3,000 acres, a key landscape for multidisciplinary learning at the University of Virginia.
During Morven in Summer, undergraduate and graduate students with interests in sustainability, equity, design, food systems, and historical research will have the opportunity to escape the traditional confines of the classroom while working on projects with real-world applications. MIS occurs during Summer Session 1 and uses a two-week, condensed class format.
Note that a UTS shuttle will be available to bring students to Morven this year.
2025 Courses
- PLAP 3160/GSVS 3160: Politics of Food, Paul Freedman
This course looks at the production and consumption of food in a political context. We will explore legislation, regulation, and other policies that affect the food system and examine their implications for the environment, public health and democratic politics. We will look closely at controversies over agricultural subsidies, labeling requirements, farming practices, food safety, advertising and education.
Course counts for Politics, Environmental Thought & Practice, and Global Studies.
- ETP 3500: Sound and Sustainability, Matthew Burtner
This class will explore sounds of the natural world, joining an ongoing project called “Morven Soundscapes”. A time of dramatic annual change, the late spring and early summer is a terrific time to study sound and sustainability in Virginia. Students will use provided sound field kits and learn software for analyzing and interpreting their own recorded sounds. Students will learn about ecoacoustics theory and principles of sustainability identified through sound. We will explore biophonic and geophonic sounds, and study human-nature interaction in this vast and diverse landscape. This class will meet at UVA’s Morven Sustainability Lab.
Course counts for Music, Environmental Thought & Practice, and Computer Science.
- COMM 3570/GSVS 3559: Sustainable Ventures in Working Landscapes, Mark White
This class will explore how nature and business intersect—developing real-world sustainable business models rooted in the land itself. Can we create profitable, sustainable ventures that restore ecosystems? How do we balance commercial opportunities with responsible land use? What does business look like when it works with nature instead of against it?
This hands-on, place-based course uses the estate’s forests, fields, and working landscapes as a living laboratory to explore business models that create value by preserving, rather than extracting, natural resources.
Course counts for the Global Commerce and Society track in the Commerce School, Environmental Thought & Practice, Global Studies, and the General Business Minor.
Additional Information
Summer 2025 MIS Poster with QR Code
Tuition and Fees
MIS tuition is based on whether a student is an undergraduate or graduate, and in-state or out-of-state. The program is 3.0 credit hours of tuition plus the comprehensive fee.