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Sustainability Studies [clear]
| Title | Offering | Standing | Credits | Credits | When | F | W | S | Su | Description | Preparatory | Faculty | Days of Week | Multiple Standings | Start Quarters |
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Action for a Sustainable Future
Ted Whitesell communications community studies environmental studies geography history political science sociology sustainability studies writing Signature Required: Fall Winter Spring |
Program | JR - SRJunior - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | WWinter | SSpring | Students will work as part of a network of college students sharing in-depth, local case studies to generate understanding of strategic and tactical options for effective intervention in complex social-ecological issues to foster sustainability and justice. This program will train students for advocacy in government, private and non-profit organizations; support them in living fulfilled lives in difficult circumstances; and build communities of mutual support. Students will research and write a book for their peers on the topic of effective political action, for print and web publication. In addition they will create a web site housing a database of case studies in the policy, strategy and tactics of sustainability and justice. This web site will also serve as a communications center for activists and for those studying activism. Attention will focus on ethical, personal and social consequences of choices about how to think and act in situations of uncertainty, complexity, conflict and stress, and how to live effectively in potentially despair-inducing times. Students will examine local, contentious, ongoing issues with complex ecological, social and political aspects. They will attend meetings of organizations and legislative committees, interview participants, research issue history, and study interactions of biophysical, social and political components. Analysis will be informed by interdisciplinary readings on political theory, practical and ethical aspects of individual and collective action, complex systems, and environmental analysis. During fall quarter, we will gain the needed factual and theoretical foundation, outline the book and web site, and establish communications with peers elsewhere. Winter quarter will center on field work, researching and drafting. Spring quarter will involve extensive editing, rewriting and assembly of the final products. Students will gain skills in writing, including editing; oral, written and web-based presentation; qualitative social science research; complex social-ecological systems science; oral history; understanding political organizing, negotiation, mediation, lobbying and decision making; and collaborative work on a large-scale project. There will be the opportunity to explore conflict, engagement and reconciliation. | environmental studies, sustainability studies, policy studies, and environmental and social advocacy. | Ted Whitesell | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||
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Andean Roots: Biocultural Diversity Conservation in Highland Peru
Steven Scheuerell biology cultural studies environmental studies sustainability studies |
Program | SO - SRSophomore - Senior | 8 | 08 | Day, Evening and Weekend | SuSummer |
This study-abroad program to highland Peru will combine studies of biocultural diversity, cultural ecology, conservation biology, and sustainable development to learn how people are working to conserve cultural landscapes in the face of globalization and climate change. The Cusco region of Peru provides an ideal place to immerse in these studies. Here the headwaters of the Amazon flow from glacial covered peaks of the Andes to tropical rainforest, passing through radical changes in flora and fauna and thousands of years of continuous human habitation and domestication. Globally recognized as one of the origins of agriculture, these cultural landscapes hold an immense wealth of cultural knowledge and agricultural and ecosystem diversity that has developed and endured through pre-Incan, Incan, Spanish, and Peruvian rule. Yet these people, knowledge, culture, biodiversity, and landscapes, summed up as biocultural diversity, are straining from rapid development of resource extraction industries, industrial agriculture, globalization, and climate change. To study this we will base out of the town of Pisac in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, from which we will make day and overnight visits to highland Quechua communities, valley locations, and high jungle tropical sites. We will participate in local projects that support diversity while providing for sustainable human development in order to understand the complexities of global initiatives such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Millennium Development Goals.
Participating in this program will require the ability to travel independently and as a cooperative member of our learning community. We will have orientation meetings on the Evergreen Olympia campus preceeding summer session, but students will travel independently to Cusco, Peru, where we will gather together at a designated hostel June 20-21. Each participant will have to purchase their own plane tickets, which minimizes cost to you and maximizes flexibility in travel routes and timing. Faculty will arrange all lodging and local group transport during the stay. We will study together from June 21 to July 22; this includes evaluation writing and conferences. Students are encouraged to consider further independent study at one of the local language schools or independent travel to local communities, Incan sites such as Machu Picchu, and diverse ecosystems.
Please understand the following about costs and travel conditions. A non-refundable deposit of $150 is due by May 1 to secure your space. Students will be required to pay an $800 student fee that covers lodging, group transport, program site visits, and a fraction of faculty travel costs. Lodging costs are calculated on youth-hostel like conditions with same-sex shared rooms and shared bathrooms. Private accomodations can be arranged in advance at approximately double the price, contact faculty if you prefer this option. Students will pay out-of-pocket for their own food and meals in order to meet dietary needs and different budgets; $7 per day gives you ample options at restaurants, shops, and outdoor markets. Students will pay out-of-pocket for any personal items and independent outings during free time to local areas of interest including museums, artisan markets, and Incan archeological sites. ATM machines are easy to access in the region. Students will arrange and pay for their own plane flights to Cusco, Peru. Faculty can provide advice on travel options. Students need to have sufficient Spanish language ability to greet people, ask and understand directions, work with currency, and purchase food. Much of what we do will require extensive walking, sometimes at high elevation and on uneven ground. You will have to carry everything you bring, so pack light and know that you can buy just about anything you need. Contact faculty for a suggested packing list. Please email any questions to faculty member Steve Scheuerell at
(scheuers |
conservation biology, agricultural diversity conservation, biocultural diversity studies, ecology, cultural studies, sustainable development | Steven Scheuerell | Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | |||
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Applied Research: Biomass, Energy, and Environmental Justice
Ted Whitesell Native American studies environmental studies health sustainability studies |
Program | SO - SRSophomore - Senior | 8 | 08 | Day | WWinter | SSpring | Through this program, students will make important contributions to current decision-making on issues of critical importance for sustainability and social justice. In the winter quarter, students will gather and analyze information on current and proposed biomass energy production in western Washington, focusing primarily on the biomass gasification now being considered (fall 2010 - winter 2011) for The Evergreen State College. Since this form of energy production has generated a great deal of controversy, student research at this time can make a critical contribution to informing these debates and helping the college come to the best decision about whether or not to proceed with such a project. In the spring quarter, students will work closely with AP high school science students on the Spokane Indian Reservation, to study the contamination of the Spokane River system from a decommissioned uranium mine. Evergreen student researchers will serve in a mentoring capacity with the high school students. Students must already have good research and writing skills. They will improve those skills through practice, using research to help answer questions such as the following: What are practical alternatives to fossil fuels for Evergreen and Centralia? Can biomass be a carbon-neutral energy source? What forest practices would be compatible with Evergreen's stated sustainability goals and values? What is known about the human health impacts of bioenergy and coal energy production in our region? How may Evergreen's decision-making process be improved as it works to attain its sustainability goals and commitments? How have ecosystems and human health been affected by uranium mining near Native American communities, specifically on the Spokane Indian Reservation? What can be done to address such contamination? Students will employ a variety of research methods, based on their educational background and skills. Research results will be widely shared through the Internet, in public presentations, and through publications, including periodicals and books. | renewable energy and environmental remediation. | Ted Whitesell | Mon Fri | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | ||
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Ceremony: Relating Hospitably to the Land
Yvonne Peterson, Gary Peterson, David Rutledge and Raul Nakasone Native American studies communications community studies education environmental studies leadership studies sustainability studies writing Signature Required: Spring |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | WWinter | SSpring | This program is for learners who have a research topic (with a major focus on spirituality and community) in mind, as well as for those who would like to learn how to do research in a learner-centered environment. Learners will be exposed to research methods, ethnographic research and interviewing techniques, writing workshops, computer literacy, library workshops, moving River of Culture Moments to documentary, educational technology and the educational philosophy that supports this program. Yvonne Peterson will offer theory-to-praxis workshops to support the particular academic needs of first and second-year participants. We ask participants to take a personal stake in their educational development. Within the program's spirituality and community theme and subjects, learners will pay special attention to what individual and group work they plan on doing, how they plan to learn, how they will know they learned it, and what difference the work will make in their lives and within their communities. Learners will be encouraged to assume responsibility for their choices. Faculty and learners together will work to develop habits of worthwhile community interaction in the context of the education process and liberation. We are interested in providing an environment of collaboration where faculty and learners will identify topics of mutual interest and act as partners in the exploration of those topics. Learners will develop individual projects (with an academic focus on ceremony, hospitality and community in close relationship to the land) to examine what it means to live in a pluralistic society at the beginning of the 21st century. Through each learner's area of interest, we will look at a variety of cultural and historical perspectives and use them to help address issues connected to the program theme. Work will be concentrated in cultural studies, human resource development, and ethnographic studies to include historical and political implications of encounters, and cross-cultural communication. We shall explore Native American perspectives and look at issues that are particularly relevant to Indigenous people of the Americas. In the fall, participants will state research questions. In late fall and winter, individually and in small study groups, learners will develop the historical background for their chosen questions and do the integrative review of the literature and data collection. Ongoing workshops will allow participants to learn the skills for completing their projects. Late winter and into spring quarter, students will write conclusions, wrap up projects and prepare for a public presentation. The last part of spring will be entirely dedicated to presentations. Depending on their individual projects, learners will develop, use and explore some of the following areas: Bloom's Taxonomy; the theory of multiple intelligence; curriculum development, assessment and instruction and Choice Theory; expectations of an Evergreen graduate and the five foci; quantitative reasoning; self- and group-motivation; and communication (to include dialogue, e-mail, resources on the Web and our moodle site). They will also develop skills in creating interactive Web pages, blogs and documentaries, as well as iMovie editing and presentations using PowerPoint or YouTube. | education, social sciences, the arts, multicultural studies, social work, human services and the humanities. | Yvonne Peterson Gary Peterson David Rutledge Raul Nakasone | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||
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Climate Solutions
Rob Cole |
Program | SO - SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | SSpring | This program will explore the causes of global climate change and study the many actions and social behaviors that we can take to minimize human contributions to it. We will examine the scientific evidence for global warming and the efforts to discredit that evidence. We will study the role of multinational corporations in global climate change and how they influence public opinion. We will focus on how to respond to global warming in a fashion that works toward sustainability and equity in the ecosystems that support life on the planet. We will pay particular attention to issues of justice between humans, and how humans interact with other species. In order to understand actions we can take, this program will explore sustainable lifestyle strategies as well as how to resist corporate influence on consumer consumption. We will study the approaches of biomimicry, sustainable architecture, renewable energy generation and the smart grid, equitable distribution of food and shelter, minimal-impact industrial processes, local food production, less toxic methods of producing, using and disposing of products from clothing to computers, and a variety of low-impact lifestyles. We will examine the methods advocated by visionary groups like Second Nature, Climate Solutions, Slow Food, and Cradle-to-Cradle. Students will complete a series of audits of their personal consumption and waste-generation patterns, and we will examine similar audits for the campus, the local region and the nation. We will study methods of computing carbon dioxide budgets including carbon sequestration methods, the intricacies of carbon capping and offsetting strategies, and opportunities to reduce net carbon dioxide production. Students can expect to do research on emerging technologies and strategies that move us to carbon neutrality while fostering sustainability and justice. In addition to gaining an understanding of how we can all lessen our impact on global climate change and move toward equity, students can expect to sharpen their critical reasoning, writing and speaking skills, as well as their ability to work with quantitative methods and to interpret quantitative data from a variety of sources. | carbon budgeting, climate change, ecosystems dynamics, environmental studies, public policy, sustainability and justice studies, and systems science. | Rob Cole | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | ||||
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Creating Sustainable Businesses in the 21st Century
Paul Horton and Rob Cole business and management economics environmental studies law and public policy sustainability studies |
Program | SO - SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | SSpring | What does it take to create and run businesses in an era of increasing resource scarcity and global climate change? The world stands on a threshold, where the reconciliation of human and natural systems is moving from an important consideration to an urgent necessity. Whether one is a protagonist or a skeptic, in many undeniable ways, business is one of the largest engines of change today. The trajectory taken by business in the first half of the 21st century will determine in many important ways the quality of life of the earth’s inhabitants for centuries to come. Students entering or returning to the workforce face have an unprecedented opportunity to participate in and shape the future direction of business either as new business owners, social entrepreneurs,sustainability consultants, or external advocates for change. Through a systems view of the interactions between humans, commerce and the environment, we will examine the need for change by looking at the key drivers of non-sustainability which include: growing consumer, regulatory and financial pressure; population increase; rising global affluence; and in particular, global climate change. We will explore the scientific evidence for global warming and the efforts to discredit that evidence. We will study the role of multinational corporations in global climate change and how they influence public opinion. We will focus on how to respond to global warming in a fashion that works toward sustainability and equity in the ecosystems that support life on the planet. We will also explore issues of justice between humans, and how humans interact with other species. We will take a critical look at the traditional business model and the changing role of business today. We will examine more sustainable alternatives, paying particular attention to the vision necessary to make a successful sustainable business. We will spend a significant portion of the quarter learning about and putting into practice cutting-edge strategies and methods to create sustainable business models. We will focus on ways to identify and prioritize sustainable business practices, and will explore several case studies and examples. This will also include an examination of the ideas and methods advocated by visionary groups like The Natural Step, Cradle-to-Cradle, Climate Solutions, and Slow Food. As part of this process, we will survey carbon dioxide mitigation strategies, study carbon budgeting and accounting, as well as the intricacies of carbon capping and offsetting strategies, and opportunities to reduce net carbon dioxide production. We will study the impact these strategies might have on sustainable business practices. Students can expect to do research on emerging technologies and business strategies that move us to carbon neutrality while fostering sustainability and justice. In addition to gaining an understanding of how we can all lessen our impact on global climate change and move toward equity, students can expect to sharpen their critical reasoning, writing and speaking skills, as well as their ability to work with quantitative methods and to interpret quantitative data from a variety of sources. Students will be expected to make a small-group presentation on a case study of a sustainable business, and complete a sustainability plan for a business as a term project. | sustainability studies, resource managment, and business. | Paul Horton Rob Cole | Mon Wed Thu | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | |||
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Creating Truly Sustainable Businesses and Organizations
Paul Horton business and management environmental studies sustainability studies |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 8 | 08 | Day | SuSummer | The twentieth-century business model has given rise to complex and interrelated challenges. These include a global water shortage, rapid resource depletion, climate change, and growing social dis-ease. Largely in response to these pressures, more and more businesses have launched sustainability initiatives. Despite the increased activity, most experts would agree that progress toward sustainability has been, at best, modest. How do we drive businesses (and thereby society) faster towards true sustainability? Is the twentieth-century business model still valid? Are there other models that are better suited to address the challenges of the 21st century? What skills and capacities are needed today(and tomorrow) in order for us to succeed? Throughout this program students will explore different human and social capabilities in the business context including moral and ethical leadership and communicating a positive vision of change. Students will also look at a variety of analytical and strategic planning tools such as systems mapping, life-cycle cost analysis, climate action plans, and the Environmental Management System (EMS). | Paul Horton | Mon Thu Fri | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | ||||
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Creative Environments: Entrepreneurship
Nelson Pizarro business and management consciousness studies sustainability studies |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | The faculty of the Creative Environments programs have joined together to offer in fall quarter and in winter and spring. Please refer to those program descriptions in the catalog for more information. | business, drawing, environmental art and design, environmental science, public and non-profit work, sculpture, social work, visual art, and woodworking. | Nelson Pizarro | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||||
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Creative Environments: Shaping
Robert Leverich |
Program | JR - SRJunior - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | WWinter | SSpring | The faculty of the Creative Environments programs have joined together to offer in fall quarter and in winter and spring. Please refer to those program descriptions in the catalog for more information. | visual art, sculpture, woodworking, environmental art and design. | Robert Leverich | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||
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Creative Environments: Shelter and Movement
Robert Knapp architecture chemistry community studies environmental studies physics sustainability studies |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | WWinter | The faculty of the Creative Environments programs have joined together to offer in fall quarter and in winter and spring. Please refer to those program descriptions in the catalog for more information. | applied physical sciences, architecture, civil and mechanical engineering, community studies, conceptual architecture, environmental physics, sustainable building and transportation, and sustainability and engineering. Skills include quantitative reasoning, basic drafting, sustainable design methods, group discussion and decision-making. | Robert Knapp | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | |||
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Designing Green
Robert Leverich, Anthony Tindill and Robert Knapp architecture community studies environmental studies physics sociology sustainability studies |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | WWinter | SSpring | Sustainable design imagines landscapes, buildings and objects of use that are responsive and responsible to environments and communities, that reuse and renew materials and energy, that draw lessons from natural systems and forms, and that use and build on the native design intelligence of human cultures. This program digs intensively into these topics, building on the background developed in Designing Green Futures (Fall 2010) or equivalent study elsewhere. This program pays special attention to buildings—their history and traditions, design challenges and potentials, modes of construction, life cycles—within a general framework of sustainable design. Students will read, attend lectures, engage in hands-on workshops and do field research addressing ecological impacts, materials, building science, graphics and design process (including computer methods) and environmental design history. They will bring lessons from these disciplines to an integrative design studio—the pivotal activity of the program. Studio projects will address drawing and design fundamentals, thinking in three dimensions, programming, user involvement, ecological design responses, materials choices and construction systems, energy use and presentation skills. Readings, seminars and writing will ground students in current issues and ideas in sustainability, and enrich their design efforts. Work will build toward application projects on campus or in the surrounding community during Spring Quarter. These projects will involve students in real-world processes, constraints, and trade-offs—essential experience for those who wish to make a difference. | architecture; environmental affairs, design, and studies; government and non-profit organizations; and sustainable technologies. | Robert Leverich Anthony Tindill Robert Knapp | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | |||
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Designing Green Futures
Nelson Pizarro, Anthony Tindill, Robert Knapp and Robert Leverich architecture business and management environmental studies government physics sustainability studies |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | “We are in the midst of a great turning and it is an auspicious time to be alive,” says writer John Malkin. All over the world, attitudes toward the earth and its resources are changing; new means of stewardship are arising, new ways of doing business and of building and shaping environments. This program is for students who want to get informed, and to rethink, re-envision, and reinvent how we use resources, build, and make a living in ways that are ethical, sustainable and beautiful. It sets the stage for winter and spring programs in sustainable building and business by providing an overview of key ideas and movements in sustainability, and by introducing students to Design as a thinking, innovating, and communicating process that can bridge disciplines, including architecture, community design, environmental technologies, and entrepreneurship. Program work will center on studio-based projects involving documentation, drawing and modeling of environments and ideas, as well as research, calculation, writing, and various modes of presentation. Workshops and lectures, along with readings and seminars, will address knowledge and skills from Design (graphic means of expression and idea generation, modeling, sources of form), Business (systems thinking, entrepreneurship), Sustainable Technologies (environmental flows, building systems, energy), and Community Studies (assessment and allocation of resources, public dialogue and decision making). We will emphasize individual preparation and collaborative effort in the work, seeking opportunities and commonalities of approach between disciplines. Typical projects might include a consideration of solar access and how it could shape building form and zoning regulations; the possible distribution of vehicle recharge stations in a community and the resultant small business opportunities; the production, marketing and distribution of emergency shelters; a marketing plan for toys that promote awareness of natural cycles and flows; resource efficient packaging design; architectural interventions to humanize public spaces; or the design of graphics to effectively explain green ideas. Dedicated students will leave this fall quarter program with solid preparation for more focused studies in designing green futures. They will gain a broader understanding of current approaches to sustainability; new and emerging environmental technologies and the basic science behind them; green entrepreneurship; and design as a creative linking and envisioning process. They will build skills to develop and communicate their ideas verbally, visually, and quantitatively, and cultivate the awareness needed to create more sustaining and sustainable ways of living, building, and working in a greening world. | architecture; business and management; entrepreneurship; environmental design; environmental studies; government and non-profit organizations; and sustainable technologies. | Nelson Pizarro Anthony Tindill Robert Knapp Robert Leverich | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||||
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Effective Action for Sustainability and Justice
Ted Whitesell communications community studies environmental studies geography history political science sociology sustainability studies writing Signature Required: Fall Winter Spring |
Program | JR - SRJunior - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | WWinter | SSpring | Students will work as part of a network of college students sharing in-depth, local case studies to generate understanding of strategic and tactical options for effective intervention in complex social-ecological issues to foster sustainability and justice. This program will train students for advocacy in government, private and non-profit organizations; support them in living fulfilled lives in difficult circumstances; and build communities of mutual support. Students will research and write a book for their peers on the topic of effective political action, for print and web publication. In addition they will create a web site housing a database of case studies in the policy, strategy and tactics of sustainability and justice. This web site will also serve as a communications center for activists and for those studying activism. Attention will focus on ethical, personal and social consequences of choices about how to think and act in situations of uncertainty, complexity, conflict and stress, and how to live effectively in potentially despair-inducing times. Students will examine local, contentious, ongoing issues with complex ecological, social and political aspects. They will attend meetings of organizations and legislative committees, interview participants, research issue history, and study interactions of biophysical, social and political components. Analysis will be informed by interdisciplinary readings on political theory, practical and ethical aspects of individual and collective action, complex systems, and environmental analysis. During fall quarter, we will gain the needed factual and theoretical foundation, outline the book and web site, and establish communications with peers elsewhere. Winter quarter will center on field work, researching and drafting. Spring quarter will involve extensive editing, rewriting and assembly of the final products. Students will gain skills in writing, including editing; oral, written and web-based presentation; qualitative social science research; complex social-ecological systems science; oral history; understanding political organizing, negotiation, mediation, lobbying and decision making; and collaborative work on a large-scale project. There will be the opportunity to explore conflict, engagement and reconciliation. | environmental studies, sustainability studies, policy studies, and environmental and social advocacy. | Ted Whitesell | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||
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Environmental Challenges and Solutions
Ted Whitesell |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 12 | 12 | Day | SuSummer | Today, college graduates should be knowledgeable about the history, science, and politics of the unprecedented environmental challenges we face, such as global climate change; record human population levels; pollutants in our air, freshwater, oceans, and soils; and the decline of species everywhere. This summer course surveys these environmental challenges, looks at how natural and social sciences help us understand and address them, and surveys how citizens can make significant contributions individually and through collective action. | ecological restoration, sustainable agriculture, conservation, resource management, environmental health, climate impacts analysis, environmental justice, environmental advocacy, environmental education, and much more! | Ted Whitesell | Tue Wed Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | |||
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Essentials of Energy: Economics, Politics, Ethics
Howard Schwartz |
Course | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 4 | 04 | Evening | SSpring | Our interest in Essentials of Energy is learning about what it means to make the "right" energy choices. The first part of the course will cover the energy resources that are currently available. These include oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear, and many kinds of renewable energy. We will study the availability of each (How much is there? How is it obtained? What does it cost?), their advantages and disadvantages, and their environmental consequences. We will then be in position to study policy: what mix of energy resources should we have? While we will look at the policies of other countries and the international politics of energy, our focus will be on current US policies and how to evaluate options for change. Since policy is created and implemented through politics we will then spend much of the class looking at how political and governmental institutions (and the cultures they are embedded in) produce energy policies. For the United States, we will focus on climate change and proposed responses to it. Internationally, we will look at various examples of "Petropolitics" and the "resource curse," why countries that are rich in oil find it hard to use that wealth to modernize their economies or raise their citizens out of poverty. | Howard Schwartz | Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | ||||
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Field Ecology
Dylan Fischer and Alison Styring biology botany ecology environmental studies field studies mathematics natural history sustainability studies zoology Signature Required: Winter Spring |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | WWinter | SSpring | This year-long program will focus on intensive group and individual field research on current topics in ecology. Students will be expected to intensively use the primary literature and student-driven field research to address observations about ecological composition, structure and function in natural environments. Students will participate in field trips to sites in the Pacific Northwest and the Southwest (U.S.). Students will be expected to develop multiple independent and group research projects in local forests in the south Puget Sound, the Evergreen campus forest reserve, national forests, national parks, state forests and other relevant natural settings. During each quarter, we will work as a community to develop and implement multiple field projects based on: 1) rapid observation and field data collection and analysis workshops; 2) participation in large multi-year studies based in Washington and more distant field sites; and 3) student originated short and long-term studies. In fall quarter, students will focus on field sampling, natural history, library research and scientific writing skills to develop workable field data collection protocols for field trips. In the winter, students will learn to analyze ecological data using a variety of laboratory and statistical analytical approaches, and they will further refine their research and scientific writing skills through the development of research proposals for team-designed field projects that will be implemented during spring quarter. In spring quarter, students will demonstrate their research, natural history and analytical skills via group and individual research projects. Student manuscripts will be "crystallized" through a series of intensive multi-day paper-writing workshops in which group and individual papers will be produced. Research projects will also be formally presented by groups and individuals in the final weeks of the quarter at a public research exposition. Finally, all written research projects will be reviewed by external experts, revised and bound together in a single printed journal-format volume. Specific topics of study will include community and ecosystem ecology, plant physiology, forest structure, ecological restoration, riparian ecology, fire disturbance effects, bird abundance and monitoring, insect-plant interactions, disturbance ecology, and the broad fields of bio-complexity and ecological interactions. We will emphasize identification of original field research problems in diverse habitats, experimentation, data analyses, oral presentation of findings, and writing in journal format. | biology, botany, ecology, environmental studies, field ecology, forest ecology, ornithology, and zoology. | Dylan Fischer Alison Styring | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||
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Food, Health and Sustainability
Amy Cook, David Shaw, James Neitzel and Martha Rosemeyer agriculture biology chemistry ecology environmental studies sustainability studies Signature Required: Winter Spring |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | WWinter | SSpring | What should we eat? What is the difference between conventional and organic foods? Why is there an outcry over genetically modified foods? What is local food? Why does journalist Michael Pollan call this the American "Age of Nutritionism?" Why is there hunger? This program takes a scientific approach to food and cooking. Topics span a broad range, from molecular biology to ecology of agriculture and marine foodstuffs. We'll examine the coevolution of humans and food, Pacific Northwest Native foodways, the connection between diet and health, and the transformation of food through the processes of cooking, baking and fermentation. Throughout history, food and cooking have not only been essential for human sustenance, but have played a central role in economic and cultural life. This interdisciplinary exploration of the biology and chemistry of food takes a broad ecological systems approach, while also incorporating political, historical, cultural and anthropological perspectives. Structural issues of food security and sovereignty both local and global will also be explored. Students will directly apply major concepts learned in lectures to experiments in the laboratory and kitchen. Field trips will provide opportunities for observing food production and processing in the local community, as well as edible landscapes of the Pacific Northwest. Workshops and seminar discussions will focus on topics addressed by such authors as Michael Pollan, Gary Paul Nabhan and Harold McGee. Fall quarter focuses on the production of foods such as vegetables, fruits, grains, fish and shellfish. We'll explore the biochemistry of food, beginning with basic chemical concepts, before moving onto the structure of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. We'll also consider the role of evolution in the selection of plant and animal species used as food by different human populations, as well as systems of Native American Pacific Northwest coastal food procurement and production. Winter quarter concentrates on cooking and nutrition. We will study food quality issues, and examine what happens at a biochemical and biophysical level during the process of cooking and processing. We will discuss how factors like nutritional content, heavy metal, and parasite and pesticide contamination affect food quality. We explore how our bodies digest and recover nutrients, and consider the physiological roles of vitamins and antioxidants, as well as the complex relationship between diet, disease and genetics. Finally, we will study the physiology of taste and smell, critical for the appreciation of food. Spring quarter focuses on the biochemistry of fermentation, and the production microbiology and chemistry of fermented foods. Specific topics include yeast varieties (e.g., "killer yeast"); bacterial, yeast, and mixed fermentations (e.g., malolactic fermentation, lambic fermentation); and aging and extraction methods. | the biological fields, including ecological agriculture, ecology, biochemistry, nutrition, food science, and food and agriculture policy. | Amy Cook David Shaw James Neitzel Martha Rosemeyer | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||
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Green for Green: Entrepreneurship and The Environment
Nelson Pizarro and Nalini Nadkarni business and management ecology environmental studies sustainability studies Signature Required: Spring |
Program | SO - SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | WWinter | SSpring | In a world where Earth’s environment and its inhabitants are increasingly compromised by human activities, humans must learn to step outside of their own spheres of influence to understand and forge collaborations with other people, institutions and ways of knowing. Traditionally, the fields of ecology and business have regarded each other as “other”, yet they hold many concepts, concerns, and values in common. In this upper-division program, we will first explore the structure and function of ecosystems in nature, and investigate similarities and differences with systems of business, commerce and entrepreneurship. Second, we will explore how business and entrepreneurship might be harnessed to increase conservation and stewardship of Earth’s ecosystems. During winter quarter, we will explore compelling business ideas by looking at examples of social entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship, corporations, non-profits and social business in the USA and other parts of the world. We will examine the best opportunities for social sector activity, and examine non-profit and for-profit approaches. We will also examine cases where companies have sought to exploit business opportunities that result from global, social and environmental trends. During spring quarter, students will be guided to develop feasibility plans for projects of their own choice. Projects could include such topics as developing awareness of natural ecosystems, analyzing a company that might be “green-painting” its products, or forging links between different partners that could collaborate to protect the environment. The work will involve market research, library work, data analysis, innovation and collaborative team work. | business, environmental studies, entrepreneurship, management, and sciences. | Nelson Pizarro Nalini Nadkarni | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | |||
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Health vs. Wealth
Mary Dean |
Course | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 4 | 04 | Evening | SSpring | We will explore the intersection where valued health care meets paid health care. In the health care arena, good intent is plagued by paradox and can yield under-funding and a mismatch with initial intent. Paradoxes and costs haunting prevention, access and treatment will be reviewed. Reports from the Institute of Medicine will aid our journey as will the video series, "Remaking American Medicine" and "Sick Around the World". We will consider the path of unintended consequences where piles of dollars are not the full answer to identified need. | Mary Dean | Tue | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | ||||
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Individual Study: Environmental Studies, Sustainability and Justice, Geography
Ted Whitesell community studies environmental studies field studies geography sustainability studies Signature Required: Winter Spring |
Contract | SO - SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | WWinter | SSpring | Individual study offers students the opportunity to develop self-direction, to learn on how to manage a personal project, to focus on unique combination of subjects, and to pursue original interdisciplinary projects without the constraints of an external structure. Students interested in a self-directed project, research, or internship related to environmental studies, geography, sustainability and justice, community studies, and activism are invited to present a proposal to Ted Whitsell. | environmental studies, sustainability and justice, and geography. | Ted Whitesell | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | |||
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Individual Study: Environmental Studies, Sustainability and Justice, Geography
Ted Whitesell community studies environmental studies field studies geography sustainability studies Signature Required: Fall |
Contract | SO - SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | Individual study offers students the opportunity to develop self-direction, to learn on how to manage a personal project, to focus on unique combination of subjects, and to pursue original interdisciplinary projects without the constraints of an external structure. Students interested in a self-directed project, research, or internship related to environmental studies, geography, sustainability and justice, community studies, and activism are invited to present a proposal to Ted Whitsell. | environmental studies, sustainability and justice, and geography. | Ted Whitesell | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||||
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Individual Study: Legislative Processes, Regulatory Agencies and Environment
Cheri Lucas-Jennings American studies communications community studies computer science cultural studies economics environmental studies gender and women's studies government health law and government policy law and public policy leadership studies media studies political science sustainability studies Signature Required: Spring |
Contract | JR - SRJunior - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day and Weekend | SSpring | Individual studies offers important opportunities for advanced students to create their own course of study and research. Prior to the beginning of the quarter, interested individuals or small groups of students must consult with the faculty sponsor to develop an outline of proposed projects to be described in an Individual Learning Contract. If students wish to gain internship experience they must secure the agreement and signature of a field supervisor prior to the initiation of the internship contract. This faculty wecomes internships and contracts in the areas of environmental health; health policy; public law; cultural studies; ethnic studies; the arts (including acrylic and oil painting, sculpture, or textiles); water policy and hydrolic systems; permaculture, economics of agriculture; toxins and brownfields; community planning, intranational relations. This opportunity is open to those who wish to continue with applied projects that seek to create social change in our community (as a result of work begun in fall 2010 and winter 2011 "Problems to Issues to Policies;" to those begining internship work at the State capitol who seek to expand their experience to public agencies and non-profit institutions; and to those interested in the study of low income populations and legal aid. | American studies, art, communications, community studies, cultural studies, environmental field studies, gender and women's health, history, law and government and public policy leadership | Cheri Lucas-Jennings | Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | ||||
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Knowing Place: Living in the Flux and Flow of Our Surroundings
Kathy Kelly |
Program | JR - SRJunior - Senior | 8 | 08 | Evening and Weekend | SuSummer | This program is designed for students in Evergreen's program at Grays Harbor College as a continuation of the year of study in the program "Leading in Turbulent Times." The summer program is open to any student interested in studying the locale or practicing the learning strategies the class will use. The purpose of this program is to expand and deepen students' understanding of systems, especially living systems. Students will use critical and technical skills, research and field experience, and reflective practices to understand, integrate, and interpret their environment. Following a brief (re-)introduction to systems theory, we will examine the dynamics of the Chehalis River watershed that includes Grays Harbor. We will use an framework that identifies nature's services and places an economic value on those services, useful for conservation and development planning. Students will become familiar with measures proposed by various stakeholders for flood control management of the watershed, and consider the implications of greater systems thinking in the current policy debate. The program engages experiential as well as cognitive learning as students participate in exercises to raise awareness of ways of being present in and perceiving the place we live. Students will develop map reading skills and practice journaling in both narrative and field journal styles as a means of recording, reflecting upon, integrating, and presenting knowledge. Readings, coupled with these exercises, will fuel discoveries about how our surroundings shape our thoughts, emotions, and actions. Field trips include a series of visits to sites within the watershed, along with visits to a local salmon hatchery and a sensitive natural area whose conservation is being advocated by local residents. Guest speakers will engage students in field activities. | ecology, economics, public policy making, social change work | Kathy Kelly | Fri Sat | Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | |||
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The Legislature and the Public: Environmental and Social Justice
Lin Nelson community studies environmental studies government law and public policy sociology sustainability studies |
Program | JR - SRJunior - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | This program explores the relationship between the Legislature (the Washington State Legislature in particular) and the public. We'll examine how citizens, community groups, non-governmental organizations and social movements engage with the legislative process. We'll read legislative, political and community literature, and we'll meet with a range of individuals (legislators, agency staff, lobbyists and activists) and organizations readying themselves for the upcoming session through research, collaboration and strategic planning. Our central goal will be to understand how the public learns about and interacts with the legislative process. We'll examine links between the Legislature and the public agencies, as we study selected pieces of proposed and enacted legislation to learn how these grow from and respond to community-based concerns. Our focal points will be environment, public health, labor, poverty and community development, as we explore how features of public life are transformed into legislative initiatives. Case studies will include issues such as environmental monitoring and remediation, environmental justice, right-to-know, welfare rights and health care for low-income populations. Students will deepen their knowledge and application of public documents, case analysis, field research, interviewing and public presentation. Each student (or student team) will design and complete a case study of a legislative initiative being developed for the 2011 session or an initiative being activated through a public agency. Students may take this program in coordination with the application process for the Legislative Internship 2011 program, or students may take the program based on a general interest in legislation, community involvement and social change. Our work will be shaped in tandem with emerging regional issues and in connection with organizations focusing on environment, health, working conditions, community and poverty. | social science, public policy, public interest research, environmental studies and community studies. | Lin Nelson | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||||
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Living Buildings - Science and Analysis
Steven Abercrombie architecture ecology environmental studies sustainability studies |
Course | JR - SRJunior - Senior | 4 | 04 | Evening | SSpring | In this upper division science course, students will undertake technical analyses related to building design, energy performance, water usage, stormwater handling, and occupant health to explore concepts in cutting-edge sustainable building performance. Participants will examine the theory behind the most progressive green building rating system in North America and gain experience utilizing building science analysis software employed by design professionals. Students taking this course should have a background in MS Excel, science, and statistics. The course will have one Saturday field trip where students will be able to experience many of the concepts discussed in the classroom in the field. | Steven Abercrombie | Tue | Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | ||||
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Medicinal Botany in Summer
Marja Eloheimo botany cultural studies environmental studies sustainability studies visual arts |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 8 | 08 | Day | SuSummer | In this 8-credit program, students will gain an introduction to medicinal plants in summertime, with particular focus on plant identification and morphology (botany), medicinal concepts and practices (botanical medicine), and botanical arts and nature journaling (art). Students will also explore selected aspects of such topics as approaches to cross-cultural herbalism, research and experience, bringing medicinal plants into our lives, and plants for summertime health. Activities include lectures, workshops, reading, seminar, field activities, and hands-on projects. This course is appropriate for students with interests in botany, environmental studies, health, education, and botanical medicine. | botany, health-related fields, ecology, education, cultural studies, sustainability | Marja Eloheimo | Tue Wed Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | |||
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The Practice of Sustainable Agriculture
Steven Scheuerell agriculture botany ecology environmental studies sustainability studies Signature Required: Winter |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | WWinter | SSpring | The Practice of Sustainable Agriculture (PSA) program integrates theoretical and practical aspects of small-scale organic farming in the Pacific Northwest during the fall, winter and spring quarters. This program requires serious commitment from students—we start at 8 AM Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and all students start farm chores at 7 AM one day per week. Each week of the program there will be eight hours of classroom instruction and twenty hours of practicum work at Evergreen's Organic Farm. The program's academic classroom portion will cover a variety of topics related to practical farm management, including annual and perennial plant propagation, entomology and pest management, plant pathology and disease management, weed biology and management, soil quality and soil management, crop botany, animal husbandry/physiology, polycultures, integration of crops and livestock, orchard management, appropriate technology, weather forecasting, and climatology. As part of their training, students will be required to develop and write farm management and business plans. On a weekly basis, students can expect to complete seminar readings and reflective writings, work through assigned textbooks, and write technical reports to demonstrate an integration of theoretical concepts and practice gained through the farm practicum. The academic practicum on Evergreen's organic farm will include hands-on instruction on a range of farm-related topics including greenhouse management and season extension techniques, farm-scale composting and vermiculture, seed saving, irrigation systems, mushroom cultivation, farm recordkeeping, tool use and care, farm equipment operation and maintenance, and techniques for adding value to farm and garden products. Students will also have the opportunity to explore their personal interests related to agriculture, homesteading, and developing communal farms/ecovillages through research projects. Each quarter we will visit farms that represent the ecological, social and economic diversity of agriculture in the Pacific Northwest. Students will also attend and participate in key sustainable and organic farming conferences within the region. After completing this program, students will have an understanding of a holistic approach to managing a small-scale sustainable farm operation in the Pacific Northwest. | agriculture, farm and garden management, and applied horticulture. | Steven Scheuerell | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||
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The Practice of Sustainable Agriculture: Spring
Stephen Bramwell agriculture botany ecology environmental studies sustainability studies Signature Required: Spring |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | SSpring | The schedule for The Practice of Sustainable Agriculture has been shifted to the agricultural calendar. This is the first quarter of a three-quarter sequence that will run spring, summer and fall quarters. This program integrates theoretical and practical aspects of small-scale organic farming in the Pacific Northwest and requires serious commitment from students—we start at 8 AM Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and all students will work on the farm, which may include early mornings before class. Each week of the program there will be eight hours of classroom instruction and twenty hours of practicum work at Evergreen's Organic Farm.The program's academic classroom portion will cover a variety of topics related to practical farm management, including annual and perennial plant propagation, entomology and pest management, plant pathology and disease management, weed biology and management, soil quality and soil management, crop botany, animal husbandry/physiology, polycultures, integration of crops and livestock, orchard management, appropriate technology, weather forecasting, and climatology. As part of their training, students will be required to develop and write farm management and business plans. On a weekly basis, students can expect to complete seminar readings and reflective writings, work through assigned textbooks, and write technical reports to demonstrate an integration of theoretical concepts and practice gained through the farm practicum.The academic practicum on Evergreen's organic farm will include hands-on instruction on a range of farm-related topics including greenhouse management and season extension techniques, farm-scale composting and vermiculture, seed saving, irrigation systems, mushroom cultivation, farm recordkeeping, tool use and care, farm equipment operation and maintenance, and techniques for adding value to farm and garden products. Students will also have the opportunity to explore their personal interests related to agriculture, homesteading, and developing communal farms/ecovillages through research projects. Each quarter we will visit farms that represent the ecological, social and economic diversity of agriculture in the Pacific Northwest. Students will also attend and participate in key sustainable and organic farming conferences within the region. After completing this program, students will have an understanding of a holistic approach to managing a small-scale sustainable farm operation in the Pacific Northwest. | agriculture, farm and garden management, and applied horticulture. | Stephen Bramwell | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | ||||
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The Practice of Sustainable Agriculture: Summer
Stephen Bramwell agriculture botany ecology environmental studies sustainability studies Signature Required: Summer |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | SuSummer | The schedule for The Practice of Sustainable Agriculture has been shifted to the agricultural calendar. This is the second quarter of a three-quarter sequence that runs spring, summer and fall quarters. This program integrates theoretical and practical aspects of small-scale organic farming in the Pacific Northwest and requires serious commitment from students— we start at 8 AM Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and all students will work on the farm, which may include early mornings before class. Each week of the program there will be eight hours of classroom instruction and twenty hours of practicum work at Evergreen's Organic Farm. The program's academic classroom portion will cover a variety of topics related to practical farm management, including annual and perennial plant propagation, entomology and pest management, plant pathology and disease management, weed biology and management, soil quality and soil management, crop botany, animal husbandry/physiology, polycultures, integration of crops and livestock, orchard management, appropriate technology, weather forecasting, and climatology. As part of their training, students will be required to develop and write farm management and business plans. On a weekly basis, students can expect to complete seminar readings and reflective writings, work through assigned textbooks, and write technical reports to demonstrate an integration of theoretical concepts and practice gained through the farm practicum. The academic practicum on Evergreen's organic farm will include hands-on instruction on a range of farm-related topics including greenhouse management and season extension techniques, farm-scale composting and vermiculture, seed saving, irrigation systems, mushroom cultivation, farm recordkeeping, tool use and care, farm equipment operation and maintenance, and techniques for adding value to farm and garden products. Students will also have the opportunity to explore their personal interests related to agriculture, homesteading, and developing communal farms/ecovillages through research projects. Each quarter we will visit farms that represent the ecological, social and economic diversity of agriculture in the Pacific Northwest. Students will also attend and participate in key sustainable and organic farming conferences within the region. After completing this program, students will have an understanding of a holistic approach to managing a small-scale sustainable farm operation in the Pacific Northwest. | agriculture, farm and garden management, environmental studies and applied horticulture. | Stephen Bramwell | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | ||||
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Practice: Yoga for Sustainable Living
Karen Gaul |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 8 | 08 | Day | SuSummer | The system of yoga is extremely relevant in today’s world. Through a approach, this program will explore intersections between yoga and sustainability. The of Patanjali and other texts will be examined for key guidelines for sustainable and just living. We will journey to inner landscapes and outward to our local community and world around us. Students will connect with local organizations for service projects. For all bodies; no experience of yoga necessary. | Karen Gaul | Tue Wed Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | ||||
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Reservation-Based Community-Determined: Contemporary Indian Communities in Global Society
Michelle Aguilar-Wells, Francine Swift, Dorothy Flaherty, Mark Ferguson, Cynthia Marchand-Cecil and Renee Swan-Waite Native American studies community studies cultural studies government history law and government policy leadership studies political science sustainability studies |
Program | JR - SRJunior - Senior | 12 | 12 | Day | FFall | WWinter | SSpring | The Reservation-Based Community-Determined (RBCD) program is an upper-division program designed specifically for students residing on or connected to reservations. Students meet two evenings a week at a tribal site to build and sustain a learning community at the reservation. In addition, students from all sites meet four Saturdays per quarter for classes at the Longhouse. Tribes help to design the curriculum by addressing the question, "What does an educated tribal member need to know in order to contribute to their community?" The RBCD interdisciplinary approach allows students to participate in seminar, participatory research, and study their individual areas of interest while meeting the challenges and topics identified by the tribes. The 2010-11 academic year theme is Contemporary Indians in a Global Society. In fall, students will engage in work that allows them to understand the historical, cultural, legal and intergovernmental relationship between the tribes as Sovereign Governments and the United States. In winter, they will examine leadership qualities through history, literature and within tribal settings, as they begin to look for applications to the global society. In spring, they will study economic, cultural and environmental sustainability and management within a global context. Students will also have opportunities for independent work and study as well as 1-2 credit strands on a broad range of topics including, art, theater, literature, writing and management. Muckleshoot - Fall: 10255 (12), 10258 (v); Winter: 20178 (12); 20179 (v); Spring: 30186 (12), 30187 (v) Nisqually - Fall: 10253 (12), 10254 (v); Winter: 20176 (12); 20177 (v); Spring: 30184 (12), 30185 (v) Port Gamble - Fall: 10259 (12), 10260 (v); Winter: 20180 (12), 20181 (v); Spring: 30188 (12), 30189 (v) Quinault- Fall: 10251 (12), 10252 (v); Winter: 20174 (12); 20175 (v); Spring: 30182 (12), 30183 (v) Tulalip- Fall: 10249 (12), 10250(v); Winter: 20172 (12); 20173 (v); Spring: 30180 (12), 30181 (v) | government, indigenous political science and history, intergovernmental relations, leadership, literature, tribal and public services, Native American studies, and political science. | Michelle Aguilar-Wells Francine Swift Dorothy Flaherty Mark Ferguson Cynthia Marchand-Cecil Renee Swan-Waite | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||
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Rethinking the Suburbs
Jennifer Gerend, David Muehleisen and Matthew Smith American studies community studies environmental studies government history political science sustainability studies Signature Required: Winter Spring |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | WWinter | SSpring | This program takes as a starting point that suburbs as they have evolved in the United States need rethinking. We invite students who want to work, read challenging books, learn skills in writing and social analysis, and consider complex social issues ranging from land use policy and the preservation of farmland to the design of new city centers and engaging public space to join with us in research and service to communities locally or across the country. This program provides opportunities for advanced students to undertake engaging internship work in urban/surburban studies and agricultural policy in the context of a program and supported by strong academic texts. Suburbia evokes images of ticky-tacky boxes spread across the hills of Daly City, grotesque faux-French chateaus on five acre plots, sprawling malls, a world without sidewalks dominated by mothers in Chevy Suburbans spewing gas to drive five miles to the nearest grocery, a world with perfect lawns but no parks, places about which Gertrude Stein would say there is "no there, there." Yet today America has more suburbanites than city or rural inhabitants. Today's suburbs are also diverse, as more suburbs are now dominated by non-family and childless households than ever before. More suburbs are multi-racial or non-white than ever before. Clearly the suburbs have evolved beyond the role of a destination for families fleeing the city or a refuge for the Anglo-American middle class. Today's suburbs still attract residents for many of the reasons they initially developed, yet they are at a critical juncture. Many of them have in recent years become new cities or have been incorporated into neighboring cities. In recent decades, new population, employment and cultural centers have emerged. Assumptions about transportation, public and private space, and the gender relations of work and home are drawn into question. Many suburban places face new challenges, as they strive to create public gathering spaces, "town centers", a socially inclusive culture, pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods, viable mass transit options and other traditional "urban" amenities. What does it mean to live in a new city, and how do these fledgling communities observe their own limited histories? How has the development of suburbs threatened agriculture and the security of their food supply, forests and fisheries? Students will be engaged by texts that examine the history, land use, sociology and public policy, as well as the literature of the suburbs. We will prepare for our field experiences during the fall and the first half of winter quarter. We will examine the history of choices that shaped the built environment in the Pacific Northwest and the U.S. over the past century, thereby radically influencing today's options for sustainable living and community development. We will develop skills in writing, research, economic and social analysis that will allow us to participate in the work of planning, public policy, and sustainable food systems. We will visit sites in Portland, OR, Thurston County, and the Seattle-Tacoma area. Guest lectures, films and presentations will supplement our readings. In the first half of winter we will focus on developing internships and projects for individuals and groups. Projects can be local, regional or potentially international in their location and scope. Students will work on developing effective ways of documenting their experience and observing their surroundings. Students may work on their research in internships, volunteer settings, and through library resources. Students will work on their research until the middle of spring quarter, when they will return to campus to share experiences and develop polished final presentations and documented research materials. This program provides an opportunity for students to undertake their own exciting, potentially sophisticated work in a well-supported program-based structure. | American history, architecture, land use planning, urban planning, government, politics, law, community development and environmental policy. | Jennifer Gerend David Muehleisen Matthew Smith | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||
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Student Originated Studies: Center for Community-Based Learning and Action
Therese Saliba African American studies Native American studies anthropology communications community studies cultural studies economics education environmental studies gender and women's studies history international studies law and government policy law and public policy leadership studies media studies outdoor leadership and education queer studies sociology sustainability studies Signature Required: Spring |
SOS | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | SSpring | community or youth organizing; community development; economic, racial, and gender justice; education; immigrant rights; international solidarity and International Studies; popular education; public policy; sociology; and queer studies. | Therese Saliba | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | |||||
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Student Originated Studies: Community Development
Russell Fox agriculture community studies education environmental studies law and public policy sustainability studies Signature Required: Winter |
SOS | JR - SRJunior - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day and Evening | WWinter | This SOS is ideal for students with community-based internships related to their previous studies. For community-based projects that are not internships, groups of students working together will be given priority (see Prerequisites and Faculty Signature requirements for additional information). All students enrolled in the program will also participate in two credits of readings, classes and on-line assignments in collaboration with other students. A weekly class will include seminars, workshops organized by staff and faculty working at the Center for Community-Based Learning and Action, and opportunities to share internship and project work. Weekly on-line essays will explore topics relevant for students interested in land use planning, community development and social change work. The faculty will also meet regularly with smaller groups of students who are working on similar community issues--such as local agriculture, housing and homelessness, education or social services. Russ Fox has extensive knowledge of local organizations and resources, particularly in Thurston County, as well as experience working with students from across the curriculum who are interested in integrating and applying their learning through community-based research, learning and activism. Currently, his research and community activism work is focused on the viability and sustainability of local agriculture. While priority will be given to juniors and seniors, freshmen and sophomores may be admitted if proposing an internship or if they are part of a group project. | planning, community development, non-profit management, environmental studies, education, social work or public policy | Russell Fox | Thu Thu | Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | |||
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Student Originated Studies: Public Health, Environment, Sustainability and Public Policy
Lin Nelson community studies environmental studies government sociology sustainability studies Signature Required: Winter |
SOS | SO - SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day and Evening | WWinter | SSpring | This SOS program is directed to students who have broad interests in the following: public health, environmental conditions affecting public health and welfare, the movements around sustainability and social justice, and related public policy developments from local to international. Students with these interests and backgrounds will shape their work through internships, community projects and/or independent paths of study, and the group will be linked to the Center for Community-Based Learning and Action. Students and faculty will meet weekly or bi-weekly to examine and explore an array of issues, to examine links between projects and to develop skills and strategies. The concepts of Popular Education and Participatory Research will be central to our learning. We will cultivate this work, individually and in small groups, through consultation and collaboration with area organizations and through participant-observation approaches to local and state government. Students will explore and develop different approaches, with a mix of writing, documentation, workshops and presentations. Priority will be given to juniors and seniors. | public policy, community studies, environment, public health, sustainability, social justice. | Lin Nelson | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | |||
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Student-Originated Studies: Action for a Sustainable Future
Ted Whitesell community studies environmental studies government law and government policy law and public policy leadership studies political science sustainability studies writing Signature Required: Fall |
SOS | JR - SRJunior - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | Students will work together to learn to how to be effective public activists able to intervene in complex social-ecological issues to foster sustainability and justice. They will share their insights by writing a book for their peers, for publication both in print and digitally. In addition, they will create a web site housing a database of case studies illustrating relevant policy, strategy and tactics. This web site will also serve as a communications center for activists and for those studying activism. Attention will focus on ethical, personal and social consequences of choices about how to think and act in situations of uncertainty, complexity, conflict and stress, and how to live effectively in potentially despair-inducing times. The program will train students for leadership roles in government, private and non-profit organizations; support them in living fulfilled lives in difficult circumstances; and build communities of mutual support. As an SOS, students will also learn how to manage a significant team project. To develop understanding of public policy and political change, we will focus on the topic of the transition to sustainable energy in Washington State. Within this topic, we will examine local, contentious, ongoing cases in detail, beginning with controversies over the coal-fueled power plant in Centralia. Students will attend meetings of organizations and legislative committees, interview participants, research issue history, and study interactions of biophysical, social, economic and political components. Analysis will be informed by interdisciplinary readings on political theory, practical and ethical aspects of individual and collective action, complex systems, ecology and Earth processes, and environmental analysis. During fall quarter, we will gain the needed factual and theoretical foundation, complete an in-depth analysis of the Centralia power plant case, outline the book and web site, and establish communications with peers elsewhere. Winter quarter will center on fieldwork, researching and drafting chapters on current contentious cases. Spring quarter will involve extensive editing, rewriting and assembly of the final products. Students will gain skills in writing; editing; oral presentation; communication in print and e-book formats; qualitative social science research; social-ecological complex systems science; oral history; policy analysis; understanding political organizing, negotiation, mediation, lobbying and decision making; and collaborative work on a large-scale project. There will be the opportunity to explore conflict, engagement and reconciliation; and training in the martial art of Aikido as a practice of working with conflict. | leadership, government, and private and non-profit organizations. | Ted Whitesell | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||||
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Sustainability from the Inside Out
Cynthia Kennedy and Karen Gaul anthropology consciousness studies leadership studies sustainability studies writing |
Program | FR ONLYFreshmen Only | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | WWinter | SSpring | Many of us want to effect positive change in today’s world. We want to make good personal choices and we want to connect with others in communities of action regionally and even globally. This year-long program will help us explore the challenges inherent in pursuing sustainable living in today’s world and offer concrete tools to move toward a positive global future. Based on the idea that effective community action stems from careful self-reflection, the program will focus on a simultaneous journey inward as well as outward. Sustainability as we understand it today is embedded in the belief systems and practices of many traditional societies. Our work will be guided primarily by one such system: the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. This ancient philosophical system is still profoundly relevant today. The Sutras teach that, with practice, we can transform ourselves. We will explore this philosophical system and its code of conduct in-depth, investigating personal, societal, political, environmental and global themes of sustainability. We will consider ways to make sustainable choices through a regular inquiry of our assumptions about ourselves and the world with an eye towards the creation of a sustainable society. We will develop our understanding of sustainability through lectures, disciplinary workshops, films and a series of guest speakers. Students will engage in weekly critical book seminars, regular writing assignments, in-depth research and writing projects, independent and collaborative work, and regular program discussion. In addition, much of the work will be highly experiential, using radical personal accountability and a rigorous examination of the habits of the mind to explore the body as a micro-organism of the outer natural world. Practice, an important concept in many spiritual traditions around the world, is a central theme in the program. Weekly yoga and awareness classes, workshops, self-reflective writing and other expressive arts practices will provide opportunities for students to examine their own habitual patterns of behavior and develop insight into new ways of being. No experience in yoga is necessary. Students will also engage in regular, extensive community service. In fall quarter, students will be introduced to basic concepts in sustainability and personal leadership. We will examine and experiment with personal practices in the areas of food, consumption and spending. Students will begin to generate ideas for projects that integrate sustainability issues. In winter quarter, we will focus on themes of transportation and energy use in the context of climate change, examining local community responses, and continue work on research projects. In spring quarter, we will examine case studies on successful sustainability initiatives in a variety of cultures around the world. Students will have the chance to work globally or locally applying what they have learned to a project of their choice. These projects could include research, field studies, or extensive community service locally or abroad. | awareness, education, leadership, management, sustainability studies, yoga philosophy and practice, and writing. | Cynthia Kennedy Karen Gaul | Freshmen FR | Fall | ||
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Techniques of Sustainability Analysis
Rob Cole business and management ecology environmental studies law and public policy sustainability studies |
Program | JR - SRJunior - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | This program is intended for junior or senior students wanting to work professionally in fields of sustainability planning and implementation, greenhouse gas monitoring and mitigation, and reduction of ecological and carbon footprints of organizations and services. We will study various indicators of sustainability, and several approaches to sustainable organizational transformation including the Natural Step, cradle to cradle design, and life cycle assessment (LCA). We will explore greenhouse gas accounting methods, and protocols for measuring carbon footprints. We will examine the fundamentals of the carbon market, of cap-and-trade strategies and of carbon offsets. Students will develop skills in using analytical techniques to help design and implement sustainability programs for agencies, businesses and organizations. We will explore several case studies, including the Evergreen campus, and students will be expected to complete a research project on an organization of their choosing. We will employ methods of systems thinking in our work, and will connect a variety of disciplines as we forge programs to implement sustainability and greenhouse gas reduction. Students should have a solid background in using spreadsheets, and be comfortable working with complex quantitative formulas. | sustainability planning and implementation, environmental science, business, and greenhouse gas accounting and mitigation. | Rob Cole | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||||
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Water and Watersheds
Paul Pickett |
Course | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 4 | 04 | Evening | SuSummer | Water has been described as the “Oil of the 21st Century”. The world’s limited supply of water faces huge challenges of human demand and contamination. This course explores the many dimensions of water resources and the critical problems of managing water for humans and the environment. An integrating focus for the course will be watersheds, where many dimensions of environmental function and human activity overlap. | environmental studies, sciences, planning, or activism. | Paul Pickett | Mon Wed | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | |||
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Why Businesses Succeed: Sustainable Design
Bobbie McIntosh and Thuy Vu business and management economics leadership studies sustainability studies |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 8 | 08 | Weekend | FFall | WWinter | SSpring | Paul Hawken states in his book , "Business is the only mechanism on the planet today powerful enough to produce the changes necessary to reverse global environmental and social degradation." In the fall quarter of this year-long program, we will examine the history of American business and management systems, and we will research several models in support of a sustainable "green" business design. Green businesses are companies that unabashedly embrace the goal of enhancing life on Earth as an integral part of their business strategy. We will seek to lay the foundation for a paradigm shift in business design and learn how the human resource is one of the most important to small business. Within this resource we will address the questions and issues of emotional intelligence. In winter quarter, we will study marketing and define ecopreneurship while developing a toolbox of design for a sustainable "green" business. Quality business people show exceptional leadership by their explicit commitment and the significant resources they allocate to back up their commitments using triple botton line skills. Moreover, they are the leaders that open new products and services of sustainability within their communities and industry. One of the areas tackled will be "green" marketing and sales. We will also inspect the growth of sales and marketing as a vehicle for the sustainability process. In spring quarter, we will learn how to plan, develop and start a sustainable "green" business. Each student will design and construct a model for a sustainable small business utilizing leadership tools for change and emphasizing the value of seeking customers who embrace sustainability. As a final project, all students will use software tools to construct a small business plan that will be professional enough for review by a lending institution or investors. | business, economics, leadership, organizational design, and public service. | Bobbie McIntosh Thuy Vu | Sat | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | |
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With Liberty and Justice for Whom?
Barbara Laners, Arlen Speights, Erin Ceragioli, Anthony Zaragoza, Dorothy Anderson, Mingxia Li, Artee Young, Paul McCreary, Tyrus Smith, Gilda Sheppard and Peter Bacho biology community studies ecology education environmental studies health history law and public policy leadership studies mathematics media studies political science sociology sustainability studies writing |
Program | JR - SRJunior - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | FFall | WWinter | SSpring | The faculty and students will embark upon a thorough study of the origins and current status of justice in American society. From an interdisciplinary perspective, we will consider various definitions and theories of justice, review the way justice is carried out in different settings and historical periods and examine the possibility of achieving truly just social institutions. Topics to be considered include: social and environmental justice, just political and economic systems, criminal justice, just healthcare and educational access, representations of justice in media, as well as concepts of equity, fairness and equality. By the end of the academic year we will be able to offer concrete recommendations as to the steps necessary to achieve justice for all in our society. The theme for quarter is . We will lay the foundation for the rest of the year, both substantively and in terms of the tools necessary to operate effectively in the learning community. We will explore the concept of justice as it is explicated in theory, history and practice. The concept will be analyzed from both the perspectives of the legal system and moral teachings. In seminars, we will read and analyze texts dealing with issues that have historically raised questions of whether justice was achieved. Students will examine their personal experiences with justice issues by constructing an autobiographical memoir. Our work will be supplemented with a series of courses designed to assure literacy with words, numbers and images. Students will have the opportunity to hone their skills in critical reasoning, research and the use of multimedia and computers. quarter's theme is . We will look at specific contemporary societal issues in justice viewed from a variety of institutional perspectives, most notably justice in education, health care, law, science, government and politics. Students will investigate specific justice issues of interest with the purpose of identifying a particular problem, defining its dimensions, determining its causes and establishing action plans for its remedy. In the , the theme will progress to This final quarter will be devoted to the design and implementation of projects aimed at addressing the issues of injustice identified in the winter quarter. Seminar groups will combine their efforts to undertake actual programs aimed at assisting the community in righting a current injustice or providing greater justice for the community. The projects may take the form of educational events, publications, multimedia presentations or art installations, to help the community find higher levels of justice. Courses will assist in the successful implementation and evaluation of the student group activities. | advocacy, art and art history, bioethics, biology, community development, counseling, critical thinking, composition, education, environmental science, history, law and public policy, literature, mathematics and statistics, multimedia and arts production, organizational leadership, political economy, public administration, public health, research methodology, quantitative reasoning, social sciences, social work, and sustainability. | Barbara Laners Arlen Speights Erin Ceragioli Anthony Zaragoza Dorothy Anderson Mingxia Li Artee Young Paul McCreary Tyrus Smith Gilda Sheppard Peter Bacho | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | ||
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Writing from the Wild
Nancy Parkes and Rebecca Chamberlain |
Program | FR - SRFreshmen - Senior | 8 | 08 | Evening and Weekend | SSpring | How do we cultivate a practice of writing and a way of life that draws from authentic experience energized by wildness and rootedness to place? Through a stimulating program of writing, walking, hiking, nature observation, reading, research, and basic natural history, we will cultivate our power as writers and artists to awaken our sense of the wild. We will examine how to develop 'voice' in writing by reconnecting with the natural world and engaging with powerful places. Participants will have a choice to write in several genres, including but not limited to memoir/personal essay, creative non-fiction, poetry, fiction, and performance-based writing. They will keep a program journal, write and revise a series of short works, and build upon their understanding of environmental education and sustainability. We will participate in a variety of creative writing workshops that expose students to different genres. Two weekend intensives/fieldtrips will allow us to retreat from the technological world and connect to our embodied creative natures. Students can elect to hike in groups paced at their level. Students should have at least one work that they submit for e-publication and presentation at the end of the program. | communications, writing and literature, environmental policy, education | Nancy Parkes Rebecca Chamberlain | Wed | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring |