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Sustainability Studies [clear]
Title | Offering | Standing | Credits | Credits | When | F | W | S | Su | Description | Preparatory | Faculty | Days | Multiple Standings | Start Quarters | Open Quarters |
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Hirsh Diamant and Nancy Parkes
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 12 | 12 | Evening and Weekend | F 13 Fall | W 14Winter | Students in this interdisciplinary program, which continues from Fall quarter, will learn how to cultivate a “sense of wonder” while building skills as writers, activists, artists, and interdisciplinary scholars. Our work will combine theory and practice as we delve into the rich areas of literature, cultural studies, writing, creative arts, contemplative practice, natural history, and environmental/outdoor education. We will explore how we develop roots to the natural world and explore themes related to natural history literature, the Pacific Northwest, and global multicultural traditions that have intimate connections to place, family, education, and artistic practice. At the core of our inquiry will be the questions: What enlivens culture? What motivates change? Working from a rich, interdisciplinary perspective, we will study what it means to be rooted to place and how place connects us to a deep sense of purpose and meaning through word and image, language and tradition, stories and activism, and education and scholarship. Highlights of Winter quarter will include a three day Lunar New Year and Tai Ji celebration and Community Service work in areas of students’ interests. | Hirsh Diamant Nancy Parkes | Mon Wed Sat | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
Rachel Hastings and Steven Scheuerell
Signature Required:
Winter
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 12, 16 | 12 16 | Day | F 13 Fall | W 14Winter | S 14Spring | This is a yearlong interdisciplinary program that incorporates sociolinguistics, geography, history, cultural ecology, global change, biocultural diversity conservation, food systems and sustainable development studies to explore how societies evolve and survive in relation to their environment and a globalizing world. Our studies are based on the belief that many cultures have developed rich linguistic and ecological traditions that have provided the means for communication, food, clothing and shelter based on a sustainable relationship with the land. More recently, cultural and economic globalization are increasingly impacting local knowledge systems worldwide, in particular when measured by changes to language, land-use and food systems. These changes, together with such factors as increasing human population, environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity and climate change, compel us to explore the ways in which knowledge systems are preserved or lost. In particular, we recognize the urgent need to preserve cultural knowledge that allows a society to be rooted in place, recognize ecological limits and provide for its needs. The Andean region of South America is an ideal region to study these issues.The academic program consists of two phases. The first phase over fall quarter will focus on program themes using texts, lectures, workshops, film, writing and local field trips. Fall quarter the program will be offered for 12 credits to provide students with the option to separately register for an appropriate Spanish language course. Selection for the second phase over winter and spring quarters will be based upon criteria including successful completion of fall quarter work, demonstrated readiness for study abroad and Spanish language ability. In winter and spring, students will be full time in the program, which will be offered for 16 credits per quarter. Winter quarter will begin with 5 weeks of travel preparations and intensive study on Peru, followed by a 15-week study abroad experience in the Cusco region of the Peruvian Andes that incorporates intensive Spanish or Quechua language study, regional travel, seminars, urban and rural home stays and independent research or service learning with local organizations. At the end of the independent project period, we will reconvene for final student presentations and evaluation conferences in the Sacred Valley near Cusco.As the former Incan capital, and home to vibrant cultures and immense biodiversity, the Cusco region of Peru offers immersion in the study of biocultural diversity and how the preservation of linguistic diversity is related to the preservation of traditional ecological knowledge, biodiversity and local food systems. While in Peru, we will continue language and cultural studies while experiencing regional initiatives to preserve cultural landscapes and indigenous knowledge systems in the midst of development pressure. Given the region's rich history, knowledge systems, architecture, agriculture, weaving, ceramics and music, we will ask how is knowledge transferred across generations and between communities, and how can traditional knowledge be maximized in sustainable development projects? As we address these academic questions, our own experiences will also lead us on to consider on a more individual level how learning another language and traveling abroad can increase our understanding of culture and what it means to fit into place. | Rachel Hastings Steven Scheuerell | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | |||
Rob Cole
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Program | FR–SOFreshmen–Sophomore | 16 | 16 | Day | F 13 Fall | Sustainability - what does it mean? Sustainability for whom? Consumption, social stratification, increased indebtedness, and environmental destruction are existing hallmarks of ‘civilization.’ Many of our current cultural, social and economic systems are unsustainable. This program will explore different visions of sustainability that offer alternatives to the dominant industrial/corporate model. We will examine approaches taken by different groups of people, in differing circumstances, to forge a more just, equitable and sustainable future that doesn’t outstrip the regenerative capacity of our ecosystem.In particular, we will compare and contrast two major approaches to sustainability; that of The Natural Step, and that of ‘transition communities.’ We will explore how these visions address equity and justice in the face of climate change, social stratification and ecosystem degradation. We will examine metrics and indicators of sustainability, and various measures of the regenerative capacity of the planet. We will survey a wide array of actions individuals and groups can take to foster a future that is more sustainable and more equitable and just for both human and other species.Through workshops, readings, films, personal audits and seminar discussions, students will engage a variety of sustainability concepts and approaches. They will learn skills useful in assessing actions that foster sustainability, and they will explore the habits of mind so essential to taking action in the twenty-first century. | Rob Cole | Mon Tue Wed Fri | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO | Fall | Fall | ||||
Rebecca Chamberlain and Gail Tremblay
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 14Spring | How does place affect the worldview and visions of writers, poets, artists, storytellers, and filmmakers from diverse cultures in the Americas? How can we develop an ecological and ethical identity that shapes culture and place through creative and artistic practice? As we study art history, natural history, and the natural world, we will use these questions to explore our connections to the earth and place through analysis and creation of poems, essays, and multimedia art projects. Through observations of the natural world, we will cultivate our ability to heighten sensory perceptions and gain insights that feed metaphors, images, and imagination. As we examine the way in which our relationships to words, images, myths, cultural teachings, stories, and the arts enhance our understanding, we will reflect on the strategies we need to address environmental education, activism, and the ecological challenges and health of our planet.Readings include essays by American Transcendentalists like Thoreau, Emerson, and Fuller, and natural history writers and eco-poets such as Leslie Marmon Silko, Terry Tempest Williams, Linda Hogan, Alice Walker, Mary Austin, John Muir, Rachel Carson, Gary Snyder, David Abrahm, Pablo Neruda, Eric Chock, and other diverse writers. Field trips and workshops include hikes, natural history observations, writing, a trip to Mt Rainier, and visits to museums, cultural, and arts events like the “Procession of the Species,” and the “Cascadia Poetry Festival.” We will work to develop practices of close observation of the natural world to fuel creativity. The quarter’s work will include the creation of art, poetry, personal essay, and a creative journal that allows us to refine our observations of local places, and to sketch and develop concepts for use in our artistic practice. Students of different skill levels will work on improving their writing and editing abilities so they can write and work towards publication. They will create multimedia art installations on campus and in the community, submitting proposals for one individual art project, and one group collaborative artistic project, and preparing the works for public presentation by the end of Spring quarter.Assignments: Writing includes a personal essay about place, a series of ten poems, and a creative journal. Art includes an individual multimedia installation and a group multimedia installation. Each student is responsible for presenting one of the projects on which they worked, in a community setting. Note: This class was formerly called Creativity and Diversity in American Culture: Art and Narrative in Response to Place. You can review fall and winter quarters at: | Rebecca Chamberlain Gail Tremblay | Tue Thu Fri | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | ||||
John Schaub
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 8 | 08 | Day and Evening | Su 14 Session II Summer | Many cultures have a tradition of teachers and students spending time in wilderness. We’ll let wilderness work in us, inspire us and help immerse us in writing. Carrying our own food and shelter brings focus, and opens new viewpoints on sustainability. We’ll study and live Leave-No-Trace ethics as we paddle to Squaxin Island and backpack at Mts. Rainier, St. Helens and the Olympics. We’ll seminar, write and engage in peer review, with ongoing faculty feedback.This all-level program could be orientation for incoming students, and a chance for anyone to engage deeply with writing, and/or produce a finished publishable manuscript.Students who wish to extend work into the other session for additional credit may do so through individual learning contracts. | John Schaub | Mon Tue Wed Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | Summer | ||||
David Shaw
Signature Required:
Spring
|
Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 14Winter | S 14Spring | This China studies program will take an in-depth look at modern China through the perspective of the social sciences, building on readings and issues discussed in the fall program However, any student with an interest in China or East Asian studies should be able to join the program in winter or spring quarter and succeed in their studies. Our overriding goals are to understand today's China as a vital global power, while critically exploring the lingering influence of its rich yet strife-torn cultural past on behavior and decisions made at the national, institutional and individual levels. Building on our shared texts and themes, students will do independent research individually or in small groups, becoming experts in a particular facet of Chinese business, economy. society and/or sustainability. Our work will also extend beyond uniquely Chinese experiences into topics on which the future of Asia, the global economy and our small planet depend, including the natural environment, paths to ecological, social and economic sustainability and strategies to redress economic inequalities and social dislocations. China's environmental history, its rural-urban dynamic and its economic development will also serve as core threads through both quarters of study. During winter quarter, we will study ancient Chinese texts (in translation), as well as popular and academic articles, books, films and documentaries on China, particularly those exploring and reinterpreting ancient themes. Chinese philosophy, comprised of the primary "Three Teachings" of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism, will inform our study of Chinese culture. Sun Tzu's will introduce us to one of the world's oldest sources of strategic thought and Chinese concepts of leadership. Other topics likely to be covered include China’s trade and travel with the outside world, the Chinese diaspora, China's contact and interactions with foreign powers and its industrialization and political transformations from an imperial dynasty to a republic to a Communist state. Spring quarter we will focus on present-day China. We will examine China's current image as a dynamic economic powerhouse and “global factory” and as an enigmatic political player internationally. We will also look at its internal, problematic quests for domestic harmony, a well-functioning legal system and a truly civil society.In both quarters, we will meet in seminar, workshop and lecture settings. Weekly readings from books, popular media (newspapers, magazines) and academic journal articles should be expected for seminar and workshop. A peer-review approach will be taken in a Writing and Research Workshop to complement individual or small-group efforts on their research projects. Regular film and documentary viewings will build a closer familiarity with Chinese culture and society. Finally, in spring quarter, students will make an individual presentation on a book they have read and critically reviewed on their own. Another student completing the same reading will provide feedback on the presentation based on their reading of the book. This should expand the range of perspectives covered beyond the readings assigned to the entire class.Separate enrollment in Chinese language courses is strongly encouraged as a complement to this program. This program would also serve as good preparation for students who plan to travel to China via independent learning contracts or subsequent study abroad programs. | David Shaw | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter Spring | ||||
Jennifer Gerend and Steven Niva
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Program | FR–SOFreshmen–Sophomore | 16 | 16 | Day | S 14Spring | Does the way we live—in suburbs, malls and automobiles—shape the foreign policy conducted in our name? Can we change our foreign policy by living differently?Our program will explore these questions through the prism of American foreign policy in the Middle East. The program will examine how the suburbanized and automobile dependent culture of the United States after World War II was made possible by American involvement in the Middle East to secure access to cheap and plentiful oil, particularly through our close alliances with oil-rich regimes. This ongoing involvement has been central to the rise of anti-American sentiment and the resultant wars in the Middle East during the past decade. While some have called for a new foreign policy which supports democracy, this program will also explore the question of whether a new domestic policy—one focused on shifting our way of living from suburbia to more walkable, dense and sustainable ways of urban living--may also be a necessary element of a new foreign policy. How do we create ways to live that reduce our dependency on access to non-renewable resources and support for repressive regional governments? What do sustainable and walkable cities look like? Should urban planning be a key element of foreign policy? Where do these decisions get made, and how can residents help shape their communities?Students will be introduced to the history and practice of U.S. foreign in the Middle East as well as central issues in the history and theory of U.S. urban planning and development. We will read texts, watch films and hear guest speakers who will address these issues, as well as write papers and engage in discussion and debates. | Jennifer Gerend Steven Niva | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO | Spring | Spring | |||||
Lin Nelson
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 14Winter | S 14Spring | This program is an exploration of how to do Community-Based Research (CBR) and develop meaningful documentation in relation to community needs and challenges. Our focus will be on the social and environmental justice issues that are part of community life and that become the focus of the work of community-based organizations and social movements. A key feature of this two-quarter program will be grounded approaches with community groups. We’ll be working actively with Evergreen’s Center for Community-Based Learning and Action (CCBLA) to learn about the pressing needs in our region and to shape and sharpen our research skills and approaches. Some of the groups we will likely connect with include Parents Organized for Welfare and Economic Rights (POWER), People for Puget Sound (on environment and sustainability), Fertile Ground (community sustainability), Garden-Raised Bounty (community agriculture and food justice), Stonewall Youth (on the rights of youth and the LGBTQ community) and Teen Council of Planned Parenthood, among others.Central to our work, especially in winter quarter, will be an examination of the history, philosophy, debates and strategic modes of CBR—which is also called “participatory research,” “popular education” and “action research.” Readings and resources will draw from academics who work with communities in initiating or supporting research; at the same time, we’ll learn from community organizations about research they launch and how they work with faculty, staff and students in colleges and universities. CBR as a social movement in the U.S. and internationally will be the grounding for our efforts. Our reading will be drawn from the growing literature on CBR: key ideas and frameworks, cross-cultural and cross-national approaches, methods and skills, and vivid case material. We will sustain a persistent examination of ethics, community rights and co-learning and collaboration. Winter quarter will focus on exploring the literature and resources, learning with area organizations, posing and launching projects. Spring quarter will shift to more of a community base, with substantial fieldwork, community documentation and participation, project review and planning for future applications.Some important skills that will be developed include project design and development, interviewing and questionnaire design, researching public/government documents, participant-observation and creative approaches to documentation and presentation. We’ll be working to link our projects with compelling social, political and ecological issues and to place our work in regional to international contexts. There will be a strong focus on “give back” to the community and working with and contributing to the resource base of the CCBLA. Students will come away from the program with ideas, experiences and skills that should be helpful to them if they’re interested in future work in social justice, community organizing, environmental protection and environmental justice, public health, fieldwork, social analysis and documentation. | Lin Nelson | Tue Wed Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter | |||
Karen Gaul, Rita Pougiales and Julie Russo
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 8, 16 | 08 16 | Day | F 13 Fall | W 14Winter | S 14Spring | In , the historian William Leach writes, “Whoever has the power to project a vision of the good life and make it prevail has the most decisive power of all.” Since the early 20th century, the pleasures of consumption have dominated prevailing visions of the good life in the United States. Innovations in mass production and mass media went hand in hand to link pleasure and prosperity with acquiring the latest commodities. Leisure has also been central to those pleasures, often in the form of tourism, fashion and entertainment, as people consume not only goods but experiences and ideas about what it means to be successful and happy. This program is an inquiry into these features of American consumer culture, particularly the values of convenience and authenticity that characterize the objects and desires it produces and exchanges.Students in this program will study the history and logic of U.S. consumer culture. We will consider the forces that have shaped each of us into consumers in this capitalist society, from representation and ideology to material and technological development. Sustainability will be a critical lens for our inquiry, as we consider the raw materials, labor and waste streams inherent in goods and in cultural experiences. Life cycle analysis of objects—from their origins in nature to their presence on retail shelves, personal spaces, garbage bins and landfills—will help us build a broader context for understanding the materiality with which we all engage every day.Our historical arc will be sweeping: from hunter-gatherers nearly two million years ago, to the origins of animal and plant domestication, to the formation of colonial settlements which created unprecedented challenges and opportunities, to the modern era. We will explore the patterns of resource use, social inequality and relative sustainability. We will examine how habits of conservation, thrift and re-use that were endemic to pre-modern societies transformed in tandem with the unprecedented energies of industrialization. We will investigate the theory and economics of post-industrial capitalism to better understand the impact of new media and technologies on the ways we produce and consume in the present day. We will also examine how curiosity about foreign and mysterious cultures in the context of globalization paved the way for tourism in which cultural authenticity is a central attraction. We will study the relationship between consumption and sustainability, pursuit of the good life through self-help and imported cultural practices such as yoga and meditation, between entertainment industries and communication networks, advertising and buying habits, spending money and self-worth. These contexts will enable us to destabilize and interrogate notions of what feels "normal" in the ways we engage as consumers today, including as consumers of knowledge in increasingly digitized institutions of higher education.Students will have the opportunity to examine ingrained routines of daily life, become conscious of the origins and meanings of their own habits and desires, and thereby become critical thinkers and actors in consumer culture. Our activities will include reading, writing papers and participating in seminar discussions on program topics, learning ethnographic research methods, experimenting with multimodal and collaborative work, viewing relevant films and participating in field trips. In fall quarter, we will build foundational skills and introduce key concepts and themes; winter quarter students will begin to develop their own research agenda; and in spring quarter, they can apply theory to practice in research and/or community-based projects. Spring quarter readings emphasize responses to consumer culture through alternative practices and collectives. Texts on on intentional communities include by Juliet Schor, by Karen Litfin, , and . Texts on virtual communities include by Fred Turner, by Lawrence Lessig, and selections from the anthology Digital Labor. These and related topics comprise an 8 credit academic block taught on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Students enrolling for 16 credits should be prepared to engage in substantial independent learning or work in the community (faculty can structure or guide this piece for new students). One option is a media production intensive that includes a series of technical workshops and a collaborative project. Program learning activities include: seminar responses and essay assignments, field trips, digital media workshops, yoga and awareness practices. Field trips may include Procession of the Species, visits to Fertile Ground, NW Ecobuilders Guild, the Arbutus School, and intentional communities in the PNW, and/or a tour of tiny homes. | Karen Gaul Rita Pougiales Julie Russo | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
Jose Gomez
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 12 | 12 | Day, Evening and Weekend | Su 14 Full Summer | This program will take a critical look at controversial issues in the criminal justice system, including police misconduct and interrogation, mandatory minimum sentencing, decriminalization of marijuana and prostitution, needle exchange programs, the insanity defense, children tried as adults, privatization of prisons, and physician-assisted suicide. It will be taught via the Internet through a virtual learning environment (Moodle or Canvas), a chat room for live webinars, and e-mail. A one-time face-to-face orientation will take place 7:00 to 9:30 pm on Monday, June 23. Contact instructor for alternate arrangements for the orientation. | Jose Gomez | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | Summer | |||||
Emily Lardner and Allen Mauney
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 8 | 08 | Evening | W 14Winter | S 14Spring | The skills to design and conduct effective research—defined as systematic inquiry-- are essential components of a liberal arts education and professional work. In this program, students will develop strong writing, critical reading, and statistical reasoning skills applicable to a variety of fields. The program is organized around two core assumptions: first, that research is more about thinking than doing, and second, that good research uses appropriate methods to support claims and communicate results effectively. In winter quarter, we will use the broad topic of climate change—understanding it, preparing for it, and adapting to it—as a shared focus for developing research skills. Students will focus on aspects of climate change that connect with their previous and future studies, or their current interests. Students will build skills through active-learning workshops, hands-on data collection and analysis, and critical analysis of online and print media reports. We will discuss research articles from a variety of fields, noting what makes some articles effective and others less so. In the second quarter of the program, students will be invited to identify their own topics for investigation, and continue to develop research tools and methods.The goal of the program is to help students become good researchers—good at asking and answering questions about complex topics in systematic ways. We expect that students will come to the program with a variety of backgrounds—from little or no experience with quantitative reasoning and statistics to some background, and from limited writing experience to lots of it. Successful students in this program will be intellectually curious and keen to become better at asking and answering good questions. | Emily Lardner Allen Mauney | Mon Wed | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter Spring | |||
Martha Rosemeyer, Sarah Williams and Thomas Johnson
Signature Required:
Winter Spring
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 13 Fall | W 14Winter | S 14Spring | Spring emphasis: We will study agroecology, traditional agriculture and permaculture in a tropical context. Seminar will focus on international “sustainable development” and its contradictions, successes and challenges. As a final project, students will apply their knowledge of tropical crops and soils to create a farm plan in a geographic area of their choice. This would be excellent preparation for an internship abroad and/or Peace Corps. | Martha Rosemeyer Sarah Williams Thomas Johnson | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |||
David Phillips
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 13 Fall | This interdisciplinary 16-credit program focuses on ecotourism, culture-based tourism and adventure travel. Ecotourism offers wildlife and nature experiences in protected habitats and pristine areas. Participative tourism is based on visits to traditional rural communities where travelers share in the daily lives of unique host cultures. Adventure travel involves endurance sports and high-skill challenges in natural settings. Ecotourism is often touted as a contributor to the conservation of ecosystems and wildlife habitats, and to economic development in rural communities. We explore the history, outcomes and future potential of ecotourism in different parts of the world.We study historic travel accounts and the literature of travel, changing modes of tourism, including solo travel and the global trend toward leisure travel. Creative writing and storytelling allow students to share their own travel experiences and goals. Travel media and journalism, books, films and the internet provide sources for discussion and writing, and topics for research.We study current theory of ecotourism, including policy and case studies, and acquire tools for critical analysis. Students study the ecotourism market, including planning, management, operations, and project outcomes. Sustainability criteria for ecotourism is a key topic. We study impacts of culturally-focused “participative” travel in developing countries, and the relationship of tourism to environmental changes. Students’ weekly essays, journals and narratives serve to elaborate on diverse topics and the learning process.The program includes a Spanish language component. Students are encouraged to study the language for the full 16 credits (or to take another foreign language or elective course, as a 12-credit option).Students collaborate in groups or work individually to design and present models for ecotourism and adventure travel. Term projects can focus on business development, operations, outdoor safety and environmental education, travel writing, eco-lodge design, photography, travel films, internet and other media, applied research in tourism, or other related areas of interest.Guest speakers relate their experiences in the adventure travel and ecotourism businesses. Day-long outdoor experiences and multi-day class trips add an experiential component to the program, and films and videos round out our learning about ecotourism and adventure travel. | David Phillips | Mon Wed Fri | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | ||||
EJ Zita
Signature Required:
Spring
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 14Winter | S 14Spring | This interdisciplinary program will study how energy is harvested and transformed, used or abused by humans. We will explore interactions between natural systems and human systems to understand global changes currently affecting the Earth System. What is the evidence, what are the consequences, and what can be done about global warming? How can we find our personal roles in addressing challenges facing Earth and its inhabitants?We will study solutions ranging from renewable energy to sustainable farming and (insert your idea here). Our approach is based in natural science, with an emphasis on critical thinking. This challenging and rewarding two-quarter program will include lectures and workshops by faculty and guest lecturers; seminars on books and articles; inquiry-based writing and peer feedback; qualitative and quantitative reasoning and problem solving; and hands-on research projects in spring, to engage our inquiry and learning together.In winter, our plans include research planning for students interested in more advanced studies in Spring. Every student will write several short inquiry-based essays, and will respond to peers' writing, in addition to face-to-face seminars. Small teams of your choice will meet at least twice weekly to discuss readings and prepare for class together. Students will make presentations in class on current topics of interest, and teams will facilitate discussions. No mathematical or technical design texts or prerequisites are required in winter quarter. Our efforts in spring will include more challenging quantitative work, including research projects. Every student will write several short inquiry-based essays, and will respond to peers' writing, in addition to face-to-face seminars. Students will build on quantitative problem solving begun together in the classroom. Small teams of your choice will meet weekly to discuss readings and prepare for class together. Students will do research projects, make presentations in class and at regional meetings, and write research reports. Research projects typically range from greenhouse gas reduction projects to sustainable energy, agriculture, building, or urban planning. Upper division credit will be available in spring quarter only. | EJ Zita | Tue Thu | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter Spring | |||
Ted Whitesell
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 12 | 12 | Day | Su 14 Full Summer | – | 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 | Summer | |||
Zoe Van Schyndel
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Course | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 4 | 04 | Day and Weekend | Su 14 Session II Summer | Zoe Van Schyndel | Fri Sat | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | Summer | |||||
Robert Leverich, Gretchen Van Dusen, Robert Knapp and Anthony Tindill
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 13 Fall | In a world full of man-made stuff, what does it mean to be a maker of things? How does what you make, the materials you choose, and how you shape them define and speak for you, as an individual, and as part of a culture or community, or an environment? What’s been handed to you, and what will you hand on? This is a foundational program for those who are drawn to envisioning and making things, from art and craft to architecture and environments, and who are open to thinking about that work as both creative self-expression and responsive engagement with materials, environments, and communities. It’s a serious introduction to studio-centered creative work – each student will be part of a working studios to focus on individual and group 3D projects that address art, craft, and construction challenges at a variety of scales, with supporting work in drawing, design, and fabrication skills, materials science, environmental history and ideas, and sustainable practices. Collaboratively, we will engage this work as art, science, expression, and service, challenging such distinctions and looking for commonalities of approach and meaning. Book possibilities include Pallasmaa: Cooper: ; Berge, Steele: Rothenburg: Engaged students will leave this program with new drawing, design, and building skills, experience with design as a multidisciplinary approach to complex problems, deeper understanding of materials and their environmental and social impacts, and fuller awareness of how the arts and architecture can shape environments and communities in ways that are ethical, beautiful, and sustainable. This program is preparatory for that follows in Winter and Spring quarters. | Robert Leverich Gretchen Van Dusen Robert Knapp Anthony Tindill | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | |||||
Robert Leverich and Anthony Tindill
Signature Required:
Winter
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 14Winter | S 14Spring | This program builds on ideas and skills introduced in Green Materials: Arts, Science, and Construction in the Fall. It focuses on craft and construction at different scales, from details and furnishings to building systems and construction methods. Each student will be part of a working studio to focus on individual and group 3D projects that address design and construction challenges, with supporting work in drawing, fabrication skills, building science, environmental history and ideas, and sustainable practices. We will engage this work as art, science, expression, and service, challenging such distinctions and looking for commonalities of approach and meaning.Detail projects – furniture, hardware, built-ins, lighting, and other building details - will explore craft and sustainability through smaller scaled work with wood, metals, composites, and repurposed materials – where some of the most creative craft work is being done today. Work at this scale is where one literally gets in touch with a building, so issues of ergonomics, comfort, usability, and equal access will come to the fore. We’ll focus on wood and wood products in the winter quarter and metals in the spring quarter, introducing basic skills in each area. Construction projects will address materials at the scale of sustainable building. Energy is a primary concern: currently buildings account for 42% of U.S. energy use, larger even than transportation and industrial energy use. New design and construction – or even better, renovating and retrofitting - can reduce that energy use in the future, even with an increase in numbers of buildings. We will consider emerging technologies that enhance energy efficiency, design strategies that reduce the overall energy needs of a building, and the impact of current sustainable building movements. Projects at both scales will emphasize informed use of materials – their benefits and their environmental, social, and economic impacts, and skillful use of tools and techniques, to design and build wisely. Lectures, workshops, and seminars will address themes common to both craft and construction: the history of environmental art and design, structure principles, ethics, beauty, community and sustainability. Likely books include: (Adamson), (Walker), (Lechner),and (Lovins). Engaged students will gain new skills in drawing, design, craft, and construction as sustainable practices, and the ability to speak for that work effectively through, graphics, writing, and public presentations. | Robert Leverich Anthony Tindill | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter | ||||
Mary Dean
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Course | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 4 | 04 | Evening | S 14Spring | 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. The books and aid our journey as will the video series, "Remaking American Medicine", "Sick Around the World," and "Sick Around America". 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 | Spring | ||||
Ryo Imamura
Signature Required:
Spring
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Contract | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 14Spring | This is an opportunity for sophomore, junior and senior students to create their own course of study and research, including internship, community service, and study abroad options. Before the beginning of spring quarter, interested students should submit an Individual Learning or Internship Contract to Ryo Imamura, which clearly states the work to be completed. Possible areas of study are Western psychology, Asian psychology, Buddhism, counseling, social work, cross-cultural studies, Asian-American studies, religious studies, nonprofit organizations, aging, death and dying, deep ecology and peace studies. Areas of study other than those listed above will be considered on a case-by-case basis. | Ryo Imamura | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | |||||
Cheri Lucas-Jennings
Signature Required:
Fall
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Contract | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day and Evening | F 13 Fall | 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 welcomes internships and contracts in the areas of the arts (including acrylic and oil painting, sculpture, or textiles); water policy and hydrolic systems; environmental health; health policy; public law; cultural studies; ethnic studies; 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; artists engaged in creative projects and 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. | Cheri Lucas-Jennings | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | |||||
Bobbie McIntosh
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Course | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 4 | 04 | Evening | F 13 Fall | The class is about the fundamental differences between social systems (like a business or supply chain) and natural systems (like the Hoh rainforest). The social systems are created by humans. There can be no "system" without the human actors who inhabit it and take the actions that bring it to life. This class will help the student acquire a tool box of system tools that will help them take action and bring their work to life. Natural capital is built by work arising from how we work, how we think, and the shapes of the systems as they fit into the dynamics of capitalism. | Bobbie McIntosh | Tue Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | ||||
Jennifer Gerend and Glenn Landram
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 13 Fall | W 14Winter | This two-quarter program focuses on Northwest communities from the perspective of public policy, land use and economics/personal finance. This program will be an eye opener for anyone who wonders why and how places develop. Where did that Walmart come from? Why did those trees get cut down for new homes? What will happen to that empty building? We will focus on the local decision making that shapes our built and natural environments while considering what types of development and redevelopment are more sustainable, both financially and environmentally.As the Northwest continues to grow, we will consider the voices of property owners, renters, business owners and other community members who often have divergent views on growth, preservation, conservation and property rights. These perspectives will aid our understanding of public places from urban and suburban cities to less connected subdivisions or rural developments. What do we want our public and private spaces to look like? How do communities plan for and accommodate growth? How are progressive policies developed and financed? Comparisons to other communities, cities, states and countries (Germany in particular) will be examined and discussed.Students will explore different communities' orientation to cars, transit, bicycles and pedestrians. Architecture and urban design aspects will round out our analysis. Class sessions will include lectures, workshops, films and field trips to Port Townsend and Seattle. The fall quarter will focus on the public policy, land use planning and economics necessary for students to conduct their own significant project during winter quarter. Seminar texts will offer a theoretical background in these issues as well as a look at some contemporary communities in the news.During winter quarter, students will continue their theoretical learning while taking on an applied group project around community planning and economic development. Specifically, students will work in teams to prepare research or other solutions for selected urban and rural planning issues around Washington. These projects may involve group travel. With faculty support, students will hone their ability to work in teams and develop their presentation skills. | Jennifer Gerend Glenn Landram | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | ||||
EJ Zita
Signature Required:
Summer
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Course | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 4 | 04 | Day | Su 14 Session II Summer | Tumwater is the only local city without a Community Garden. We have identified a Tumwater home willing to donate their big front yard for a community garden. Join us in helping to plan and build a Community Garden in Tumwater. Shall we include a chicken run and coop, to let poultry fertilize and till select garden beds? Shall we set up a rain barrel or two, for summer watering? Where can we get funding? Do we really need funding, or can we make it on a shoestring? How will the garden be maintained? Help us make this dream a reality. Taught by an organic farmer.You’ll have the opportunity to get down in the dirt, if you like. Let’s do it! | EJ Zita | Tue Tue Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | Summer | ||||
David Muehleisen and Stephen Bramwell
Signature Required:
Fall
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Program | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 13 Fall | David Muehleisen Stephen Bramwell | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | ||||||
David Muehleisen and Paul Przybylowicz
Signature Required:
Summer
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | Su 14 Full Summer | This is a spring, summer, fall program and is open to new students in summer. For the full program description, see . The weekly schedule will be similar to spring, which is Mon 1-3, Tue 8-4:30, Wed 9-1, and Thu 8-4:30. | David Muehleisen Paul Przybylowicz | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | Summer | |||||
Stephanie Kozick
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SOS | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 13 Fall | W 14Winter | S 14Spring | This Student-Originated Studies program is intended for upper-level students with a background in community-based learning, and who have made arrangements to carry out a yearlong focused project within an organized community center, workshop, agency, organization or school setting. Community projects are to be carried out through internships, mentoring situations or apprenticeships that support students’ interest in community development. This program also includes a required weekly program meeting on campus that will facilitate a shared, supportive learning experience and weekly progress journal writing. The program is connected to Evergreen's Center for Community-Based Learning and Action (CCBLA), which supports learning about, engaging with and contributing to community life in the region. As such, this program benefits by the rich resource library, staff, internship suggestions and workshops offered through the Center. Students in this program will further their understanding of the concept of “community” as they engage their internship, apprenticeship or mentoring situation. The program emphasizes an asset-based model of community understanding advanced by Kretzmann and McKnight (1993). A variety of short readings from that text will become part of the weekly campus meetings. The range of academic/community work suited to this program includes: working in an official capacity as an intern with defined duties at a community agency, organization or school; working with one or more community members (elders, mentors, artists, teachers, skilled laborers, community organizers) to learn about a special line of work or skills that enriches the community as a whole; or designing a community action plan or case study aimed at problem solving a particular community challenge or need. A combination of internship and academic credit will be awarded in this program. Students may arrange an internship up to 36 hours a week for a 12-credit internship per quarter. Four academic credits will be awarded each quarter for seminar attendance and weekly progress journal writing. Students may distribute their program credits to include less than 12 credits of internship when accompanying research, reading and writing credits associated with their community work are included. During the academic year, students are required to meet as a whole group in a weekly seminar on Wednesday mornings to share successes and challenges, discuss the larger context of their projects in terms of community asset building and well-being, and discuss occasional assigned short readings that illuminate the essence of community. Students will also organize small interest/support groups to discuss issues related to their specific projects and to collaborate on a presentation at the end of each quarter. Students will submit weekly written progress/reflection reports via forums established on the program Moodle site. Contact faculty member Stephanie Kozick if further information is needed. | Stephanie Kozick | Wed | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | ||
Sarah Williams and Martha Rosemeyer
Signature Required:
Winter Spring
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SOS | SO–SRSophomore–Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 13 Fall | W 14Winter | S 14Spring | J.W. Goethe Like the role of bees and seeds in the evolution of agriculture, beads—which often are seeds, shells, wax or bone—have an inside and an outside that commute. Seeds, beads and bees are interpenetrating, reciprocal creations. They form assemblages with centers and their use over time can be a measure of the fertility of mind, spirit and body. This SOS will support students in bead-like studies of biodynamic processes in conjunction with an internship, creative practice or field research project. Whether defined in relationship to agricultural, artistic or somatic practices, biodynamic processes are characterized by interconnected, recursive and iterative movements that form holistic patterns. Thus, students will be guided to reflect on their learning itself as a biodynamic process. To what extent is the subject and object of a liberal arts education mutually causative? In what ways might thinking be enlivened if informed by a consciousness of temporal rhythms (e.g., respiration) and cosmic forces such as tides and sunlight?This program is ideal for responsible, enthusiastic and self-motivated students with an interest in developing and reflecting on a substantial project over a substantial period of time. In addition to classroom work, each student will create an individual course of academic learning including an internship (e.g., at a local organic farm), creative practice (e.g., nature writing), or field research project (e.g., discovering the differences—and why they matter—between commercial and biodynamic beekeeping). Collaboration, including shared field-trip opportunities, with the Ecological Agriculture and Practice of Sustainable Agriculture programs will be available. Academic work for each quarter will include weekly group meetings, an annotated bibliography and maintenance of a field journal to document independent project learning. In addition to this independent project component, students will engage in weekly readings and written responses, seminar discussions and a final presentation. Unless exceptions are designed into students' projects and agreed upon in advance, all students will be required to attend and actively participate in this one day of weekly class activities, as well as individual self-assessment meetings with the faculty at mid-quarter and the end of the quarter. Interested students should browse the following authors and texts to explore their ability to think and act biodynamically within an intentional learning community: , edited by David Seamon and Arthur Zajonc; by Wolf Storl; by Charles Ridley; by Catherine Cole; by Gary Snyder; by Robert Bringhurst; by Ruth Ozeki; and : by Rudolf Steiner | Sarah Williams Martha Rosemeyer | Tue | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | ||
Anthony Zaragoza
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Course | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 4 | 04 | Day | Su 14 Session II Summer | Anthony Zaragoza | Tue Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | Summer | |||||
Dan Leahy
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 8 | 08 | Day | Su 14 Session II Summer | The Tar Sands of Alberta's Oil fields and the gasoline-like crude from North Dakota's Bakken region are headed this way in 100 car unit trains called “virtual pipelines.” Plans call for expanded rail receiving facilities at all five refineries in Washington state, as well as new oil train-to-marine transfer terminals at the Ports of Vancouver and Grays Harbor. These plans are the subject of major controversy in this state. Recent derailments and disastrous explosions have caught the public eye and mobilized labor and environmental communities. We will look at what this new oil is; how it's changing the dynamics of US oil dependency, as well as the nature of rail transportation in the NW. We'll visit ports and refineries, read primary documents, chart train traffic, talk to proponents, opponents and regulators and develop our own analysis of what should be done. | Dan Leahy | Mon Wed Fri | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | Summer | ||||
Lori Blewett and Karen Hogan
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Program | FR–SRFreshmen–Senior | 12 | 12 | Evening and Weekend | S 14Spring | This program explores biological, social, and political dimensions of food. We’ll consider the basic biological composition and processes of our bodies, and learn why some foods are necessary and others are bad for us. These biological questions will be studied in relation to cultural and political constructions of food including discourses of consumption, identity, and sustainability. We’ll explore some recent hot topics related to food, including diet and obesity, GMO food labeling, crop genetic diversity, and food sovereignty. We’re especially interested in public rhetoric on these subjects – how scientific facts and ideas are represented and misrepresented in public debate, how food consumption and related social identities are influenced by media, and how food activism is challenging trends in corporate food production. We’ll examine a variety of media sources, including journalism, online sources, and films. | Lori Blewett Karen Hogan | Wed Sat | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring |