Branching Out: An Ethnobotanical Garden in Community


Fall 2015, Winter 2016 and Spring 2016 quarters

Taught by

ethnobotany, environmental and cultural anthropology, plant studies

Working as a project team, this program has a mission. Students will continue to tend and refine habitat and theme areas in the Longhouse Ethnobotanical Garden, including the sayuyay Sister Garden (patterned after a medicinal garden we created on the Skokomish Indian Reservation) as well as create valuable educational resources that contribute to the Evergreen community, local K-12 schools, local First Nations, and a growing global collective of ethnobotanical gardens that promote environmental and cultural diversity and sustainability. Our work will also contribute to the new Indigenous Arts Campus. 

During fall quarter , we will become acquainted with the garden and its plants, habitats, history, and existing educational materials. We will begin to engage in seasonal garden care and development, learning concepts and skills related to botany, ecology, Indigenous studies, and sustainable medicine. We will also establish goals related to further developing educational materials and activities, including a Web presence. Students will have the opportunity to select and begin specific independent and group projects that include learning knowledge and skills pertinent to their completion. 

During winter quarter , we will focus on the garden's "story" through continued project work at a more independent level. Students will work intensively on skill development, research, and project planning and implementation. We will also be active during the winter transplant season and will prepare procurement and planting plans for the spring season.

During spring quarter , we will add plants to and care for the garden, wrapping up all of the work we have begun. We will establish opportunities to share the garden and our newly created educational materials, effectively enabling the garden to "branch out." This program requires commitment to a meaningful real-world project and strongly encourages yearlong participation. It also cultivates community within the program by nurturing each member's contributions and growth, and acknowledges the broader contexts of sustainability and global transformation.

 

Program Details

Fields of Study

Academic Website

Location and Schedule

Campus location

Olympia

Schedule

Offered during: Weekend

Advertised schedule: First Spring Meeting April 2, 9:30a, Seminar 2 D1107. 9:30a-5:30p Sat and 9:30a-1:30p Sun for alternating "Gathering Weekends" and "Independent/Hybrid Weekends." On “Gathering Weekends” we all meet together. On “Independent/Hybrid Weekends” we gather for part of class time and also work independently in teams.

Books

Buy books for this program through Greener Bookstore.

Online Learning

Hybrid Online Learning 25 - 49% Delivered Online:

Required Fees

$45 per quarter for materials and supplies for art, garden, and medicinal workshops

Registration Information

Credits: 12 (Fall); 12 (Winter); 12 (Spring)

Class standing: Freshmen–Senior

Maximum enrollment: 24

Fall

Course Reference Number

(12 credits): 10020

Go to my.evergreen.edu to register for this program.

Winter

Accepting New Students

Course Reference Number

(12 credits): 20002

Go to my.evergreen.edu to register for this program.

Spring

Accepting New Students

Course Reference Number

(12 credits): 30002

Go to my.evergreen.edu to register for this program.

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