Restoring Landscapes

As a learning community we will explore the following questions: How can we understand landscapes as the products of human's engagement with the natural world? How can we move beyond the polarized romantic concepts of humans and nature and beyond the economic category of nature as resource? What philosophical, conceptual, and practical concepts can help us create sustainable landscapes that allow us to live well with each other and the natural world?

We will explore these questions through readings in the following disciplines: landscape architecture, ecology, geography, and environmental history. We will link theory and practice by studying contemporary efforts to restore local prairies in the Puget lowlands. We will assist The Nature Conservancy in current restoration efforts. We will also visit remnant prairies at Fort Lewis and in the Columbia Gorge. Students will conduct research on ecological restoration case studies. Students are required to attend all field trips including an overnight trip to the Columbia Gorge April 30-May 4.