Introduction to Environmental Studies

Faculty:  Gary Peterson (x6021), Karen Gaul (x6009) and Martha Henderson (x6841)

Meeting Times: 

Tuesday 10am -12pm, 1-3pm Sem 2 B1105  (all group)

Wednesday 10am - 12pm  LC 1007  (seminars)

Thursday 8am -12pm LC 1007C  OR  Friday 8am-12pm 1007C depending on group

(group work, workshops, field research trips)

(Thursday Faculty Seminar 1-3pm)

This program continues work developed during Fall Quarter on native environments and cultural identity. During Winter Quarter, students will continue with research design work they began in the fall. Some new groups may appear as students either join the program or groups solidify their efforts. Learning to write strong research designs, conducting field, archival and geographic research, field work, and strong research writing skills will be emphasized. Lectures will be given on physical geography, sustainability, and social conditions on Indian reservations. Students will be engaged in group research work, seminar, field trip leadership, and learning to work with tribal leaders. We will continue to develop ethnographic methods, field methods, GIS, and the social context of environmental problems in the north Pacific Rim. Upper division credits will be available for those who earn them. These credits will be awarded on the basis of analytical work, not quantity of work.

Tim Ingold.  Perception of the Environment: Essays in Livelihood, Dwelling and Skill  

Krupnik, Igor, et al.  Northern Ethnographic Landscapes: Perspectives from Circumpolar Nations.

Boxberger, Daniel.  To Fish in Common: the Ethnohistory of Lummi Indian Salmon Fishing.  University of Washington Press. 2000

Deborah Davis Jackson  Our Elders Lived It: American Indian Identity in the City

Grossman, Zoltan.  Climate Report (available on-line)

Stephen L. Schensul, Jean J. Schensul, Margaret Diane LeCompte.  Essential Ethnographic Methods: Observations, Interviews, and Questionnaires (Textbook)

Engagement: Evergreen programs are not simply a collection of classes, but a deeper effort to form a learning community. We learn from each other, and are therefore responsible to each other to participate in the learning community. Participation is defined as active listening, speaking, and thinking. Communication and attendance are vital to build relationships among students, and between students and faculty. In the interest of fairness, we want all students to have equal access to all information, and to have their attendance count. The program e-mail lists are a critical part of staying informed about any changes to the syllabus, and any current events that relate to the program. If you do not use your @evergreen.edu address, you are required to forward e-mails to your preferred address. You should check your e-mail every weekday for any updates, and you are encouraged to pass along interesting news items that relate to the program. Any e-mails or material sent to faculty should be sent from your @evergreen.edu address to avoid email interface problems (hotmail, yahoo, gmail and other accounts are notorious for not working well with listserves, so users are missing critical information).

All-program Attendance: Attending seminars and all-program activities is the other critical aspect of participating in the learning community. Many students make great efforts to coordinate their transportation, jobs and family in order to attend class. Since attendance is a precondition of participation, absences will diminish your ability to earn full credit; more than three absences will likely lead to reduced credit. BE ON TIME FOR THIS CLASS; it is in your own interest to be on time since class instructions are usually at the beginning. Three occasions of tardiness will equal one absence. Absences will only be excused under extenuating circumstances (documented in an e-mail or phone message to your seminar's faculty member, preferably in advance). Always keep in communication with your seminar's faculty member.

Note-taking is strongly encouraged to retain information for discussion and assignments. Some powerpoints and other lectures can be downloaded and printed from links on the web to aid in note-taking. You should identify a friend who can take detailed notes in case of your excused absence.

Cooperative efforts. All-program work (and seminars) require collaborative and cooperative efforts from both faculty and students. Students should familiarize themselves with the Program Covenant, the Evergreen Social Contract and the Student Conduct Code regarding issues such as plagiarism and disruptive behavior. Normal adult behavior, of course, is expected, and disruptive or disrespectful behavior will be grounds for being asked to leave the program.  In all program activities, please make sure your cell phones are turned off, and you do not make it difficult for students or faculty to listen or concentrate.

Seminar Attendance: Significant parts of the program are organized as a seminar. Consistent attendance and informed discussion is not only encouraged and desired but also expected. The subject matter is complex; the program, however, is structured in such a manner that the foundations for each class are established in the preceding classes. The seminar is essentially a Book and Text seminar (movies are part of the texts); therefore each student should bring the day's reading material to the class. It is important that the seminar discussion stay on topic with the text as the main source of the discussion. Seminar attendance, preparation, and participation is also considered very important to your individual success, as well as to the collective success of the group. The faculty anticipate lively and respectful discussion. The seminar will be a collaborative, exploratory undertaking and is the place where most of the insights will be made. We are looking forward to engaged and vital seminar groups.

Evaluation: Your evaluation will consist of your seminar leader's written evaluation of your work, your self-evaluation, and the evaluation conference. Students will submit a final, typed, formal evaluation of their seminar leader at the end of each quarter. Students will submit a final, typed, formal self-evaluation at the evaluation conference.You will be evaluated on your level of comprehension of the material, on your skills (writing, thinking, speaking, listening, research, presentation), and on your intellectual engagement with the major themes of the program as reflected in assignments and seminar discussions.

Student evaluation will be based on: 

-Preparation for and participation in class

-Contribution to seminar

-Writing Assignments

-Progress reports

-Final Research Project

-Final project report

All of your work should be carefully stored in student portfolios, which will be reviewed at the end of week 4, and week 10.  Faculty will write student evaluations for the first quarter; evaluation conferences will be optional. 

This schedule facilitates large class meetings, field trips, and small research group meetings with faculty. Students are expected to attend all meetings. Faculty, when not meeting with large or small groups, will be available for consultation throughout the quarter. Tuesdays will be used for geography lectures, speakers, video, or field trips. Seminars are scheduled for Wednesdays. Thursdays and Fridays will be used for student groups to meet with faculty. Your group must meet with your research faculty once a week on either Thursday or Friday. Each group will set up a regular schedule for meeting time with their research faculty. Seminar groups will remain the same. We will work towards a cultural atlas that will be both on-line and hard copy. Production assistance will be provided.

Week One  (Jan 8-11)

            Tuesday:  Welcome Drum Group

            Overview of the quarter ahead, group re-formation, research expectations, review         of submitted research             design, physical geography lecture

            Reading assignment:  Earth Science pp. 1-63

            Noon lecture: Erick Burns, “The Role of Ancient Rivers in the Water Resources                                    of Today”  Sem 2C3107

            Wednesday:  Flight by Sherman Alexi (seminar papers are required this quarter)

            Friday: meet with faculty in research project groups

Week Two  (Jan 15-18)

            Tuesday:  Physical geography and tour of Squaxin Museum

            Reading assignment:  Earth Science, pp.292-347

            Noon lecture: Frank Black  Sem 2 C3107

            Wednesday:  To Fish in Common: The Ethnohistory of Lummi Indian Salmon                   Fishing by Daniel Boxberger

            Friday: meet with research faculty; building theoretical frameworks

            Reading Assignment: Ingold, The Perception of the Environment pp 1-26

Week Three  (Jan 22-25)

            Tuesday: Physical geography lecture/tribes and climate change

            Reading assignment: Earth Science pp. 349-393

            Wednesday: Power and Place by Deloria and Wildcat 

            Thursday/Friday: meet with research faculty (all groups)

            Reading Assignment: Essential Ethnographic Methods pp 69-200

Week Four  (Jan 29-Feb 1)

            Tuesday: Physical geography and field trip

            Reading Assignment: Earth Science, 64-99

            Wednesday:  Focus the Nation (daytime: on-campus; evening: Washington    Center, downtown Olympia. required)

            Reading assignment:  Climate Change and Pacific Rim Indigenous Nations (on-  line) http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/IndigClimate2.pdf

Week Five  (Feb 5-8)

            Tuesday and Wednesday:  Overnight field trip to Olympic Peninsula

            Tuesday evening seminar:  Perceptions of the Environment by Tim Ingold

            pp 40-60; 77-88; 111-131; also Intro to Part 2 and Intro to Part 3.  (Then read Ch      9, Ch10, Ch 13; Ch 14; Ch 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 23 to inform your research through the rest of the quarter)

            Thursday/Friday: meet with research faculty

Week Six  (Feb 12-15)

            Tuesday:  Possible student led field trip to Nisqually with service project

            Wednesday:  Frank’s Landing by Wilkerson

            Thursday/Friday: meet with research faculty

Week Seven  (Feb 19-22)

            Tuesday: Physical geography and environmental justice

            Reading Assignment: Earth Science, pp 101-127

            Wednesday:  Our Elders Lived It by Deborah Davis Jackson

            Thursday/Friday: meet with research faculty/workshop with Amy Greene

            Tuesday: Physical geography and sustainability

            Reading Assignment: Earth Science, pp. 222-243

            Wednesday:  Northern Ethnographic Landscapes by Igor Krupnik, el al.      (selections)

            Thursday/Friday: meet with research faculty

            Draft of final research project due

Week Nine  (Mar 4-7)

            Tuesday: Physical geography and sustainability

            Reading Assignment: Earth Science, pp. 159-221

            Wednesday:  Atlas Production

            Thursday/Friday: meet with research faculty to discuss drafts

Week Ten  (Mar 11-14)

            Tuesday: Presentations and final production of cultural atlas

            Wednesday: Last meeting with seminar leaders

            Thursday/Friday: evaluations as faculty can schedule them