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June 28, 2001

Greetings!

We are writing to all students currently enrolled in the Trash program to give you some information which may be useful to you as you anticipate our program. If you want additional information before school begins, please call our "Core Connector," Chris Ciancetta at (360) 867-6312. Chris is an academic advisor who will be working closely with our program. She is familiar with what we are up to and wise in the ways of Evergreen. She will be very helpful during the summer and throughout the academic year.

We are excited about getting this program up and running. We’ve been looking forward to it for a long time and think we’ve got a good program structure to engage you in serious thinking and practical skill development relevant to interdisciplinary, collaborative work.

In dealing with Trash for a year we think there are a few things you should keep in mind. You will need an open mind, a willingness to listen to--and actually hear--opposing views, and the ability to move beyond your own preconceived ideas on the subject in order to really grapple with our subject matter. Second, you will need to be comfortable reading many books from a range of points of view all speaking to our central questions. We have run into students who, after having read a single book on a subject, ask why they have to read a second one, given that they already know the issues and have taken their own intellectual and political positions. You will need a tolerance for working into depth of knowledge and for nuance in order to keep a fresh outlook on the work. Third, you will need to be ready for hard work from the first week, and you will need to maintain your energy consistently over the thirty weeks of the program. Finally, while you are in no way obliged to stay, we really do want you to think seriously about staying in the program for all thirty weeks. We will talk about the implications of making such a commitment when we meet in the Fall, but we want you to be thinking about the idea now.

We are aware that there are myths about Evergreen saying that you only have to do what you want, and that you don’t have to work hard in order to get a degree. This program will demonstrate that those myths really are myths and have no foundation in reality. Each week expect to read about 200 pages, to write a seminar paper, and to be working collaboratively with your peers supporting each other's work. In addition to this work, you will be working on a couple of substantial projects that will allow you to explore questions such as what you can learn about yourself by exploring your trash. To support your work on this project, each week you will also be doing both quantitative and written homework assignments. We expect that you will be putting in 40-50 hours of study including the 16 hours of classroom time. You will be doing this while meeting new friends, having new experiences, and, possibly, getting a bit homesick now and then. If you allow the work to take a central place in your life, you will be fine. If you just want to squeeze the work in between the margins of your social life, you will have a hard time. So there’s no getting around it--this program is going to test you and it will take a bit of adjusting to. We wanted to get that out up front so that there’s no mistake about it.

This program, if you let it, will also be great fun. We will work with you to create a stimulating atmosphere wherein we can relax, get focused, and enjoy the work. We’ll be together as a learning community for talks, seminars, and workshops for four days per week. So we’ll get to know each other well and will likely get to really enjoy each other’s company. You will probably find yourselves studying together outside of class. Many of your closest friendships will be with other members of the program. You will be presenting your writing, ideas and other work to the rest of the program members, but you should feel pretty much at home, rather than nerve-racked, because you’ll know everyone you are talking to. If you feel nervous about your ability to meet the intellectual demands placed upon you, know that we will not ask you to do anything that we will not help you develop the necessary skills to handle. We expect a lot, but we support a lot. At the start you may feel that we have thrown you in at the deep end, but we will teach you how to swim.

Okay, on to more immediate and practical stuff. A couple of homework assignments:

During the fall quarter there are going to be some up front financial costs for books, for rain-gear (if you don’t already have some), good heavy-duty work gloves, field trips and challenge program:

Well, that’s about it. If you are excited about a year of intense learning in a supportive community which is trying seriously to come to terms with some of the most vital questions of our time, get ready for some fun.

See you in September.

Best Wishes,

Sharon Anthony, Cynthia Kennedy and Sonja Wiedenhaupt