Water has been described as the “Oil of the 21st Century.” The world’s limited supply of water faces huge challenges of human demand and contamination. This course explores the many dimensions of water resources and the critical problems of managing water for humans and the environment. An integrating focus for the course will be watersheds, where many dimensions of environmental function and human activity overlap.

Fast-paced and hands-on, Wilderness First Aid (WFA) covers a wide range of wilderness medicine topics. Through lectures and active simulations, students study minor and major trauma, selected environmental topics and medical emergencies. WFA is recommended for outdoor recreation enthusiasts concerned about their safety in the backcountry. People who work or teach in remote settings should consider the more intensive 9-day Wilderness First Responder (WFR). Wilderness First Aid also serves as a recertification for the WFR.

The Wilderness First Responder course, taught by the Wilderness Medicine Training Center, has been designed to meet the needs of wilderness guides, expedition leaders and outdoor instructors. This program emphasizes a wide variety of problems that might be encountered in wilderness situations, including trauma, treatment of wounds, treatment of shock and allergic reactions. In addition, each student will develop hands-on skills in treating patients in varying environmental conditions. Students who successfully complete the class will receive nationally recognized WFR and CPR certificates.

Welcome to writers of all ability levels seeking an intensive writer’s workshop that complements a busy summer schedule. This workshop will engage writers of poetry, fiction, essays and creative non-fiction. Through readings, intensive writings and hiking, we will connect hiking and discovery to creativity and the written word. Hikes will be comfortably grouped on two full Saturdays each session. Destinations may include the Olympics, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens and the Hoh Rainforest/Ruby Beach. Tuesday evenings will include themed workshops and lectures. Peer critique groups will meet weekly at a mutually agreeable time. Faculty will offer extensive individual support and time to students. This is excellent preparation for graduate work, including MIT, MPA, and MES.

How do documentary filmmakers shape our perception of current events? This course consists of two screenings per week; students will help choose many of the films. Students will also write and revise critical responses, paying special attention to questions of form. We will not be learning moviemaking per se, but the course will provide practice in writing and visual analysis for future filmmakers and anyone interested in studying the medium.

This two-session class will enhance writing skills needed for communicating with academic and popular audiences. During the first session, students will study effective editing and composition, with an emphasis on projects associated with the dissemination of community resource materials such as editorials and position papers. During the second session, students will study creative writing. They will focus on creating a credible protagonist, building tension, plotting and reading their work before other members of the workshop.

This course builds critical writing skills through a cultural and historical overview of Southeast Asia from the prehistoric past to the postcolonial present. We will explore Southeast Asia as a crossroads shaped in ancient times by Indian, Chinese and Islamic cultures and later re-shaped by various colonial powers before independence. We will also consider how Southeast Asian immigrants have struggled to find a place within the Pacific Northwest and write about their cultural histories and present lives.

We all know what it’s like to have a teacher or editor write “please clarify” in the margins of our papers. This class will demystify this frustrating request by focusing on clarity and the concrete practices that constitute well-written prose. To this end, students will master agent/action analysis, cohesion & coherence, concision, coordination, force and elegance. Intended for students from all disciplinary backgrounds. No prerequisites except a commitment to improve writing craft.