Arts, Culture, and Ecology

While art is clearly influenced by culture, it can also be influenced by place. This program will explore place-based arts, especially those associated with plants and environments. Guided by cultural ecology, students will explore several areas including Pacific Northwest ecosystems, Northwest Coast Indigenous arts, and an aspect of one's own heritage. We will think carefully about relationships between place-based arts and the places with which they are associated and we will develop skills to powerfully communicate our understandings through combining word and image.

A nature journaling practice will help us to develop these skills in word-image communication as well as to explore for ourselves the dynamic relationships between art, culture, and environment. Learning activities will include lectures, workshops, seminars, reading, writing, research, and, if possible, field activities in the Longhouse Ethnobotanical Garden. The program will likely be delivered using a hybrid model involving some degree of both remote and in-person teaching. We will follow existing regulations and make opportunities available to meet students' circumstances and needs.

To successfully participate in this program students need access to a computer with internet access, power point software, and nature journaling supplies. Students should expect synchronous meeting times using Zoom and Canvas. Students will have access to alternatives to synchronous participation if conditions require. There may be optional outdoor in-person opportunities available.