graduate Conceptualizing Our Regional Environment

The first program in the core sequence provides an interdisciplinary framework for understanding Pacific Northwest ecosystems, environmental history, and regional identity. In addition to developing a foundation in the methodologies and perspectives of core environmental disciplines, students will assess the value of particular disciplines for framing and solving environmental problems. We will focus on a few major environmental challenges, such as salmon recovery and forest management, through readings, lectures, workshops, seminar discussions, writing assignments, and field trips. A central part of this quarter's work is an interdisciplinary group project, which assumes that many critical environmental issues cannot be solved by individuals working alone or even by teams from a single discipline. This project provides an opportunity for students to develop their research, writing, presentation, and collaborative problem-solving skills.