Nature and Nurture: Human Development and the Environment

This program incorporates Greener Foundations. Greener Foundations is Evergreen’s 2-quarter introductory student success course, which provides all first-year students with the skills and knowledge they need to thrive at Evergreen. First year students will get 14-credits from this program, and 2-credits from a Greener Foundations course.

Only one land animal thrives from the Arctic tundra to the Saharan desert, from the Himalayas to the islands of Oceania. As humans, we shape our environments and these environments shape us. This introductory, one-quarter program will focus on how our environment affects our health and psychological development. We will use the twin lenses of developmental psychology and human biology to examine the interaction between humans and our environments.

Using real-world examples, we will explore child development and the influence of environment on development from both psychological and biological perspectives. We will also study human anatomy and physiology to deepen our understanding of the human body and to examine how our habits and actions affect our physical and mental development.

Topics will be covered through texts, workshops, seminars, hands-on anatomy and yoga sessions, and lectures. Students will be expected to research topics, write papers, and give presentations, both individually and in small groups. Student progress will be assessed through discussions, written assignments, exams, individual and group projects, and participation in program activities.

This program will be a hybrid program with on-campus, small group seminar discussions and workshops and remote lectures and yoga anatomy sessions. To successfully participate in this program, students will need reliable high-speed internet access, a computer and a smartphone or digital camera. 

Students can expect our hybrid teaching to be a blend of about 32 hours a week of asynchronous (self-paced) and 8 hours a week of on-campus activities. At the end of the program, students will be ready be for future studies in psychology, biology, and human health.

This program will be offered again in winter quarter. Students who take the program in fall should not take it again in winter.