THE PRACTICE OF COMMUNITY: GROWING HOME
Fall, Winter & Spring 2007-08
FACULTY
Joe Tougas, Sem II B2102, 867-6891, tougasj@evergreen.edu
Marja Eloheimo, Sem II B3116, 867-6448, eloheimo@evergreen.edu
SCHEDULE
Tuesdays, 9:30-5:00, Longhouse
Wednesdays, 9:30-1:00, Lecture Hall 4
Friday, 9:30-5:00, Sem II E2107, E2109, E1107
Credits: 16
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
“Each of us already lives in a community—an overlapping biological, ecological, social, and ethereal community. It is up to us to choose what to contribute, what niches to fill, and what actions to take.”
–H.C. Flores, Food Not Lawn
Drawing upon tools and ideas from anthropology, philosophy, developmental psychology, botany, and ecology, this program will examine several important questions including: What is community? Why do communities matter? What links exist between human and non-human communities? How do we understand people and places through the lens of their communities? How do we join and support existing communities? How do we create and nurture new communities? How do communities endure and transform over generations? And what actual and potential relationships can be found between diversity, sustainability, and community?
Our classroom work will be deeply rooted in first-hand observation and interaction with the towns, cities, forests and gardens that form the living network of which our college is a part. An important aspect of our work will be listening for the wisdom of the people, animals, and plants that have made these places their homes. We will learn to attend to the sustaining rhythms of life as well as the disruptions & challenges that call for critical analysis and compassionate action.
Activities will include lectures, workshops, seminars, readings, writing, journaling, field work of various kinds, and internship opportunities. As a central case study, the Evergreen Welcome House Ethnobotanical Garden, will provide an opportunity for hands-on participatory learning. Students will also be expected to take significant responsibility for building a healthy learning community within the program. Through these activities, students will develop skills in interpersonal communication, ethnographic method, nature journaling, horticulture, and community organizing and development. We will sharpen our capacities for both critical reasoning and insightfulness as we seek to understand the divergent values and visions that motivate growth, change, and sometimes produce conflict within and between communities. We can expect to be changed ourselves as we learn to support change around us through meaningful engagement with our world.
DURING FALL, students will identify, observe and begin to understand communities of which they are part.
IN WINTER students will begin to build relationships with community-based organizations and agencies, considering and analyzing elements of successful community development.
BY SPRING, students will be undertaking internships, making substantial and meaningful contributions within the fabric of local communities, as we “grow our home.” Internship opportunities could include work in schools, gardens, social service agencies, social change organizations among others.
Fall Program Theme : Values
Winter Program Theme: Vision
Spring Program Theme: Action
WINTER TEXTS
The Long Haul: An Autobiography by Myles Horton; Teachers College Press
The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd; Penguin
The Living: A Novel, Annie Dillard; Harper Perennial
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver; HarperCollins
Getting a Grip: Clarity, Creativity, and Courage in a World Gone Mad by Frances Moore Lappe; Small Planet Media
Tao of Democracy: Using Co-Intelligence to Create a World That Works for All by Tom Atlee; Writers' Collective
The Herbalist's Way: The Art and Practice of Healing with Plant Medicine; by Nancy Phillips, Michael Phillips; Chelsea Green
The Sweet Breathing of Plants: Women Writing on the Green World; by Linda Hogan and Brenda Peterson; North Point Press
Texts continuing from Fall
Food Not Lawns: How to Turn Your Yard into a Garden And Your Neighborhood into a Community
by Heather C. Flores Publisher: Chelsea Green; ISBN-13: 978-1933392073 (Will be used in future quarters as well)
The Earth's Blanket: Traditional Teachings For Sustainable Living (Culture, Place, and Nature: Studies in Anthropology and Environment) by Nancy J. Turner Publisher: University of Washington Press; ISBN-13: 978-0295984742 (Will be used in future quarters as well)
The Natural History of Puget Sound Country by Arthur R. Kruckeberg · Publisher: University of Washington Press; ISBN-13: 978-0295974774 (Will be used in future quarters as well)
Keeping a Nature Journal: Discover a Whole New Way of Seeing the World Around You by Clare Walker Leslie (Author), Charles E. Roth (Author) · Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC; 2 edition; ISBN-13: 978-1580174930 (Will be used in future quarters as well)
West Coast Journeys: 1865-1879 The Travelogue of a Remarkable Woman (Paperback) by Caroline C. Leighton (Author), David M. Buerge (Introduction) Publisher: Sasquatch Books; ISBN-13: 978-1570610127
Additional excerpts will be provided in hard-copy or in electronic version.
Major areas of study include: anthropology, philosophy, psychology, botany, ecology, community studies
Credits are likely to be awarded in: Community Studies, Ethnography, Social Philosophy, Social Ecology, and Natural & Cultural History
Program is preparatory for: careers and future studies in general and environmental education, community development, non-profit and community-based organizations, cultural studies, social sciences, health and human services, community gardens, environmental management, social/environmental justice advocacy, sustainability
