Coalition for Christian Colleges and Universities

Global Stewardship Initiative

Campus Activity Report (1995-1996)

Dordt College

Reported by Delmar Vander Zee

delmar@dordt.edu

Campus activities during GSI period 1995-6

(Note: certainly not all of the following stem from the CCCU-GSI, nor from the associated Task Force's immediate input. But, these are the kinds of things happening on campus where there is a developing climate of working toward general environmental literacy. Many people, departments, and offices were involved.)

A. A one-semester leave was granted for Delmar Vander Zee (under the Dordt College Studies Institute) to review Dordt College's Environmental Studies program.

B. Applied for and received minigrants for two curriculum projects from the CCCU-GSI. (October/ November, 1995)

1. Developing a course in Environmental History
   
2. Developing an integrative course in writing and environmental literacy, focusing on the human food system
   
   

C. Conferences attended by CCCU-GSI grantees:

1. Christian Goedhart - attended the Sixteenth Annual Ecological Farming Conference (Asilomar Conference Center), Pacific Grove , California. Jan. 24-27, 1996.
   
2. Kenneth Hermann - attended the meetings of the History of Science Society, Minneapolis, MN. October, 1996.
   
3. David Schelhaas - attended the joint meeting of the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society, the Association for the Study of Food and Society, and the International Food Choice Conference. St. Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri. June 6-9, 1996.
   
4. Delmar Vander Zee - attended the meeting of TEMEC (Theological Education to Meet the Environmental Challenge), held at Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, D.C. May 30- June 2, 1996.
   
5. In addition to the above, the CCCU-GSI opening conference held at Au Sable was attended by K. Hermann, C. Goedhart, D. Vander Zee; and mid-term conference at Azusa Pacific was attended by all four men.
   
   

D. Approved the position for a director/chair in environmental studies, to be sought and filled immediately. (October, 1995)



E. Offered the proposed course in American Environmental History as a "special topics" history course. The course was developed under a GSI project grant. The enrollment was five students. (January, 1996)
(See Project Report, Part I.)

F. Site visit to the Latin American Studies Program--Tropical Ecology in Costa Rica by Delmar Vander Zee. Approximately a week was spent in the field with Leo Finkenbinder and LASP students. The program and its value to our students was assessed. This study tour was supported in part by a Dordt College faculty development grant and personal professional travel funds. Local costs in San Jose, CR were covered by the CCCU-LASP.

G. Hired Dr. Kenneth Petersen as Associate Professor in Environmental Studies. (April/May, 1995) Dr. Petersen comes with a background in animal ecology and with experience in initiating ES programs at Monmouth College (Illinois) and Viterbo College (Wisconsin). Dr. Petersen began his formal duties in August, 1996.

H. An opening in political science led to the hiring of Dr. Fred Van Geest who has a strong interest and commitment in the area of global environmental policy making--which can only serve to strengthen the college's interdisciplinary base for ES. Dr. Van Geest has international teaching experience, coming here from the American University of Beirut. Dr. Van Geest began his formal duties in August, 1996.
(Dr. Van Geest hopes to attend the final meeting of the CCU-GSI in Gloucester.)

I. Student Karyn Wynalda (ES major) attended the two-week Jaguar Creek CEA minicourse in Belize, May 1996. Subsequently Karyn has requested permission and is now attending the fall semester in the Belize CEA program. (Sept.-Dec., 1996) (One of Dordt's strategies is to provide preliminary approval for this program to students on an individual basis so that we can (via their feedback) better evaluate the quality and utility of such programs for our overall ES program.)

J. Student Jonathan Eerkes (Bio major) for an Individual Studies project, developed a computer (PC-based) interactive program for assessing the energy subsidies in the human food system. (This program is based on the lab exercise, "The Trophic Ecology of Humans," from Laboratory and Field Manual of Ecology written by R. Brewer and M.T. McCann.) The program will be available to students in several courses: Principles of Ecology, Food Literacy, Introduction to Environmental Studies, Biological Sciences. If there is interest, we could make the program available more broadly.

K. Au Sable involvement: Two professors from Dordt taught at Au Sable the summer of 1996, Dick Hodgson in Land Resources; Delmar Vander Zee in Practicum--Ethnobotany and Ecological Agriculture. In addition six students from Dordt attended Au Sable Institute during the spring or summer sessions: Mike LeMehieu, Mike Schiebout, Lisa Tebben, Bruce Van Dyken, Benjamin Van Ee, and Karen Zylstra. These six students studied eight different courses, receiving twelve course credits total--which greatly extended our academic depth.

L. Three students worked/studied in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem for approximately three months during the summer of 1996: Reyer Rens, Christy Mount, Kimberly Bakker. This is a student Volunteer Program with the USDA Forest Service, Gardiner Ranger District. The work-study involves the students in several aspects of wildlife habitat management. The supervisor is Dan Tyers, from the Gardiner Ranger District. This is the third summer our students have been involved in this effort. Students usually develop course credit via Individual Studies.

M. Introduced the experimental course in "food literacy" developed with the GSI grant--English 101E, which is the format under which the course is offered. The course title is: Your Plate, The Planet, and Your Pen . The class has 40 students which can be divided into two sections for discussion purposes.
(See Project Report, Part II.)

N. Presented the final report, Environmental Studies--Review and Recommendations (29 pp) by Delmar Vander Zee, to the Environmental Studies Committee. The report was accepted and will be used as a working and guiding document to develop not only the ES curriculum but to more broadly develop environmental awareness and praxis across the whole campus and in the wider curriculum. (September, 1996)