Coalition for Christian Colleges and Universities
Global Stewardship Initiative
Project Reports
Dordt College

Project I. Course development in American Environmental History

PI - Dr. Kenneth W. Hermann
Reporter - Dr. D. Vander Zee < delmar@dordt.edu >

A. Introduction and background
The idea to develop this course was initiated early during the first semester of 1995-96. When word was received that the minigrant proposal was approved, the project took on a new urgency. Subsequently the course was launched the second semester under our curricular format called Special Topics, which we use for "new and experimental" courses. The syllabus with Dr. Hermann's comments are included verbatim here.

B. Syllabus and course logistics

"It would be most convenient for me to structure my evaluation of the course by referring to the appropriate sections of my original proposal. I have attached a complete course syllabus."---

Kenneth W. Hermann

American Environmental History-- Dordt College, Spring 1996

A. Course Description
We propose to develop a new upper-division History Department course entitled "American Environmental History." This course will trace the history of America's stewardship of its natural environment and ecological relationships from seventeenth-century colonization to modern political battles over appropriate environmental public policies. It will examine the complex ways that agricultural, engineering, and industrial practices have interacted with social, religious, and intellectual belief systems to shape our culture's relationship with its environment. We will want to pay close attention to the ways in which Christians have understood and acted upon their stewardship responsibilities throughout American history.

Comment:
I still believe that this is the kind of comprehensive vision that a survey of American environmental history ought to have. I now realize, even more than I did, that this created significant pedagogical challenges. Only one of the five students in the course had taken more than the required history courses. That meant that we had to take sufficient time to fill out the historical context before we could do meaningful work on the environmental issues during any period. The other important challenge was how to integrate the diverse materials from a variety of disciplines in the course. Fortunately, I was blessed with very sharp students in the class who rose to the challenge of synthesis very well. I could foresee where students less gifted, less motivated, and less well-rounded in their
education would have great difficulty.
At the same time I am even more enthusiastic than I was that such a course ought to be the basis for a required course at all Christian colleges. We speak volumes about 'integrating
faith and learning' and relating all of life to God's intentions, but often continue to run in the same narrow disciplinary ruts as our secular colleagues. One of the major reasons the ecology movement began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was to overcome the narrowness which had crept into biology. Leaders of the movement realized that major issues and challenges simply were not being raised and discussed in the traditional way biology was taught. Thus, was created a discipline which focused on significant relationships that tied various aspects of the biome together. An environmental studies course has the great potential to be a truly integrative and interdisciplinary course, one that compels students and professors to really see how God's world is structured so that they can more faithfully mirror that integrity in their own lives. I believe that my students learned as much about the integrity of their world from this course as they did about the environment, narrowly considered.

B. Course Outline and Major Topics
1. Introduction
The Introduction will frame the course with a solid overview of a biblical understanding of environmental stewardship as an essential dimension of the cultural mandate of Gen. 1:26-28 and an overview of the Church's understanding of the Creation and its creational responsibilities down to the seventeenth century.

Comment:
Since this was the first time the course was taught, I wanted to be sure that we all shared a common understanding of these important foundational issues. This was a very important and necessary effort. The result, however, was that we spent almost a third of the course time on this unit of the course. When this course is taught in the future hopefully this material will have been thoroughly covered in some earlier 200 level course so that the course could move right into the
historical part.
I will not make any comments on the remainder of the proposed outline; rather I will make some overall comments on the topics covered in the attached syllabus. Members of the class, like most students taking such a course for the first time ,initially wondered if there would be enough material for an environmental history course. They soon discovered, as I did, that there is an exceptional amount of quality material; more is being produced all of the time. I was most disappointed that
we did not spend nearly enough time on the twentieth century as I would have liked. I do believe, however, that students learned the essential questions to ask of current developments
from their study of earlier periods to put them in a very good position for understanding modern developments.
I was generally pleased with the texts we used. The Merchant text provided a very good mix of primary and secondary source materials that stimulated good discussion. Unfortunately, there is currently little substantive literature on the history of Christian reflection on environmental issues after the Puritan era. It was thus a weakness of the course that we could not easily juxtapose Christian and secular commentary on the issues as I would have hoped. This will be a challenge to
be faced the next time the course is taught.
I believe the reading assignments were appropriate for upper division students. Students generally felt the same.

2. Native American Ecology and the 'Columbian Exchange'
Environmental historians have, in the last twenty years, done some imaginative and ground-breaking studies of the ecological beliefs and practices of Native Americans, and the ecological trauma created by the transplantation of Old World flora and fauna to the New World.
3. New England Forest and Farm in the Seventeenth Century
William Cronon, a pioneer in the field of environmental history, has written an outstanding book entitled Changes in the Land which examines the impact of Puritan disregard for their forested environment. What did the Puritans believe about the Creation that led to these practices?
4. Soil Exhaustion in the Colonial Chesapeake
Tobacco cultivation, as an early example of monocultural agriculture, throughout the Chesapeake region took an enormous toll on the fertility of the soil. Examining this practice, along with its broader social, economic, and political implications, will serve as an early warning signal for this profoundly dysfunctional agricultural practice that marks later stages in the nation's history as well.
5. Engineering Practices in the Early National Period
The early phases of manufacturing and canal building often had problematic consequences for the integrity of the surrounding regions. After examining the exuberant promises of "manufacturing" this unit looks especially at the dramatic impact of the Lowell textile mills on the Merrimack River and the building of the Erie Canal on the environment of Western New York. Were there any voices of Christian stewardship raised against such practices?
6. The Machine and the Garden in Nineteenth Century Art and Literature
Leo Marx's classic study of The Machine in the Garden raises the issue of the paradoxical relationship that American culture has developed between its simultaneous love for the innovative and new technologies and its fear of losing the idyllic unspoiled wilderness areas. This unit will examine how this theme was presented in the art and literature of the
period, as well as in the Christian theologies of "Nature."
7. The Cotton South in the Nineteenth Century
This unit will examine the intricate relationships between care of the soil and the broader social institutions of slavery in the antebellum period and sharecropping in the Gilded Age.
8. Western Mining Practices in the Late Nineteenth Century
This unit will give the class its first opportunity to examine the origins of the public policy debate over the government's regulatory role of mining practices in the Far West in the late nineteenth century. This debate will illustrate the complex patterns of interaction among economic, political, social, and environmental concerns.
9. Farming the Great Plains
This unit will examine the broad sweep of developments in agriculture during the latter half of the nineteenth century, from the invention of 'ground-breaking' implements and the development of federal programs to encourage the 'science' and growth of agriculture to the transformation of the Great Plains by the monocultures of wheat and corn. A close study of the impact of these developments on northwest Iowa in the latter nineteenth century will be included.
10. Resource Conservation and Wilderness Protection at the Turn of the Century
This unit will examine the origins of the conservation movement in the thought and practices of such persons as George Perkins Marsh, John Wesley Powell, Frederick Law Olmsted, John Muir, Gifford Pinchot, and others and the public policy debates they and others participated in concerning the conservation, use, and protection of fragile environments and ecological systems.
11. Ecological Impact of Urban Expansion
This unit will examine the environmental challenges of sanitation, pollution, health care, and the automobile that metropolitan regions faced at the turn of the century.
12. The Emergence of Ecology and Environment in theTwentieth Century
This unit will trace the development of the modern science of ecology in the early twentieth century down to the modern environmental movement.
13. The Modern Environmental Movement
This unit will examine the profusion of groups within the modern environmental movement with often competing goals, the public policies of the federal government over the past twenty years, the growth of a strong recent backlash against certain long-standing environmental standards, and the development of environmental caretaking among a host of industries and corporations.
14. Contemporary Christian Environmental Thought and Practice
This final capstone unit will survey the contemporary Christian earth-keeping scene, making students aware of the numerous Christian environmental associations, authors, businesses, and challenges.

C. Goals and Objectives for the Course
1. Demonstrate that a proper understanding of the environment and ecology requires an understanding of the full range of cultural aspects, from art to economics and the law; it truly is an interdisciplinary way of knowing the creation.
Comment:
I was most pleased with how the course met this objective. As I mentioned above, I believe this is a major strength of an environmental history course for the entire college curriculum. Students benefitted greatly from seeing this interdisciplinary perspective in action.

2. Enable students to understand that a proper understanding of biblical stewardship deepens their understanding of environmental and ecological history.

Comment:
I was pleased with how students deepened their understanding of this important objective. I believe they have learned an important skill in applying their Christian perspective.

3. Impress on students that tracing out the history of environmental care and disregard is a vivid illustration of the entwinement of broken and redemptive ways of responding to the Lord's cultural mandate.

Comment:
I believe that the students grasped this important concept. We soon got beyond the 'blame game' to see the much deeper, more subtle ways in which Americans have responded to the stewardship mandate.

4. Provide appropriate historical illustrations of broken and redemptive ways of caring for the environment across a wide range of professions, from agriculture and biology to chemistry and engineering.

Comment:
I believe that we made a very good start at this, though there is much more to be done here. It is very important to uncover illustrations of redemptive activities throughout the nation's history as a beacon of hope for the present. I also had the students search the web and newspapers for contemporary illustrations--with some very good success.

5. Uncover the history of how God's people have exercisedleadership in caring for the environment.

Comment:
This was the weakest part of the course. This was largely due to the fact that environmental history is a relatively new field and that religious historians have not gravitated to this field. The consequence is that we know far too little about this important dimension of our history both as a Church and a people. Future offerings will be able to benefit from very good work that is currently being done in uncovering this history.

6. Deepen students' commitment to be faithful caretakers of the creation.

Comment:
I believe this objective was met very well. Students in the course were, of course, already highly committed so this course did not really transform any student from an environmental cynic to enthusiast.

D. Pedagogy and course procedures:
This course, as an upper-division course, will combine lecture with discussion, guest faculty presentations, relevant videos (e.g. "The Plow that Broke the Plains"), and possibly some field trips. Students will be expected to do read approximately 100-120 pages per week in both primary and secondary sources, write two or three small research papers of 6-8 pages, and stay informed on environmental concerns discussed in the press. More specifically:
1. The course outline provides the overall structure for the course. However we will remain flexible in lengthening and contracting attention to each theme, altering the order in which we attend to each theme, and modifying reading assignments. All such changes will be announced in advance of the assignment due dates. While the instructor will make every effort to remind students of coming assignments, students are expected to be familiar with due dates for all assignments and exams.
2. This course will combine several different learning styles, from lecture and discussion to various small group exercises and videos. All of the styles in and out of class are designed to increase your understanding of the material and to promote your active participation in your own learning. Several of these styles seem new and awkward to some. In time and with practice, you will learn from them; please be patient with yourself and the class.
3. The majority of our class time will be devoted to deepening our understanding of the important concepts distilled from the assigned readings and videos. It is imperative, therefore, that students have studied the assignments before the class meetings. Because we meet only twice each week for 75 minutes, it is essential that students take account of this in planning their study and reading. Budget at least 3 hours of study time for each class meeting.
4. Study sheets or study questions will be distributed for each assigned reading.
5. We will be reading many different kinds of primary and secondary sources this semester. That is the only way for students to catch the flavor and nuance of the way environmental issues have been confronted through the nation's history. That pattern will, however, test your ability to keep them all straight during class discussion. I will not make it an absolute requirement, but. . . I strongly encourage you to bring a single sheet of brief notes on the day's readings to class. This should help call your attention to significant themes you encountered in your reading. Of course, you should be taking some notes on all of your readings.
6. My goal for each class period is not to cover everything mentioned in your reading, even matters of some importance. That would be both impossible and repetitive. My goal is rather to examine student understanding, stress particular important points, clarify matters of special difficulty, provide essential biblical perspectives, elaborate on matters the texts slight, and answer your questions about the assignments. Students may not assume that only those matters discussed in class will be on the exam; they are responsible for all assigned readings and study sheets whether discussed in class or not.
7. Students are encouraged to correspond with me by e-mail about any aspect of the course content.
8. Since several of you may not have had a college-level survey of American history, you may benefit from browsing through an American history textbook, The American Nation , that will be on reserve for this course. Unfortunately, we will not have time to fill in all of the traditional historical framework, though I will sketch in the broad outlines. In the same way, several of you may not have had a previous course in environmental studies. In that case you may profit from browsing through Environmental Science , a new text that will be put on reserve.

Comment:
As I said above I was most pleased with the readings and class discussions. I was least pleased with the diversity of learning modes. Time simply did not permit using other faculty members in the course as I would have liked. Del Vander Zee joined us several times for our discussions which we all enjoyed.
I discovered that the video resources for this course, prior to the 1940s, are very thin and light.
I had originally thought about some field trips, but then passed on the idea for the first time around. In retrospect both the students and I would have benefitted from an appropriate field trip or two. Such a trip would require a much more thorough understanding of the local environment than I had, sad to admit.

E. Requirements and evaluation:
1. The instructor will give periodic unannounced quizes on assigned readings, videos, and study guides to encourage daily participation. Quizes can be made up.

[ quizzes = 120 points ]

2. Additional required readings will be periodically placed on reserve. These are indicated on the expanded syllabus as TBA.
3. Various videos pertinent to the course will be placed on reserve in the library. You are expected to watch and study them prior to our class discussion. You are strongly encouraged to watch them with other class members to promote discussion and common understanding.

[attendance and participation = 105 points ]

4. Each student will gather and summarize a minimum of 25 different news stories broadly related to environmental issues, approximately 2-3 each week. See attachment A for further details on this assignment.

[ news reports - 175 points ]

5. Each student will write two "curiosity" essays of between 5-7 pages. The first essay is due no later than Mar. 26; the second is due no later than May 2. See attachment B for further details on this assignment.

[ reports 100 points @ = 200 points ]

6. Two semester exams will be given on Feb. 20 and Apr. 2. These dates are negotiable, within reason, based on the number of exams students have in other classes at these times.

[ exams 100 points @ , total = 200 points ]

7. The final exam will be given on May 9, 8-10.

[ exam = 200 points ] [Course total = 1000 points ]

Comment:
I was not completely satisfied with the papers the students wrote. Because of the time I reduced their papers to two slightly longer papers. I think that was mostly a function of their not having (me not giving them?) enough time to work on a creative project. Students had a hard time thinking of an
appropriate 'historical' topic, question, or issue to research. Our college library was relatively weak on appropriate sources, something we are improving.
I was generally pleased with how well they stayed informed through the press and the web on current environmental issues. Even though they occasionally complained about the drudgery of this aspect of the course, I know they benefited from it and learned to see connections between contemporary and historical incidents. I would certainly retain this objective.

F. Texts to be used in course

1. Required
   -Wendell Berry, The Gift of Good Land (GGL)
   -Carolyn Merchant, Major Problems in American Environmental History (MP)
   -Loren Wilkinson, ed., Earthkeeping in the '90s: Stewardship of Creation (EK)
   
   
2. Highly recommended
   -Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America
   -William Cronon, Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists and the Ecology of New England
   
3. On reserve in library
   - John Garraty, The American Nation
   -Bernard J. Nebel and Richard T. Wright, Environmental Science : The Way the World Works

G. Role of Environmental Studies Students
Two Dordt students, Ben Van Ee and Karyn Wynalda, have expressed interest in taking this course. I am considering a number of different ways they could become involved in the course, from serving as in-class consultants to help students who are studying these issues for the first time to helping me develop bibliographies in their areas of interest. Depending on their backgrounds, they may even do some short teaching units for the class. As I get to know them and their strengths, I am sure that we can find some fruitful ways to use them in the class.

Comment:
This was the most unclear goal for the GSI project. As a result I really did not have Ben and Karyn do anything special in or for the class, except check with them informally from time to
time on how they thought the course was going. I did not feel that I could ask them to do any extra work or treat them as assistants. Neither of them had any background in American
history (both were Canadians) and I did not know them as students prior to the class. They also participated on the GSI committee so were able to pass along their comments about the course in
this way. Perhaps in the future, after the students have had appropriate background in lower division courses, they could be integrated more fully into this upper-division course.

Overall Evaluation:
I thoroughly enjoyed preparing this course and teaching it. Professionally and academically it compelled me to pull many different strands of my thinking, interests, and concerns together in a way that teaching other 'history' courses have not. Teaching it was a wonderful interdisciplinary experience.
Generally students gave the course high marks for which I am grateful. They made some constructive suggestions for improving the course, most of which I have already mentioned
in my above comments. ---K.H.



C. Comments and observations from and about course from others

1. Karyn Wynalda, junior Environmental Studies major:
   "This course, History 349, is probably one of the best courses that I have taken as a student at Dordt College. There are several things that made this course so unique. It challenged me in my beliefs, definitions, writing, and historical knowledge. As a Canadian, I learned more than I bargained for because I learned the anthropocentric and ecological aspects of Americas's past. Despite its compactness, lots of material was covered and covered well. Since the class was made up of conscientious students, we could progress through large readings and writings at a good pace and delve into the reasons for events. The professor, Kenn Hermann, is a good professor for this course because I felt he was learning along with us and from us, and that made the class time seem more interesting and satisfying. The texts that we read were well chosen and often a challenge. Follow-up discussions were very enlightening and often continued beyond class time.
   I highly recommend and urge that this course be offered again and become part of the Environmental Studies program. Perhaps the best way to explain this is with the idea of a proverb I have read. It goes something like this, 'you can't know where you are going unless you know where you've been.' Learning history is important. The recognition of environmentalism is rather new but the reason we have to recognize it is not. Unless we discover why we got here, how will we know how to proceed?
   Keep up the good work with courses like this. These are the ones that make class fun. Thank you." --KW
   
   
2. Ben Van Ee, junior Environmental Studies major.
   "This course in Environmental history helped me see many historical events and trends in a different light than usual. It was not revisionistic but it certainly did not glorify mass mechanization and "progress" as they usually have been.
   An aspect that I appreciated was that there was a greater focus on trends and patterns in history rather than individual events. I think that helped me get a better picture of how many of the things that we live with today came about--including attitudes and perspectives towards the Land and the environment. I consider this course to be one of the most significant that I have taken in college in regards to how it shaped my perspective and opened up different ways of looking at people, events, and historical trends. The course did not necessarily present me with new ideas or concepts, rather it elaborated to a far greater extent many ideas that I had already been toying with in my mind.
   The course challenged me to analyze concepts and deal with them on a much deeper level than what most of my college courses have in my experience. The choice of books was good I believe, especially those by Wendell Berry. Wendell Berry has a different perspective on things than what most people, and most farmers, do. It was an eye-opener to be exposed to his views and ideas.
   The flexible nature of the way the course was taught by professor Hermann did take some getting used to but in the end I liked it and I think that it is the best way to get the most out of the course. I would suggest that if and when this course is taught in the future that the take-home essay test format is continued to be used. I believe that is the best way to evaluate the students comprehension and interaction with the material. I also found the tests to be learning experiences.
   I highly recommend this course to anyone who is willing to look in a different way at many things that we have taken for granted." --BVE
   
   
3. Delmar Vander Zee, GSI Task Force coordinator:
   

"Based on my several visits to the class, I felt that this course was carried out extremely well, pedagogically and thematically. Even though I did not have time to attend all classes nor read all materials, I always learned a great deal when I attended. The course was overtly integrative--both in terms of worldviews and in an interdisciplinary sense. The course clearly was able to develop broad understanding.
I had opportunity to read all the student evaluations of the course. They were all very positive and affirming indicating a high level of collegiality and scholarship was attained.
I see this kind of course as an important pillar in an interdisciplinary environmental studies program. My hope and my advocacy will be to continue offering this course in our program." --DVZ

English 101E // Fall Semester, 1996

Instructors:

Chris Goedhart
Office - S154; Ph - 6276; e-mail <goedhart@dordt.edu>
Dave Schelhaas
Office - C224; Ph - 6253; e-mail <dschel@dordt.edu>

Teaching Assistants:

Jennifer Los; Ph - 722-6612
Seth Bakker; Ph - 722-6601

Description:

An interdisciplinary course in composition, human ecology, and earthkeeping that focuses on food production and distribution. The course, using the food system as the main organizing theme, will examine the multiple connections of everyday life to all parts of the planet and life supporting processes. Students will be challenged to come to a biblical understanding of obedient, stewardly living, and their place in sustaining creations's doxology. Students will write extensively about the subject matter as a way of learning and developing conviction. Students will be taught to write in various modes and to express their ideas with style, clarity, and power.

Schedule :

Meeting Times - M,W,F -10:00 AM
Class Location - C203 combined sessions
C107 for breakout sessions

Textbooks:

Your Plate, the Planet, Your Pen - a collection of readings available at the Dordt bookstore
Writing From A to Z , by Reagan, Alred, Brusaw & Oliu

Course Goals:

1. Students will understand many of the environmental connections in the North American food system.
2. Students will recognize that humans have been made stewards of creation and begin to see their personal responsibility as stewards. This responsibility relates not only to the biotic and material aspects of the creation, but also to the gifts that the students have, such as the capacity to learn, express and write.
3. Students will examine and analyze the impact of North American food lifestyles on the land and community. Concepts of efficiency, subsidy, sustainability as they relate to systems and economies will be studied. Comparisons to other times and cultures will be made.
4. Students will develop critical thinking skills by working with complex issues that bear on their daily lives and which will be useful for a sustainable life in the next century.
5. Students will be encouraged to modify not only their own food life styles, but also they will be challenged to consider a calling to help change non-sustainable social and cultural structures in the food system.
6. Students will be able to recognize the different kinds of environmental writing and evaluate it for its reliability. Students will learn to write for various audiences.
7. Students will write in a number of genre--letters, journal entries, op-ed pieces, summaries, personal narratives, reports.
8. Students will understand the purpose and requirements for research into complex environmental issues and produce an effective thesis paper.
9. Students will learn by experience, the steps in the craft of writing.

Format:

Classes will allow for presentations by instructors and other invited speakers and for discussions of presentations, of outside readings, and of the writing of peers. Some class time will be provided for journal writing and the readings of student work. Course time will be taken to introduce students to various writing forms and introducing students to assignments in these forms. Students will be expected to actively participate in course discussions and by reading some of their writings with peers.

Evaluation:

Students will be evaluated based on their writings and classroom participation, quizzes, etc. Several pieces of student writing will comprise a student's course portfolio and will be revised before a grade is assigned to the work. Other writings, such as journal entries, will be evaluated at regular intervals during the semester. Students will take an English usage examination early in the semester and then will take a final usage examination upon completion of the semester.

Portfolio Contents: 40% (based on best 3 of 4 works written and Precis revised by student)
Expository Essay
Persuasive Essay
Personal Essay
Research Paper: 25%
Journal Entries: 10%
Course participation, Quizzes, other 15%
Usage Examination 10%
---------------------total----------------------------- 100%

C. Reader, an anthology of writings
A collection of nineteen articles/chapters/essays from several sources was assembled into a booklet of 110 pages to serve as a reader for students. Views presented are both "green" and "non-green." Authors included are: W. Berry, C. De Witt, T. Wolf, K. Van Duyn, R. Krumme, K. Sheets, W. Furtick, S. Briggs, D. Pimental, A. Hoekstra, A. Baas, D. Masumoto, J. Bongaarts, A. Fitzgerald, A. and D. Avery. Two of these are student essays from previous courses. Permission to copy was secured where necessary.

D. Tentative Schedule
(See attachments)

E. Early returns: comments and observations from teaching team.
The course has 40 freshman students. It meets either jointly or can be split into two smaller groups for discussion or focused work. At time of this writing the class has met only a few weeks, but some observations and impressions will be offered here.

1. "First of all, my preparing for this course has been an exciting experience. I am not a scientist and I was not especially knowledgeable on issues of agriculture, land use, pesticides, and the economics of food marketing. Reading materials about these subjects and reading the more philosophical writings of people like E.F. Schumacher, Wendell Berry, Bill McKibben, and Cal De Witt has been invigorating and intellectually stimulating, as has my almost daily contact with my colleague Dr. Goedhart.
   At present we are beginning our second week of teaching the course. Most of the students seem receptive; some seem excited. We have a team of four (two professors and two senior English Education majors) team-teaching the course, a strategy that is new to all of us and therefore requires careful planning. We have not yet employed our student mentors very effectively, but anticipate using them as tutors once the papers start coming in and student research problems arise. Our central difficulty will be to make this a meaningful and productive writing course while at the same time delivering the agricultural and environmental content. I suspect that Dr. Goedhart and I will have to teach the course a couple of times before we discover the most effective balance between time devoted to teaching the craft of writing and time devoted to presenting information about food. But overall, I must say that I am more excited than ever about the potential of this course to teach both writing and environmental awareness." -- David Schelhaas, Assistant Professor of English.
2. "This summer was spent in regular meetings with Dave as we discussed course format and content. I concerned myself quite extensively with identifying readings, websites, and resources in the areas of sustainable food production. This is an area where student involvement this summer could have been helpful in running down and following up on the leads which were generated. Dave identified the types of writing assignments, and classroom instruction in writing which would be needed to assist students in completing writing assignments.
   My assessment of the course thus far is based solely on the interactions generated in five class periods and on my general assessment of the first assignment, a precis of "The Pleasures of
   Eating" by Wendell Berry. My assessment also voices concerns of a student or two who dropped the course.
   This student concern is that this course is listed as English 101. While appreciative of the content of the course students worry that they will not get sufficient classroom instruction devoted to the craft of writing. While the class is fully as writing intensive as other sections of English 101, I do find myself wondering what content other instructors are utilizing while we devote time
   to discuss the scriptural basis for ecological concern, and the specifics of the North American and worldwide links to the food system.
   While the student concerns are very real, we do have the benefit of having two able assistants and tutors to work with students who have problems in writing. After evaluating students' first writing assignments and following an "English usage exam," we will be able to identify students who could benefit from intensive work with a tutor in writing.
   Given the concerns of about the course, a positive aspect is that in the first week students have been very busy with lectures, videos, and readings about their role in the creation and their link to agriculture. The first precis has forced all students to deal with this topic and become conversant in some of the issues. Most students very successfully dealt with the first assignment. However it is too early to say that a conversion in thinking has or will take place.
   In conclusion, it still too early to determine if the course will be judged as successful by either students or faculty in the areas of writing and food literacy. If the course is judged unsuccessful as an English 101 course, I think that it could still function very successfully as an environmental studies course. If the onus was not on preparing a successful writer but rather on preparing a successful thinker through the use of writing we might find a different and very receptive audience." --Chris Goedhart, Professor of Agriculture.
3. "My involvement in this project was more intense in the early work with the formation of the grant proposal and the effort to merge the academic areas of (some aspect of) environmental literacy and writing. I was a full participant in the laying out of the topics and content themes, but left the syllabus and details of the weekly schedule up to my colleagues who would be carrying out the daily teaching function. My participation in the actual course will be limited to an occasional guest lecture on systems and scale, and visiting several class sessions to better evaluate the course in its entirety. So far my impressions are very positive. This is an important innovation for our general education program." ---Del Vander Zee, Professor of Biology.

Click here for Attachments