FRS130: Perspectives on the Environment is the second part of the Maryville College freshman seminar series.  We teach this course because environmental stewardship is integral to the well-being of humanity, as evidenced by the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to Wangari Maathai, an ecologist from Kenya.  

This 3-week January-term course examines historical and contemporary perspectives on the environment,  emphasizing human/environmental interactions in the southern Appalachian mountains.   The experiential nature of this class includes trips to locations in east Tennessee that exemplify the topics raised during readings and course discussions.  The course is divided into three distinct weeks:

Week 1:  Examining the history of different perspectives on the environment.

Week 2:  Conducting an environmental research project.

Week 3:  Developing a personal environmental ethic.

The class format ensures that upon course completion, all students will have:

(1) learned skills of information retrieval and synthesis,

(2) enhanced critical thinking skills,

(3) increased familiarity with data collection, statistical analyses, and data interpretation,

(4) enhanced oral and written communication skills.

For a detailed explanation of the activities of each week, click on the "Week" hotlinks at the top of this page.

Site last updated on January 5, 2007 by Dr. Drew Crain (drew.crain@maryvillecollege.edu).