Cultural and Ecological Sustainability

Course Description

This unique interdisciplinary course is our flagship course that highlights the distinctive and dramatic landscape of Southeast Alaska to illustrate the interconnectedness between the major forces that have shaped our planet and how its inhabitants live their lives. The emphasis of this course is to foster students’ awareness of complex relationships that exist throughout the natural world and how they interact to have economic, social, cultural, and philosophical implications.

By combining classroom sessions and experiential opportunities, students are inspired to take full advantage of this amazing living laboratory to root their understanding.   For example, students will conceptualize the erosive powers and the workings of glaciers by walking near glaciers, traversing their deltas, and floating on water from these frozen rivers of ice.  From these hands-on experiences, students will gain an intimate understanding of the natural phenomenon, will be better prepared to grasp the connections between melting glaciers and changing climate, and be able to reflect on the impacts of these actions on the surrounding ecology and culture.  

The opportunity to experience Alaska within this type of setting is profound. More importantly, this unique course equips students with a valuable understanding of principles that can be applied to wherever students live.  It is the hope that it also motivates students to make a difference in this complex world we live in. 

This course was amazing.  I most enjoyed learning about all of the different geological, enviromental, and cultural aspects of Haines from the amazing instructors and master experts. ~ Quennita

Itinerary

There are several iterations of this course depending on the student and college needs and requirements.  Below is the standard layout.   

Day 1: Arrive Juneau- Introduction and Orientation

Day 2: AM Orientation/ Visit the Mendenhall Glacier with Juneau Ice Field Research Team – Glaciation Introduction.

Day 3: Picturesque Ferry ride to Haines through the Inside Passage along the Lynn Fjord and check into Haines. Overview and Introduction to Cultural History of Southeast Alaska, Sheldon Museum. PM review and reflection

Day 4: AM Geology classroom session followed by field session focused on plate tectonics and geology. PM review and reflection

Day 5: AM Classroom session on natural history and ecology, followed by a field trip to Battery Point State Park. –Fieldwork to root the lessons learned from classroom session.  PM review and reflection

Day 6: AM Classroom, an introduction to the concept of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and how it relates to sustainability, followed by field session to Chilkat Tlingit Cultural Museum. PM review and reflection.

Day 7 and 8: AM Introduction and orientation for an overnight on the river. Field session and overnight is designed to provide valuable experiential learning that synthesizes the learning throughout the course. These sessions will focus on concepts such as wildlife biology, tracking, birding, geology, and ecological succession.

Day 9: AM Session- Ways of Knowing and Scientific Inquiry- Field session – Tree Coring and climate change. PM review and reflection.

Day 10: AM Synthesis field trip / Ferry ride back to Juneau

***Please note that this schedule is tentative.

Dates and Availability

We try to offer several course dates to accommodate students and various colleges.  If you don’t see an available date for a course that you would like to participate in, contact us.  In addition, if there is an open date, you can contact us or simply enroll.