In Spring 2012 students from any major will have the opportunity to enroll in the first University 298 courses.
Section 1: Interfaces: Ocean, Earth, Whale, Human (3 Units, GE A-3 Critical Thinking).
Students will explore personal, local and planetary environmental history while employing quantitative fieldwork and data analysis and literary analysis and comparative cultural inquiry using local and endangered whale communities as model systems. Students will also learn and critically examine various modes of communicating scientific knowledge to diverse audiences and conduct significant writing projects. Each week is composed of field activity, lab work, thematic reading, and writing activities. The overlaying of activities, pedagogical models, and learning modalities is essential to the interdisciplinary quality of the course.
Faculty: Rachel Cartwright (Biology), Blake Gillespie (Chemistry), Brad Monsma (English)
Please contact Prof. Brad Monsma for more information and for registration permission numbers. (Brad.Monsma@csuci.edu; 805-437-8948)
Section 2: Water and Conflict in the West
Students will gain hands-on experience and learn about contentious issues relating to water quality, rights appropriation, use, storage and conservation and their implications for water management, conflict resolution and collaborative water policy development in the West. Through community service projects, guest speakers, case study analysis and simulations, field trips and class projects, students will gain a thorough understanding of the complexities of water conflict in the west.
Faculty: Tracylee Clarke (Communication). Don Rodriguez (ESRM), Sean Q, Kelly (Political Science)
Each student will also create an on-line research portfolio that he or she will be able to update in the future for employers and/or future educational opportunities.
Students who complete University 298 will have priority enrollment in University 398 and 498 when they are offered in future semesters.