Dirt Across Disciplines-Finding our Place

What can birds tell us about borders? Deer about politics? Earthworms about epistemology? In this class, we will use elements from the non-human world to explore a set of human conversations across academic traditions. We will take natural history seriously as science and metaphor, learning tree identification while discussing trees as tools in climate science and poetry, for example. We will also practice web-building, exploring conventions for communicating from a variety of disciplinary perspectives—from natural science to humanities, from scholarly questions to personal quests for meaning. Be ready to venture outside. May include 2-3 fieldtrips Friday afternoons or weekends. 3 hrs. sem.