Honors Course Archive

This course aims to provide a hands-on introduction to the natural and cultural history of the Pacific Northwest through the study of contemporary and historical issues. Students will develop an understanding of the interconnected relationships between human and natural systems in the Pacific Northwest and its influence in the global context. This will be achieved through the discussion of place-based case studies about patterns in the use of resources and the resulting impacts on society, the environment, and the economy in local and global contexts. Course topics will include biodiversity, natural history and conservation, rural and urban resource use and approaches to sustainability, traditional use of resources among others. An emphasis will be placed on understanding past and contemporary socio-environmental challenges and solutions in the Pacific Northwest. Students will also explore various forms of relations between natural systems and human communities, such as with Native Americans, urbanites, rural communities, loggers, fisherman, and others.

In this course, students will develop an understanding of key ecological and social processes affecting Pacific Northwest ecosystems. In addition, students will gain a basic understanding of economically and ecologically important species and ecosystems found in the region. Class time will
include occasional lectures from the instructor or guests, discussion of case studies and time will be mainly spent in local field trips. During field trips students will be conducting observations, data gathering and will be trained in basic fieldwork skills. Local fieldtrips will be during class time, however, students will be required to go on at least ONE overnight field trip: First trip to Friday Harbor to observe Orca Whales and other marine ecosystems: (potential dates 31 July-1 Aug or 1-2 Aug) and second trip to the Olympic peninsula (15-16 Aug).

The course will include the cumulative development of a project that uses scientific methods to approach a topic of interest.

Specific Course Goals:
– To gain an understanding of the history and complexity of natural and human systems and key socio-environmental relationships in the Pacific Northwest.
– To be exposed to the challenges and solutions to environmental, economic, and social relationships found in the Pacific Northwest in the local and global context.
– To develop a basic understanding of the natural history of the Pacific Northwest
– To apply the scientific method, gain analytical and professional skills, and to conduct independent research.
– To improve the ability to synthesize and communicate information effectively to a diversity of audiences.
– To help students form an educated opinion on the issues discussed in class in ways that empowers them personally and as engaged participants in society.

In September 1953, Life magazine published an article that forever changed how critics and art aficionados talked about art in the Puget Sound region. “Mystic Painters of the Northwest,” a high-gloss sweep of work by painters Morris Graves, Mark Tobey, Kenneth Callahan, and Guy Anderson, claimed that the artists’ visual work had a common thread of Asian “mystical” influences and abstraction. The article generated so much hype that the notion of a “Northwest School” of painting took hold. A “Northwest School” of poetry followed and the region’s art became known through a handful of white artists.

We are going to unpack these myths of a “Northwest School” by investigating more of the artists and poets who were at work at the time in this region.

As a cross between a project-based research studio and a series of field trips, this course will explore some of the artists and poets who worked in the Puget Sound Region in the mid 20th century. We will use the photographer Mary Randlett’s portraits of some of these figures and we’ll investigate who they were and what they made. At the same time, we’ll head into the city to see some examples of the paintings, sculptures and sites of poems. Afterwards, will write short reviews of what we find. The course will culminate with projects conducted in pairs or trios.

Why should people in prison have opportunities for education? What are the benefits and what are the realities and constraints of the institution? This class is centered around a series of visits we will make to the Twin Rivers Unit of the Monroe Correctional Complex (about 45 minutes outside of Seattle); this is a medium-security prison unit for men. We will meet with a group of inmates there, sharing reading and
writing assignments and developing a series of group projects focusing on education. We will be at the prison every Wednesday during B term, departing from the UW around 11:00 am and arriving back at about 5:00 pm. We will also tour the entire facility and meet with the prison’s administrative staff and correctional officers in order to gain a broad understanding of the complex issues surrounding education
within a prison setting (the tour is currently scheduled for Thursday, July 30, and will take all day). NO MAKE-UP sessions are possible, so please check your schedules.

Students will be required to submit information for clearance in order to enter the prison facility and they will be required to sign the UW’s Acknowledgement of Risk form; all students must be over 18. There are no exceptions to these requirements. Class size will be limited to 12 students; transportation to and from the prison will be provided. Please contact the instructor, Claudia Jensen (cjensen@uw.edu), for more information.