M.S.E.S.
Curriculum
Residency Sessions
Meet the Faculty
Scholarly Activity/News
Distance Learning
Academic Calendar
.....
Admissions
Fees & Financial Aid
.....
Enrollment Process
Register for Courses
Course Descriptions
Thesis Guidelines
Graduate Catalog
Contact Us

Vist the M.B.A. site

Course Descriptions

CORE COURSES

BIO 5010 Natural Systems Ecology
This course provides a rigorous overview of six major organizing areas for study of ecology: physiological ecology, dynamics of energy and element cycles, population ecology, population interactions, community ecology, and evolutionary ecology-the latter especially as it is relates to conservation issues. Each major section of the course begins with one or more case studies, then proceeds to the theoretical underpinnings that allow us to understand the ecological processes in question. Students will read a body of current literature and produce a significant paper centered on ecological issues of their bioregion. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Ecology (BIO 2025), the equivalent, or by permission of instructor.

ENV 5011 Environmental Law and Policy
This course is an introduction to the laws and policies pertaining to issues such as population, energy, pollution, land management, waste disposal, economic growth, and ecosystem management, as well as some of the theoretical underpinnings of how economic and ecological burdens and benefits are distributed within society. Students will consider historic and modern common-law mechanisms for managing land use, and modern environmental statutes including federal land management regimes, consumer protection statutes, pollution prevention regimes, and the intersection of energy regulation and transportation law with environmental laws. Using the National Environmental Policy Act's Environmental Impact Statement process as an organizing principle, students will consider a variety of environmental issues, statutes, and case law concerning environmental regulation in the United States. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: American Government (GOV 1013), Modern American History (HIS 1059, HIS 2016, HIS 3023), Public Policy & the Environment (ENV 2011), or equivalent coursework. Also by permission of instructor.

ENV 5015 Environmental History and Philosophy
This course provides a systematic historical and philosophical analysis of prevailing Western perspectives of the environment. Drawing on the work of historians such as Max Oelschlaeger, Carolyn Merchant, and Donald Worster, students will begin by exploring the Classical and Judeo-Christian roots of Western thought, after which they will consider how attitudes toward the nonhuman world have evolved since the collapse of the hierarchically structured Medieval world and in the wake of modern science. Students will trace current debates in environmental ethics and history through journals of record in these fields, honing their skills in research and argumentation before defending their own solutions to environmental problems in their local bioregions. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Environmental Philosophy (PHI 3045) or by permission of the instructor.

ENV 5020 Environmental Leadership and Community Involvement
This course will examine theories of leadership, group and community dynamics, grassroots and community organizing, and methods of dispute resolution. Students will first examine historic social conflicts and the mechanisms that ultimately resolved those conflicts, with particular focus on the labor, consumer, and environmental movements, and international differences in the ways such movements played out in disparate political and social systems. Through extensive use of case studies and simulations, students will compare traditional methods of resolving disputes (from violence to litigation) to Alternative Dispute Resolution processes (negotiation, mediation, arbitration, etc.), and analyze decision-making by parties, judges, policy-makers, and neutral third-party decision makers. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Environmental Advocacy, Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility (ENV 2015), and Leadership & Group Dynamics (REC 1032/SOC 1032), or commensurate experience. Also by permission of instructor.

ENV 5040 Bioregional Theory and Practice
The central goal of this course is to provide students with the experience and direction necessary to understand the multidimensional complexity of their home bioregions in a comprehensive fashion. This will require that each student research the natural and cultural histories of her local ecosystem, compiling a thorough annotated bibliography of resources that provide an enhanced understanding of the region's geology, botany, and wildlife biology, as well as human population dynamics, cultural practices, and environmental impacts. As a part of this project, students will identify contemporary environmental issues and professional resources in the local bioregion. 3 credits.

ENV 6010 Practicum
The practicum is an applied experience in which the student is expected to integrate herself into a community of professionals in her local bioregion. The student will construct a working and learning environment in which knowledge and skills gained from graduate courses (and personal experiences) are brought to bear on a significant issue or set of issues, within the context of the student's Environmental Studies concentration. Final products of the practicum will vary, depending upon track and goals as stated by the student in the practicum proposal. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Completion of core and context courses; approval of practicum proposal by graduate committee prior to enrollment.

ENV 6020 Research Methods and Thesis Design
Prior to beginning the thesis, each student will work with an advisor to identify thesis possibilities and design an original project that addresses a significant environmental issue from the perspective of the student's area of concentration. Students concentrating on Conservation Biology will learn to apply the scientific method to environmental problems by drafting a thesis prospective that contains a problem statement and the appropriate research design and proposed methods. Students concentrating on Writing and Communications will research and evaluate existing publications relevant to their chosen topics, while exploring publishing opportunities and making the case for how their proposed thesis will contribute to the literature. 3 credits.

ENV 6030 Thesis
Each student will complete a significant, original scholarly or creative work in her area of concentration. (Specific requirements for each thesis will be negotiated in meetings with the student's thesis committee.) After approval of prospectus by the thesis committee, the student enrolls in ENV 6030 and independently produces an original thesis that applies what the student has learned to her local ecosystem. Ideally, in addition to contributing to the body of work already available in relevant areas of knowledge, the thesis will also contribute to the student's career goals. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Thesis Design and Preparation (ENV 6020) or by permission of instructor.

Conservation Biology Concentration
CONTEXT COURSES

BIO 6040 Conservation Biology
In this course students will study the history and application of conservation biology, a new field in the life sciences. Specific topics will include how has the field emerged and changed, the specific areas of study that made this field possible (biogeography, for example), historical and legal landmarks, current challenges, common lab and field techniques, design of study, and limitation of certain techniques. Students will read a significant body of current literature in the field and produce a paper that applies their knowledge of conservation biology to a problem in their local bioregion. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Natural Systems Ecology (BIO 5010) or by permission of instructor.

BIO 6050 Conservation Genetics
Students in this course will explore the evolutionary genetics of natural populations (small and large) and study how genetic diversity is characterized, maintained, or-as is often the case-lost due to inbreeding depression and population fragmentation. The course will move from theory to practice to examine speciation, phylogenetic tree construction, management of wild and captive populations, and population viability analysis. Students will read a body of current literature in the field and produce a significant paper focused on conservation issues in their bioregion. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Natural Systems Ecology (BIO 5010) and Genetics (BIO 3019), or equivalent coursework. Also by permission of instructor.

ENV 6040 Risk Assessment
This course will examine the process of risk assessment as it is employed by the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies in assessing risks associated with carcinogens, toxic chemicals, and land management practices. Students will dissect risk assessment procedures and learn to evaluate and critique scientific information. In addition to reviewing the scientific method and technical risk assessment procedures, students will review administrative and legal cases concerning risk assessment, and begin to address risk management decision-making in the political and social sphere. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Environmental Policy and Law (ENV 5011) and undergraduate science sequence (BIO 1021/1022; CHE 1021/1022; GLG 1011/2031 OR 2041), equivalent coursework, or by permission of instructor. Introduction to Statistics (MAT 1013) highly recommended. Available as Independent Study while under development.

ENV 6050 Environmental Administrative Law
This class examines how administrative agencies at the federal and state levels make environmental policy decisions, and how other agencies, corporations, nonprofits, and private individuals can influence those decisions. The class analyzes the administrative process, rule-making and adjudicative procedures, official notice-and-comment standards, and judicial review of agency decisions. Students will also study how legislative directives are translated into regulations, and the limitations on agency action. 3 credits. Prerequisite: Environmental Law and Policy (ENV 5011) or by permission of instructor.

APPLIED COURSES

ENV 5070 Regional Analysis of Global Environmental Issues
This course will provide an overview of the science behind several major global environmental issues within the context of the physical environment of Earth, and link these issues to local and regional manifestations. Topics of interest may include global climate change, resource extraction, water & air quality, urbanization, geohazards, and pollution; however, the topic selection will be student driven. The main goal of the course is for students to engage in rigorous analyses of regional data that can be compared with global trends and analyses. Students will obtain primary data & peer-reviewed journal articles, research and analyze global case studies and trends, develop their own regional case studies, and participate in peer-review discussion of regional examples. 3 credits.

BIO 6070 Mammalogy
This course provides an opportunity for the advanced study of mammalian biology. Topics will include evolution, classification, reproduction, ecology, behavior, morphology, and aspects of physiology especially related to environmental adaptations including echolocation, hibernation, and adaptations to extreme environments of heat, cold, and salinity. Students will read a body of current literature in the field and produce a significant paper focused on issues pertaining to mammalian populations in their bioregion. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Natural Systems Ecology (BIO 5010); Biodiversity (BIO 1021) or The Structure of Life (BIO 1022) or the equivalent of one of these. Also by permission of instructor. Available as Independent Study while under development.

BIO 6072 Botany
Beginning with a review of the principles of plant systematics and taxonomy, this course will train students in the techniques of obtaining, analyzing, and interpreting species, population, and habitat data. Students will collect, preserve, and identify specimens of major plant groups (both native and invasive) found in the student's local ecosystem. Contemporary issues in plant genetics and biodiversity conservation will be reviewed in the context of bioregional and international habitat loss. Students will read a body of current literature in the field and produce a significant paper focused on plant communities in their bioregion. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Natural Systems Ecology (BIO 5010) or by permission of instructor. Available as Independent Study while under development.

BIO 6074 Forest Ecology
This course explores the primary ways in which organisms interact with abiotic components of North America's various forest communities, from northern hardwood forests to temperate rainforests. Of particular interest are the processes-both natural and anthropogenic-that determine how organisms are distributed throughout a forest community. By gathering data and applying generalized patterns in their local ecosystems, students will develop a hands-on knowledge of ecosystem processes that provides a fundamental context for understanding modern ecosystem management. Students will read a body of current literature in the field and produce a significant paper focused on issues pertaining to forests in their bioregion. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Natural Systems Ecology (BIO 5010); Biodiversity (BIO 1021) or The Structure of Life (BIO 1022) or the equivalent of one of these. Also by permission of instructor. Available as Independent Study while under development.

BIO 6076 Ichthyology
For students interested in aquatic systems, this course provides advanced study of fish biology and the management of recreational and commercial populations. Topics will include, evolution, taxonomy, reproductive biology, physiology, life history theory, population structure, and management. Students will read a body of current literature in the field and produce a significant paper focused on issues pertaining to fish populations in their bioregion.
Prerequisite: Natural Systems Ecology (BIO 5010); Biodiversity (BIO 1021) or The Structure of Life (BIO 1022) or the equivalent of one of these. Also by permission of instructor. Available as Independent Study while under development.
.
BIO 6078 Ornithology
This course provides an opportunity for the advanced study of the biology of birds. Topics will include evolution, behavior, taxonomy, reproduction, migration, and physiology. Moreover, because bird populations commonly cross national borders, international policy that affects bird populations will also be examined. Students will read a body of current literature in the field and produce a significant paper focused on issues pertaining to bird populations in their bioregion. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Natural Systems Ecology (BIO 5010); Biodiversity (BIO 1021) or The Structure of Life (BIO 1022) or the equivalent of one of these. Also by permission of instructor. Available as Independent Study while under development.

BIO 6080 Entomology
Insects are critically important to natural and artificial ecosystems (crop systems), both as predators and prey. This course provides for advanced study of this very large group of animals. Topics will include evolution, taxonomy, ecology, physiology, population dynamics (with an emphasis on effects of pesticide use), and the role of aquatic insects in monitoring stream water quality. Students will read a body of current literature in the field and produce a significant paper focused on issues pertaining to insect populations in their bioregion. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Natural Systems Ecology (BIO 5010); Biodiversity (BIO 1021) or The Structure of Life (BIO 1022) or the equivalent of one of these. Also by permission of instructor. Available as Independent Study while under development.

BIO 6082 Biogeography
This is an advanced course in the study of historic and current organism distributions. It treats both the patterns of these distributions and the possible causes suggested by these patterns. Because causes of distribution range from geologic to evolutionary processes, the study of biogeography is necessarily very broad, therefore, this class examines questions of distribution in historic, evolutionary, ecological, and geological perspectives. The last segment of the course will be devoted to the role biogeography plays in conservation of species and systems. Students will research regional problems and bring their expertise to bear by proposing a potential solution. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Natural Systems Ecology (BIO 5010); Genetics (BIO 3019); the equivalent; or by permission of instructor. Available as Independent Study while under development.

CHE 6070 Topics in Environmental Chemistry
This course examines the chemical basis, solutions, and repercussions of various contemporary environmental concerns. Using laboratory and field-sampling techniques, students will investigate pollution in air, water, soil, and vegetative and animal specimens, with particular emphasis on local impacts of industrial pollution, acid rain deposition, and background-level contamination. Using current research and relevant literature, students will use, as appropriate, investigative techniques including electrochemistry, spectroscopy, chromatography and titration. In addition to technique mastery and data analysis, students will learn chemical tracing techniques and systems. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Natural Systems Ecology (BIO 5010); undergraduate chemistry sequence (CHE 1021/1022) and Organic Chemistry I (CHE 2021) required, or by permission of instructor. Organic Chemistry II (CHE 2022) and Green Chemistry (CHE 3021) are also highly recommended. Available as Independent Study while under development.

ENV 6070 Public Resource Management
Students in this course will focus on the management of federal lands throughout the United States, and the method by which different agencies manage this land. Students will review public policy and current management regimes for forests, grasslands, mineral and coastal resources with primary focus on the lands administered by the United States Forest Service and agencies within the Department of Interior. The course will review multiple management options for these areas, including resource-extraction, recreation, wildlife management and wilderness management regimes, and consider the statutes that control-and sometimes conflict with-such management strategies. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Environmental Policy and Law (ENV 5011), or by permission of instructor. Environmental Administrative Law (ENV 6050) is also highly recommended. Available as Independent Study while under development.

ENV 6073 Wildlife Law
This course will review the major statutes and agencies that control and manage wildlife at the state, national, and international levels. With particular emphasis on the intersection of multiple management agencies and statutory responsibilities, students will consider the network of competing protections and jurisdictions that impact wildlife management in the United States. The class will also consider larger biodiversity protection regimes that sometimes conflict with traditional wildlife management. Specific emphasis will be placed on research requirements around wildlife, including collection permits, endangered species and invasive transportation regulations, and international treaties concerning the ban or control of transportation of artifacts and samples.
Prerequisite: Environmental Policy and Law (ENV 5011) or by permission of instructor. Mammalogy (BIO 6070) or Ornithology (BIO 6078) is also highly recommended. Available as Independent Study while under development.

ENV 6075 Watershed Management and Protection
This course considers the way watersheds and watershed boundaries are used for ecological, land use, and social planning units throughout Vermont and the United States. By focusing on an ecosystem approach to resource planning, contemporary watershed management strategies contrast with previous efforts to address individual pollution and land-use issues through more fragmented approaches. Using watershed planning in Vermont as a case study, students review water allocation issues, pollution problems, wetlands and estuarine conservation, and endangered species protection through the laws governing watershed planning, as well as the tools necessary to plan and implement watershed management strategies. Students will leave the class with a functional knowledge of American water law, an understanding of watershed and basin assessment and planning processes, and a variety of strategies to address typical impairments. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Environmental Policy and Law (ENV 5011) or by permission of instructor. Risk Assessment (ENV 6040), Environmental Administrative Law (ENV 6050), Policy Assessment Workshop (CMJ 6073), and Topics in Environmental Chemistry (CHE 6070) are highly recommended.

ENV 6077 Land Use Planning and Management
This course reviews traditional legal controls over land in the United States, including zoning ordinances and subdivision regulations at the local level, and state-wide planning initiatives found in states such as Vermont and Oregon. Students will consider those land-use laws and societal factors that contribute to blighted inner cities and suburban sprawl, and consider modern planning techniques including urban growth boundaries, transferable development rights, and specific strategies like traffic-calming techniques and urban redevelopment zones. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Environmental Policy and Law (ENV 5011) or by permission of instructor. Risk Assessment (ENV 6040), Environmental Administrative Law (ENV 6050), and/or Policy Assessment Workshop (CMJ 6073) are highly recommended.Available as Independent Study while under development.

Writing and Communications Concentration
CONTEXT COURSES

CMJ 6040 Environmental Communications
Through readings and online discussion of communication theory, audience and rhetorical analysis, and persuasion in the mass media, students will identify mechanisms and professional practices required to communicate environmental and science policy issues. Case studies of key environmental issues in various bioregions and organizations will provide a sampling of communication models, including informational and public policy reports, objective and persuasive media reporting, and advocacy campaigns. Students will research and conduct an environmental communications campaign that incorporates public policy and planning processes, assessment of scientific data and claims, and audience analysis. This project will incorporate a pre-campaign analysis of audience and core concepts; the authoring of a coordinated body of messages, publications, and media; a timeline and budget; and an assessment process to evaluate the campaign's success. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Proficiency in writing and analysis demonstrated by prior coursework or evaluation of writing sample.

CMJ 6050 Professional Writing and Advocacy
This course will focus on writing, editing, and communication analysis for professional writers, with an emphasis on writing informational and persuasive text for public information and advocacy campaigns. Students will learn about analysis and practice of writing style and content, publishing standards, audience analysis, and integration of information design and persuasive theory. They will also conduct academic and institutional research and interviews as they gather the information and supporting evidence required to report, write, and edit documents for popular and technical audiences. Writing assignments will include text and scripts to be revised for and integrated into a variety of media and contexts, including environmental impact statements, public testimony, and media information releases. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Environmental Communications (CMJ 6040), the equivalent, or by permission of instructor.

ENG 6040 Traditions of Natural History Writing
From the Systema Naturae of Carl Linnaeus to the works of contemporary writers such as Barry Lopez, Annie Dillard, and Gary Paul Nabhan, this course will explore the many ways in which scientists and writers have represented, classified, and drawn insights from the nonhuman world. Supplemental readings in environmental history and philosophy will provide students with the context necessary to theorize how and why modes of literary naturalism changed when they did. While students will become familiar with Thomas Lyon's "Taxonomy of Nature Writing" and use its principles to analyze a broad selection of texts, they will also learn to diagram the chains of narrative strategies and rhetorical approaches in classical and contemporary examples of natural history writing, leading toward the production of an article-length critical analysis. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Proficiency in writing and analysis demonstrated by prior coursework or evaluation of writing sample.

APPLIED COURSES

CMJ 6070 Grant Writing Workshop
Students in this class will begin by researching private foundations, public grants, and other grant-making funding sources, and determining application opportunities and requirements. Students will then practice drafting proposals to a variety of grant-making institutions, with focus on statements of need, program descriptions, and budgets. Finally, students will focus on grant-related maintenance strategies, including tracking implementation guidelines and match requirements, drafting grant reports, and monitoring multi-year or multiple-partner projects. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Environmental Communications (CMJ 6040), the equivalent, or by permission of instructor. Available as Independent Study while under development.

CMJ 6073 Policy and Assessment Workshop
Students in this class will focus on learning to read, analyze, and compose public policy documents, as well as on responding appropriately to those documents through a variety of forums. With specific emphasis on the legislative and administrative process, students will learn to identify both the appropriate method for influencing policy decisions and the vital time lines and pressure points needed to exact appropriate influence. Students will practice drafting legislation, comments to agency action, legal memos and analyses, public news release on important issues, and longer commentary designed to explain policy issues to the public. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Environmental Policy and Law (ENV 5011) or by permission of instructor. Environmental Communications (CMJ 6040) or Environmental Administrative Law (ENV 6050) highly recommended.Available as Independent Study while under development.

CMJ 6075 Science Writing Workshop
This course focuses on reporting and writing science articles for technical and general-interest publications. After study of general writing principles based on the work of such science writers as Rachel Carson, Loren Eiseley, Stephen Jay Gould, and Jared Diamond, students will identify a range of science articles in a specific field and summarize topic selection, writing style, structure, and use of explanatory and inquiry techniques. Based on their own expertise and interest, students will select a specific topic or topics, arrange interviews with researchers and policy experts, and write a series of articles for a variety of audiences. Articles will integrate research abstracts, field reporting, interviewing, and analysis of science and technology in the context of social and natural systems. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Environmental Communications (CMJ 6040), the equivalent, or by permission of instructor. Available as Independent Study while under development.

CMJ 6079 Web Design Workshop
The newest communication medium promises a convergence of media tools but a wide divergence of audience focus. This course addresses the challenge of focusing and authoring a targeted message to a dispersed and virtual audience by creating interactive messages, discourse communities, and graphic support for text-based messages. Students will work with a range of software tools and standards-based publishing techniques in the production of interactive web pages, with particular focus on evolving standards in streaming media, database-supported websites, and XML authoring. Students will integrate text, graphics, and dynamic media as they plan, prototype, publish, and manage a course website. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Professional Writing and Advocacy (CMJ 6050), the equivalent, or by permission of instructor. Available as Independent Study while under development.

CMJ 6081 Documentary Media Workshop
This course explores the documentary process, with a focus on narrative and persuasive methods for conveying the relationship between social and environmental issues. Course texts will include narrative nonfiction, the photo-essay, and documentary video to provide a historical context on the role of imagery in social-change movements and to serve as models for the production of documentary media projects. Students will identify a narrative conflict or focus located in a specific social and natural context, develop a project treatment or storyboard, and apply a variety of media, including digital photography and/or video, to author and publish a documentary project. Student projects and project reviews will demonstrate the ethical practices required of documentary journalists, the role of documentary media as an explanatory and analytic tool, and the relationship between documentation and persuasion. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Environmental Communications (CMJ 6040), the equivalent, or by permission of instructor. Available as Independent Study while under development.

ENG 6070 Field Journaling
This course's emphasis on discovering, carefully observing, and accurately recording information in the field provides a natural foundation for further environmental writing workshops. Guided by naturalists such as Clare Walker Leslie, Ann Zwinger, and Frederick Franck, students not only will practice sustained field inquiry-with special emphasis on sketching as a technique of identification and classification-but they will also consider the epistemological implications of their habits of perception. Throughout the class, students will create thorough profiles of objects and organisms discovered in the field; coursework will culminate in a portfolio of these profiles, prefaced by a reflective essay exploring the challenges and insights encountered during the process of dedicated field investigation. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Natural Systems Ecology (BIO 5010), the equivalent, or by permission of instructor. Available as Independent Study while under development.

ENG 6075 Environmental Creative Nonfiction Workshop
At the heart of this workshop is the question of how to manufacture and sustain narrative momentum in a piece of nonfiction environmental prose. Students will select topics from their own bioregions for sustained investigation and reflection, then compare potential narrative frames for each topic. They will work through a sequence of drafts each week, experimenting with various points of view, opening gambits, plot structures, voices, and points of entry into the narrative. Online workshops will provide a setting for guided critiques and multiple revisions, culminating in a portfolio of twenty-five pages of polished work. As in all of our workshops, students will learn about the process of publishing their work, identifying possible homes for their essays and producing appropriate cover letters. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Traditions of Natural History Writing (ENG 6040), the equivalent, or by permission of instructor. Field Journaling (ENG 6070) is highly recommended. Available as Independent Study while under development.

ENG 6080 Environmental Poetry Workshop
While the inspiration that leads to the production of poetry cannot be taught, the craft that makes such inspiration transferable can. Beginning with an introduction to the varieties of environmental poetry, students will analyze the interplay of sound, imagery, narrative, rhythm, and authorial presence in selected works from such contemporary poets as Gary Snyder, Pattianne Rogers, William Stafford, and Mary Oliver. As the students determine the possibilities enabled by different approaches, comparing their interpretations with ecocritical analyses from relevant journal articles, they will also record their own impressions of the world beyond their walls, producing a minimum of twenty pages that will then be critiqued in online workshop and revised accordingly. As in all of our workshops, students will learn about the process of publishing their work, identifying possible homes for their poems and producing appropriate cover letters. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Traditions of Natural History Writing (ENG 6040), the equivalent, or by permission of instructor. Field Journaling (ENG 6070) is highly recommended. Available as Independent Study while under development.

ENG 6085 Environmental Fiction Workshop
While setting is an important element of most fiction, clearly something more than an evocative landscape is implied by the phrase, "environmental fiction." Students in this workshop will consider the possibilities while reading stories by such writers as Marilynne Robinson, Wendell Berry, Alice Walker, and T.C. Boyle, as well as the relevant ecocritical articles in professional journals. In addition, they will be plotting and drafting their own stories in an online workshop setting, experimenting with various combinations of structure and characterization, setting and narrative point of view. After exchanging guided critiques and revising accordingly, students will produce a portfolio of at least twenty-five pages of polished fiction by the end of the course. As in all of our workshops, students will learn about the process of publishing their work, identifying possible homes for their stories and producing appropriate cover letters. 3 credits.
Prerequisite: Traditions of Natural History Writing (ENG 6040), the equivalent, or by permission of instructor. Field Journaling (ENG 6070) is highly recommended. Available as Independent Study while under development.

ENG 6090 Natural History Writing Workshop
In this course students will learn how to convey information about local ecology in ways that are entertaining and accessible to an audience of interested laypeople. In a sense, then, this is a course in translation: the relevant geological and biological facts of a region must be extracted from professional journals and textbooks, stripped of jargon, and recast in fresh and lively prose. Students will find models in the work of authors such as John McPhee and Terry Tempest Williams on their way to producing an essay that has the primary purpose of educating an audience about some aspect of the local environment. Guided workshops will help students work through such typical problems as how to make geological time easily comprehensible and how to draw readers into fields of knowledge usually left to scientists. By the end of the course, students will produce a portfolio of at least twenty-five pages of polished natural history writing. As in all of our workshops, students will learn about the process of publishing their work, identifying possible homes for their essays and producing appropriate cover letters. 3 credits. Prerequisite: Traditions of Natural History Writing (ENG 6040) or by permission of instructor. Field Journaling (ENG 6070) is highly recommended. Available as Independent Study while under development.