Prior to the unit study

Read the following:

• Syllabus: Design across the disciplines: Historical and philosophical perspectives (Jennifer Burns)
• Cronon, William (1995). “The trouble with wilderness; or, getting back to the wrong nature”. In William Cronon, ed., Uncommon ground: Rethinking the human place in nature (pp.69-90). New York: W. W. Norton.

Part 1

• Work with a partner to answer these questions. First, please decide which of the following you would assign to which category of nature and which to the category of culture: your backyard, the U of I campus, Yosemite National Park, Alaska, the polar ice caps, the Pacific Ocean, the Amazon River Basin, Lake Michigan, Niagara Falls, the Appalachian Trail. Then, write a definition: what is nature?
• Group conversation on activity and readings.

Part 2

Participants will step back to reflect on the unit, especially in terms of how it can work as a gen ed course addressing a grand challenge theme.