What makes a place? And who are we in this place? In this course, we’ll investigate what it means to relate to a landscape, a time, an environment, and to a society. Specifically – how can we learn from a place, its people, and ourselves, rather than simply about it? Our texts will include - and then expand beyond - Great Lakes authors of the past and present. We will immerse ourselves in local natural communities and observe how plants, animals, soil, weather, and water articulate where we are. We’ll expand the way we see environments through exercises in drawing. We’ll broaden the way we come to know plants through gardening. We’ll attune our ears to the calls of birds and use sound as another tool for mapping. And continuously, we’ll connect back to thinking about our own identities as, simultaneously, students and teachers at the Bio Station. This interdisciplinary course will embrace journaling and writing as the constant thread to tie together a library of experiential learning.

NOTE: This class is open only to enrolled GLACE Program students. For more information, please see https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/glwc/about-glwc/