ENVSCI 185GL - The Urban Ocean

4 Credit(s) | Lecture | Graded or pass/fail
Course can be counted for credit once

Description:
With the Atlantic Ocean on UMass-Boston’s doorstep, this place-based course immerses students in the history, culture, and science of Boston Harbor and its Islands to understand the natural and anthropogenic factors shaping our waterfront. The impacts of anthropogenic development and climate change extend from the bustling city of Boston to the outer reaches of Boston Harbor Islands and the consequences of these impacts are shared across UMass-Boston’s neighboring communities (e.g. Quincy, Dorchester, and East Boston) and abiotic and biotic communities. Thus, this course will investigate the evolving relationships between people, plants, and animals across this aquatic landscape from a transdisciplinary basis, the integration of knowledge systems to move beyond discipline specific problem-solving approaches. Students will learn how to conduct archival research and scientific experiments, participate in service-learning opportunities, and engage in roundtable discussions with local indigenous communities, environmental organizations, and researchers. The culmination of these activities will introduce students to methods they can employ for their final project: a proposal on a research topic they would like to lead at the Living Laboratory on Rainsford Island, Boston Harbor Islands. Throughout the course, students will reflect on their own relationships with water and their surroundings and the role they want to play as stewards of Boston Harbor, its Islands, and UMass-Boston. This course was developed through the “Living with the Urban Ocean” grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Course Attribute(s):
First Year Seminar

041816:1