Action Research Teams (CLEI 161) Spring 2010
Students taking ESLP for 5 units attend our Monday night lecture series and participate in an Action Research Team (ART). These student-led seminars, themed according to their facilitators' area of expertise, explore various topics related to sustainability. Each ART will explore their individual topic throughout the quarter and create a related community-based project. Action Research Teams epitomize ESLP's values of experiential learning and student empowerment
On the first night of the Spring lecture series, students will watch presentations from facilitators and choose their preferred ART section.
Spring 2010 Action Research Teams:
Greening the Campus (Vince & Ben) - Interested in designing and implementing their own energy and water conservation projects here at the UCSC campus through multilevel collaboration with campus stakeholders, faculty, and staff? Learn about the exciting new world of green technologies and innovations of which UCSC students are taking charge. Join us for a fun and exciting spring quarter with Greening of the Campus!
Action for Animals (Eric & Desiree)- Interested in how our interactions with animals relate to the environment and sustainability? Areas covered will include: factory farming/family farming, wildlife, companion animals, animals raised for their skin/fur, animals in entertainment and how these issues relate to greater sustainability in our world. Students will find this course interesting and engaging while pursuing an overall goal of positive change.
Composting with a Science Twist (Sophie & Grant) - For our class we will be constructing a composting system at the Kresge Garden. Students will learn about how to implement different composting methods, such as traditional pile composting, bokashi anaerobic composting, and vermicomposting. We will explore the science behind how these different composting methods work, and what will be the most effective and long lasting system to create at the Kresge Garden. As a final project, students will design their own at home composting system or outreach to a local school about what we did at the Kresge garden and how that school might do something similar.
Minimizing Impact (Mia & Erica) gives students the opportunity to critically examine their personal and environmental sustainability while creating and maintaining relationships with their peers, the campus community, and the greater Santa Cruz area. Students will be asked to make a change in their daily lives that will promote a more sustainable lifestyle. They will be required to document their changes, thoughts and processes in a way that will allow the student to grow as a person and steward of the environment. While individual sustainability will be the main focus of the ART, other topics covered will include bio-mimicry, alternative energy, sustainable cities, food production/consumption and waste, and many other facets of sustainability that exist in our world.
Medicinal Foods and Well Being (Joshua & Elly)- This ART intends to create a space in which students can connect their dietary choices and understanding of food/medicine to their own well being and the well being of the planet. By looking at nutrition and dietary systems, medicinal foods, food systems, sustainable agriculture, and herbal remedies, we examine our overall relationship with food and health. A central theme in this ART will be the question: why do we "take" medicine and not "eat" medicine? The project for this ART will be creating an herb spiral in the PICA quad.
Urban Farming and Homesteading (Andrew & Mike)- Interested in bringing back food production to the urban environment and figuring out ways to live a more sustainable life by using resources from your own home? We will discuss the many benefits of urban farming and homesteading, including the sustainable benefits towards our giant food system, reconnecting with our food and its producers, and drawing communities closer together. In addition to a few hands-on workshops, we will have an individual homesteading project and a group project - developing an urban backyard food trading network for UCSC students.
Climate Action Plan(CAP): Behavioral Change Implementation (Ariel & Ellen) -This class will focus on behavioral change and the various perspectives on the subject. Students will actively engage, individually and collectively, on ways to implement behavioral change strategies on our campus, particularly in relation to an Energy Conservation competition among dorms on the UCSC campus. Within this same goal students will learn about and become involved in the Climate Action Plan and the work being done to further its goals here on campus.
Environmental Outreach (Gabi & Ashley)- Excited about the environment and talking to others, but don't know where to start? Join us for thinking and training on environmental education and outreach, no matter your experience level or interest in sustainability. Through innovative outreach techniques, based on community-based social marketing, ART participants will run a sustainability campaign on waste prevention to reach new students throughout the campus. We will also explore the beauty of Santa Cruz and our unique relationships to the natural world.
Green Building and Grassroots Organizing (Nina & Devin) - We will be exploring the built environment and constructed institutions within which we reside to gain a better understanding of the disconnection between people and their natural ecosystems. Our team will gain a better understanding of specific technology and practices used to achieve green building standards. This topic will give the students an opportunity to see green building design in action on campus. Another portion of the course will be to study the structures of our institutional environment and how students have and can play a role in this social system.
Check out documentation of Spring 2009 ARTs by clicking on the ESLP Through a Lens tab to the right!
If you'd like an idea of how this class works, check out the Spring 2009 ART syllabus below. Note: the syllabus is open to change for any coming spring quarter.
| art_general_syllabus.doc |
Spring 2009 Action Research Teams