This senior capstone seminar examines the local region surrounding the Cannon River valley, specifically focusing on the ways in which the region's human inhabitants have developed—or failed to develop—a sense of place. Through readings and your own independent research, we will be asking a series of related questions: What do we and other environmental thinkers mean by "a sense of place," and why does it matter? What is distinctive about the Cannon River region (water flow and quality, soil types, climate, woodlands, agricultural practices and other ecological factors) that gives this particular "place" a singular identity? In what ways has local knowledge contributed to a sense of this place, and in what ways have current and historical economic, social and political pressures undermined our understandings?

As we examine this local region and these issues, our analysis will be vigorously interdisciplinary, drawing on knowledge gained by you and your colleagues in this class within the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities. Because this seminar marks your final semester at St. Olaf College, we also will focus on your ongoing development as an environmental studies major here on campus and your potential future role as an advocate, activist, scientist and/or decision-maker in local, national and international environmental issues. As part of this capstone process, this course asks you to examine your learning and development within the scholarship of the environment and construct a reflective portfolio of your intellectual and personal growth in this field.

* * * * * *

Instructor

Sheri Breen
Political Science Dept.
103D Holland Hall
(507) 646-3530
breens@stolaf.edu

Office hours

Mon. 3-4 pm
Tues. 10-11 am
Thurs. 4-5 pm
Fri. 8:30-9:30 am
and by appointment

* * * * * *

“ ‘The man who is often thinking that it is better to be somewhere else than where he is excommunicates himself,’ we are cautioned by Thoreau, that notorious stay-at-home. The metaphor is religious: To withhold yourself from where you are is to be cut off from communion with the source. It has taken me half a lifetime of searching to realize that the likeliest path to the ultimate ground leads through my local ground. I mean the land itself, with its creeks and rivers, its weather, seasons, stone outcroppings, and all the plants and animals that share it. I cannot have a spiritual center without having a geographical one: I cannot live a grounded life without being grounded in a place.”
                             — Scott Russell Sanders, Staying Put, 1993

* * * * * *

“ Place and story are inseparable. ‘No place’ is transformed to ‘place’ as we imbue it with story and imprint both story and place as a singularity upon our consciousness. By giving places a name and a story, I can contemplate and describe them and, in the most ancient sense, call them into existence. We create ourselves from stories that conjoin us to places; bind us to each other; blend individual and communal identities; and provide definition, context and continuity, perspective, and personality. These stories of ourselves are works in progress until death.”
                     — Robert Archibald, The Places of Stories, 1995