COURSE TITLE:
Roots, Fruits & Jamaican Ecologies: Permaculture Initiatives in the Blue & John Crow Mountains (Summer I. 2009)
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This interdisciplinary service-learning course (3credits, 6-weeks) is a partnership between Indiana University, the Jamaica Conservation and Development Trust (JCDT), and the community of Millbank in eastern Jamaica. Permaculture is a systems thinking approach meant to create productive and sustainable ways of living by integrating ecological knowledge, landscape design, organic gardening/farming, green architecture, and cultural practices/knowledge. In Jamaica students will participate in permaculture and service-learning initiatives associated with park management, sustainable agriculture, and ecotourism projects. Class sessions at IU provide students with an understanding of: 1) basic permaculture design principles; 2) cultural practices in rural Jamaican communities; 3) ecological characteristics of mountainous regions in the Caribbean; and 4) the ways in which humans (re)shape local environments. The seminars given in Jamaica with conservationists, park rangers, farmers, community leaders, herbalists, spiritualists, poets, and musicians place further emphasis on the roots and the fruits of indigenous agricultural, environmental, and cultural practices.
SUMMER I. COURSE DATES:
May 12-June 18, 2009 (May 31-June 14 in Jamaica)
INSTRUCTORS:
Dr. John Galuska (cultural anthropologist, folklorist & ethnomusicologist) & Brett Mattingly (biologist)
COURSE NUMBER & CREDIT HOURS:
OVST J-497, "Overseas Study in the Caribbean" (3-credits), honored as equivalent to Latin American Studies L-426 (Culture Studies, A-list)
SUMMER I. COURSE TIMES & LOCATION:
M-F (2-hours/day) meeting time & location TBA
PRIORITY REGISTRATION DEADLINE:
Friday, February 20, 2009
TOTAL COURSE COSTS:
(Includes ALL expenses…3-credit hours, round-trip airfare, ground transportation, food, lodging, and workshop fees):
$2,300 for Resident Students & $2,500 for Non-Resident Students
COURSE DEPOSIT:
A $300 deposit will be due by March 23, 2009 (after course acceptance and enrollment authorization are given)
COURSE CONTACT:
Dr. John D. Galuska
Director, Foster International Living-Learning Center jgaluska@indiana.edu
(812) 855-6215
