Depending on the semester, students experience an intensive introduction to the ecology, society, and culture of their new environment in northern New England. This includes studying local botany, human history, land-use practices of the regional economy, and the local artisan community. Students begin outdoor challenge activities and small group work, learn about establishing norms of social conduct, build community, and initiate conversations about what it means to live sustainably. This course consists of group discussions, tours, orientations to various Sterling College programs, and outdoor activities. Topics and content vary by semester.

What do we mean when we say “environment”? This course will consider the interaction of humans with the environment through literature, art, film, and other forms of expression, and we will explore how representations of ‘nature’ and ‘environment’ help shape our actions with respect to the natural world. We will examine the different ways in which contemporary writers and thinkers define nature, culture, and environment to help us reconsider our conceptions of region, identify and explore where regions overlap, and revisit our ideas about place. We will look at the perspectives of writers, poets, filmmakers, and artists who engage the politics of place both in North America and beyond. The course will include reading and discussion of twenty and twenty-first American nature writers such as John Elder, Henry Beston, Anne Zwinger, Terry Tempest Williams, Hayden Carruth, Jane Brox, Ginger Strand, Don DeLillo, and Sandra Steingraber. We will also consider the work of Chris Jordan, John Pfahl, Tim Noble, Sue Webster, Tom Deininger as well as current trends in street art as responses to urban and other built environments. Throughout the course, we will mine points of intersection between the class at Sterling and a parallel course taught concurrently at Bath Spa University in the UK. Students will have the opportunity to collaborate with peers at Bath Spa in discussions and on projects through the use of appropriate technology. This course is designated as writing intensive.

In this class, students will learn the basic techniques of making paper from plant fibers and simple techniques in bookbinding. In the first half of the class, students will make paper from plant fibers using a variety of materials and paper-making techniques. In the second half of the class, students will bind and illustrate a book with the paper they have made. The theme of the book will relate to illuminating a personal experience or experiences related to living and reflecting on the nature and culture of Craftsbury- Northeast Kingdom. The book can be illustrated through text, one of a kind illustrations or through other printmaking processes.

This class explores environmental and cultural issues on a global level. Our goal is to better understand the relationship between the natural and cultural history of a region and its current land use policies and patterns. Various regions will set the stage for discussions of timely issues such as food production and politics, the exchange of commodities on a global level, natural resource conservation and utilization, the cultural and environmental impacts of ecotourism, and environmental justice. Prerequisite: Senior Status

Examines the importance of landscape and place in the works of both classical and contemporary spiritual and nature writers, including Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire, Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony, Norman Maclean's A River Runs Through It, and Terry Tempest Williams's Refuge. Assignments will include readings and several short papers. This course meets the requirement for two Humanities credits emphasizing textual analysis and written critical response.

What do potato farming in Fort Kent Maine, an ATV park in Berlin, New Hampshire, Howard Frank Mosher’s novella Where the Rivers Flow North, and the Adirondacks’ Blue Line all have in common? Nature and Culture in the Northern Forest will explore questions of how these 30 million acres of northern New England and New York define a unified sense of region – of how we come to define a landscape and how it comes to define us. This class will pose a challenge to rethink the fundamental notion of how we define place and consider: How can the different ways in which we define "region" intersect to help build a more comprehensive understanding of how communities in the Northern Forest are shaped by—and, in turn, shape—our evolving understanding of place? By using the lenses of environmental humanities and experiential scholarship to look critically at the ways in which this region has been defined historically, students will draw from a broad range of resources and field-based experiences that will help not only to broadly reimagine the region of the Northern Forest but also to provide tools with which we can address broader regional issues in a global context. This course meets the requirement for two humanities credits emphasizing textual analysis and written critical response.

Students improve technical paddling skills, safety judgment, and teaching techniques by challenging the turbulent Spring run-off of local rivers. Teamwork is emphasized for tandem boat control and hazard avoidance. Some solo canoeing and rescue training are also involved. The course meets American Canoe Association standards for moving water and whitewater training. Fundamental skills such as understanding water dynamics, boat lean, powerful body mechanics, and efficient strokes lead to precise maneuvers including ferries, eddy turns, and peel-outs. Students must supply clothing and equipment for cold-water conditions. Some weekend classes will be required. Prerequisite: SS105: Sense of Place

This course explores how families serve as a locus of cultural transmission by gathering and studying family stories, particularly around culinary and musical traditions. Focusing on various traditions or a “tradition bearer” in students’ families (or in another family), we collect oral histories and consider how these traditions contribute to our sense of individual, regional, and cultural identity. Students will also be introduced to methods of folklore and ethnography, including interviewing, collecting, and other forms of documentation. Projects will include short reflection papers and a final project for display to the community. This course meets the requirement for two humanities credits emphasizing textual analysis and written critical response.

This course will emphasize the study of heritage within outdoor education and Canadian travel. Students will consider the following questions: Where is heritage within experiential education? How are Canadian and American experiences different? How can we introduce heritage themes to classroom and travel experiences? Furthermore, students will explore themes of story, place, and technology in outdoor education and develop an understanding of outdoor education in a Canadian context through direct, first-hand experience.

In this course participants will be introduced to working with cattle through experience, lecture, reading, and discussion. An emphasis will be placed on the process one would use to train a team of bull calves for common farm and woods work. This training process will be used as a vehicle to explore different topics related to working cattle, such as: practical driving skills, selecting calves, feeding, housing, foot care, bovine health, risk management, yoke mechanics, training principles, bovine psychology, bovine physiology, a comparison with equines, trouble-shooting a team, a historical perspective of working cattle, and working cattle in international forestry and agriculture. All of the above will be covered at an introductory level, and individual topics may be covered in greater depth according to student interest.

Open for topics of special interest to faculty and students in a particular year. A group wishing to initiate a course will draw up a detailed syllabus to keep on file and submit it to the Dean of Academics for approval. A recent example is The Art of Place. Students were introduced to tools for community building such as labyrinths, stone rings, and circle dance.

Open for topics of special interest to faculty and students in a particular year. A group wishing to initiate a course will draw up a detailed syllabus to keep on file and submit it to the Dean of Academics for approval. A recent example is The Art of Place. Students were introduced to tools for community building such as labyrinths, stone rings, and circle dance.

Students learn skills necessary for leading an extended trip on the waterways of the Northern Forest. Students are involved in trip planning, food packing, and equipment choice. During the first trip, students refine their paddling, portaging, navigation and leadership skills. Written reports before, during, and after the trip place the student in the role of a commercial canoeing outfitter with emphasis on detailed planning, risk management, and setting appropriate expectations for clients. On the second trip students become the primary leaders for Craftsbury area children ages 10-15. Appropriate waivers and menu plans will be produced and presented to the children’s parents before the trip commences. Prerequisites: SS105, and SS240 or SS241, or permission of the instructor.