Humanities X330--Description and Schedule

Journal
1. Students keep a weekly journal--on paper or or as web site. Entries include written prose as well as maps, diagrams, drawings, photos, and other forms of expression.
2. Journal entries center on the week’s place on Cal Poly Land, combining what students learn from lecture-presentations and reading with what they discover during the talk-walk and independent exploration.
3. The weekly Journal entry has three elements: 1) a descriptive account of a place on Cal Poly Land 2) a scientific explanation of how something observed was made and how it works 3) a discussion of both sides of an issue regarding land and technology.
4. Journals are collected twice during quarter for comments and grading, once on May 8 and again on June7. The total of journal grades comprises 60% of the course grade.
Final Project
1. During the time scheduled for the final exam, the class makes a public presentation of its collaborative work. The presentation is an updated and expanded version of the Cal Poly Land website developed by the instructors.
2. Like the course itself, the website is divided by abstract topic as well as by concrete place. In groups of four, selected by major or previous expertise, students assemble, elaborate and design materials relevant to one of the first eight units of the course, maintaining a focus on the central theme of land management technology and the interplay among nature, technology and society on Cal Poly Land. For example, one group might work on the topic of the railroad, including materials on the creation of the Cuesta Grade right of way and trestle, the role of the railroad in the founding of the University, the constraints to Poly's Master Plan development created by present railroad policies, and the safety and maintenance of the section of track running through the University, augmented by sounds of engines and engineers. Each group is responsible for delivering a high-quality component of the final website and for a brief presentation to the whole class during lectures and talk-walks. This ongoing group-work encourages specialization to balance the multidisciplinary scope of each student’s journal.
3. The final grade on the group project counts 40% of each student’s grade.

Week	Date	Location and meeting place	Topic	activity	guest	assignments and invitations	work due
I	4/3	classroom	introduction to Cal Poly Land website tour course profile course objectives	workgroups for website project possible specific website topics	David Gillette, English notes on initial organization	Get class email Journal evaluation form Website evaluation form
II	4/8	Poly Canyon-- gate	Geology and Climate	hike study of geology and geological time and space pictures	David Chipping, Physics	read and study: all documents linked to Geology and Climate on Polyland website and if possible print and read this rough draft of Geology chapter of Cal Poly Land: A Field Guide
	4/10	classroom		new maps webpage design website organization	Judy Swanson, Library Multimedia Center	maps and mapping hike maps vegetation map other maps on cal poly land website
III	4/15	classroom and walk	Soil and Water Resources	pictures	Del Dingus, Soil Science	read the rough draft of the Climate and Soils and Water chapters of Cal Poly Land: A Field Guide	Journal check--conference schedule
	4/17	Horse Canyon--arboretum	Plant communities and Vegetation	pictures	V.L. Holland, Biology	read and study the all the Plant communities sections of the Cal Poly Land website and the Vegetation chapter of Cal Poly Land: A Field Guide	Journal check--conference schedule
IV	4/22	classroom	working on journals and websites--notes
	4/24	Trestle, Water Plant, Cheda Ranch	Train technology, water system, reservoirs, sheep, holistic grazing	pictures	Gary Henderson, Water Manager; Rob Rutherford, Animal Science	read and study Technology chapter and Agriculture chapter
V	4/29	classroom	Archaeology and History		Alison Preston, English Terry Jones, Social Science	read and study the Archaeology and History chapters of Cal Poly Land: A Field Guide
	5/1	Stenner Canyon Meet at Serrano Ranch, end of Stenner Creek Road	Watersheds and Infrastructure	hike map of Serrano Ranch		read and study the draft of the Technology chapter of Cal Poly Land: A Field Guide
VI	5/6	Arboretum and Reservoirs; meet at Arboretum	Birds, Bees and Wildllife	pictures	Johanna Rubba, English Department	read and study the draft of the Birds chapter in Cal Poly Land: A Field Guide
	5/8	classroom	Technology and Sustainability		Ed Johnson Utilities manager and Rex Wolf, University Architect	read and study the draft of the Technology chapter of Cal Poly Land: A Field Guide	journals collected
VII	5/13	computer lab					webpage peer review
	5/15	Campus Farm--student experimental farm map to get there			Rob Rutherford, Animal Science, John Phillips, Crop Science	read and study the draft of the Agriculture chapter of Cal Poly Land: A Field Guide Download and read Natural Capitalism chapter 10
VIII	5/20	Pennington Canyon how to get there hike map pictures	Range Management, Geology, History, Landscape Appreciation			read and study the draft of the Arts chapter of Cal Poly Land: A Field Guide
	5/22	library reference room computer lab					webpage instructor review 1
IX	5/27--holiday
	5/29	library reference room computer lab				read the draft of the Recreation chapter of Cal Poly Land: A Field Guide	webpage instructor review 2
	5/31-6/1	Swanton Ranch--rendezvous at Ranch Friday 1:30p.m.	Forestry, Cattle ranching, Environmental Education, Railroad history		Wally Mark, Natural Resource Management Ed Carnegie, Ag Engineering
X	6/3	Business School Fountain, front lawn	Land Use and Stewardship: the Master Plan		Linda Dalton, Cal Poly Chief Planning Officer	read draft of the Stewardship chapter of Cal Poly Land: A Field Guide read executive summary of Cal Poly Master Plan study the Stewardship section of Cal Poly Land website	sample website evaluation [foundation]
	6/5	regular classroom 10-124	The future of Cal Poly Land Course evaluation and planning		Chris Clark, City and Regional Planning Department and Environmental Consultant	fill out course evaluation questionnaire draft of Campus Sustainability Inventory
	6/7 5p.m.						journals collected
Final Exam Week	Wednesday June 12, 7:00 P.M. Reference Room computer lab				Final Public Presentation of Websites and Journals

Spring 2002 Schedule