New class has global setting
By Colleen Casey
Staff Reporter

A new geology class added to the curriculum Friday will teach students that learning about our planet goes way beyond the classroom to Scotland or Costa Rica, geology associate professor Mike Slattery said.

The class’s goal is to approach environmental issues such as basic ecology, evolution, global warming, deforestation and energy depletion in a multi-disciplinary manner as well as develop a student’s own environmental ethics, Slattery said.

“There is no course that will tackle the issues that this course will,” Slattery said. “It will give students a sense on how to make responsible decisions in regard to our planet.”
The class, Environmental Stewardship, will begin lectures March 20 and will be condensed into seven weeks.

The class will also include seven to ten day field experiences in either Costa Rica May 13 to 23 or on the Isle of Skye in Scotland July 27 to Aug. 3.

The class is also pending approval for University Curriculum Requirements in physical sciences with a lab and a writing emphasis. It will not have prerequisites.

The class will have 15 spaces in both the Costa Rica and Scotland sequences. Slattery said the number of students enrolled is flexible and a few more students might be able to register for the class.

Slattery said registration opened Tuesday. Students can enroll by picking up a class permit in the geology office. They are encouraged to visit the Web site at (www.geo.tcu.edu/envst).

Slattery said he and geology professor Nowell Donovan, developed the idea for the class about a month ago, focusing on the importance for students to study our changing planet.

Slattery said it’s great that the class was developed so quickly, and that aspect is unique to TCU.

“The administrators here think out of the box,” Slattery said. “I don’t know of another university where the administration says ‘You guys come up with the ideas for the courses.’”

Donovan said he hopes it will be well received by students.

“I hope they’re excited about getting the ability to discuss environment problems,” he said.

The field experiences, in addition to tuition for the course, will cost about $1,200 each and will include instruction, food and lodging. Airfare will be included in the expense only for the Costa Rica trip, Slattery said.

The Scotland airfare will be handled differently because he expects some students to want to use their frequent flier miles or make their own arrangements, he said.

Colleen Casey
c.m.casey@student.tcu.edu

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