ENST 499Q Special Topics: Biosphere 2 and Ecological Design in the Desert Southwest
Spring Semester 2019
Meeting time: Mondays 5:00PM – 5:50PM plus a field trip over spring break
Meeting place: Room 0538 Animal Science Bldg.
Office Hours: Wednesdays 3:00 – 4:00PM
Instructor: Patrick Kangas
Office: 1455 Animal Science Bldg.
Phone: 301-405-1259
Email: pkangas@umd.edu
Course Description: This is a special travel-study course on ecological design in the American southwest desert. The course will meet once per week during the Spring Semester until Spring Break when a field trip will take place to Arizona. Students will visit a variety of sites and learn first-hand about issues of ecological design during the field trip. These sites will include Biosphere 2 and Arcosanti, where the student group will be lodged during the trip. The course will include lectures and readings on ecological design covered before and during the field trip. Students also will be expected to carry out directed research as part of the course. The subject matter of the course will span a time frame from pre-Hispanic, native American cultures, highlighted by visits to archeological sites, through to visions of what ecological design might become in the future (Arcosanti and Biosphere 2). Matching humans to the desert with available and appropriate technologies will be the main theme of the course.