NZ08 Syllabus

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New Zealand Semester 2008

Orientation Course Syllabus

Fall 2007

Instructors

Jay and Marcie Roberts

Course Description

The NZ orientation course is intended to familiarize students with the instructors and each other prior to beginning the program. Throughout the semester, we will be meeting to discuss expectations, logistical details of the program, and orient ourselves to the group and New Zealand.

Textbooks (available on-line from Amazon and the like…)

Required

The Rough Guide to New Zealand (4th edition). The 3rd edition would also be fine if you find one for cheap- just not as up to date.

Suggested/Optional

A Traveller’s History of New Zealand and the South Pacific Islands by John H. Chambers (2nd ed. 2007). A nice overview of NZ culture and history that reads more informally than a more academic text.

Lonely Planet Tramping Guide to New Zealand by Jim Dufresne (6th ed., 2006). The definitive guide to tramping in NZ. If you plan to do some on your independent travel or after the program, it is a useful resource.

Grading

The course is P/NP. Attendance at all sessions and completion of all assignments are required to pass.

Orientation Overview:

Meeting 1

Wednesday, Sept. 26th 7-9pm Location: TBD Orientation overview and expectations Program overview and logistics IPO talk Homestay Form Adventuresome Spirit Project #1- the Farmstay Mini-research project

Meeting 2

Nov. 10-11th Location: TBD Orientation retreat- location to be determined. Plan on approx. 9-5pm both days with a possible movie night. Group development and expectations Curriculum overviews Mini-project research presentations Movie night?

Meeting 3

Wednesday, Dec. 5th 7-9pm Location: TBD Final question and answer ASP updates Last minute logistics

Assignments:

Mini-Research Project

One of the neat things about environmental studies is that you can approach it from a variety of disciplines. Indeed, environmental studies itself is not a discipline per se but rather a “holding space” where a variety of disciplines come together around a common theme: the “environment.” Our group is made up of folks from a wide variety of disciplines: economics, computer science, outdoor education, biology, geology, english, PAGS, etc. In preparation for our retreat, you will find out something interesting about New Zealand from your particular disciplinary perspective. For example, as a PAGS major, you might find out something about New Zealand’s anti-nuclear stance. Or, as a Biology major, you might find something out about New Zealand’s unique “exclosure” system of bird conservation. For this project, web searching is perfectly acceptable. The key is for it to be fun, brief (5 minutes or so), and informative to the group as a whole. Be prepared, for the retreat, to present and have visuals/resources about your chosen research topic.

Adventuresome Spirit Projects

Throughout the semester, we will introduce several “Adventuresome Spirit” projects (ASP’s-should we be concerned that this is named after a deadly, poisonous snake?). These projects are intended to give all of us an experiential sense of adventure as part of the program. As adventures, these projects will call on your abilities to be independent, flexible, determined, and creative. They will also (hopefully) be a great deal of fun and pack in a lot of learning- both about yourself and about New Zealand. Your first ASP will be to find a farm in the Canterbury region where you can do a “solo” farmstay from Feb. 16th-19th, 2008. We will give you parameters, guidelines, and resources at the first orientation meeting to get you started. You should be prepared to give us an update on your Farmstay ASP by the December 5th meeting.