An introduction to the complex ecologies and human experiences of theSalish Sea region. This interdisciplinary course introduces students to content in the natural and social sciences, and integrates experiential learning through local regional field trips, including cross-border experiences.
This is a parallel track to ANTH 235, Cross Cultural Medicine that focuses on the health impacts of climate disasters, including trauma, grief and anxiety. Students then have the opportunity to visualize a future when the earth recovers its health. What does that look like? How does it happen?
Students write a one-to-two-page letter to apply their knowledge and analysis to a contemporary issue and develop a position that reflects their research on the issue. Resources for locating a leader in a trans-border region with multiple jurisdictions on the Canadian and U.S. sides of the border is provided in the weeks leading up to this letter-writing assignment.
The lesson introduces students to archaeology as a way of knowing the “deep history” of the Salish Sea and presents a brief review of the archaeology of the region. We also discuss the importance of this history to modern peoples today, including the necessity for archaeologists to collaborate with Indigenous communities.
The exercise is aimed to help students explain the basic chronology of culture history in the Salish Sea and identify important local archaeological sites and/or traditional cultural places on both sides of the international border.
A field trip to a local museum allows students to interact with and learn from material items from the Salish Sea and also encourages students to think about the ethics of museum representation and Indigenous collaboration.
How do we connect stories of people to place? The objective of this three-part project is to make the connection between the forced removal of Bellingham’s Punjabi community in 1907 to the history of Bellingham’s contested waterfront.
After going through a timeline that covers the arrival of newcomers in the past three centuries, students journal their reflections on how colonialism shapes the past, present, and future. In the second video, students learn about concepts such as moving into a place, arrivants, guests, and write a 3-5 sentence positionality biography.
