Resources Through Another Lens: Developing Multicultural Perspectives in a Natural Resource Program

• Main Author: Li, Judith
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: DigitalCommons@USU 2008
• Subjects: Education; Life Sciences; Social and Behavioral Sciences; Tundra; Alaska
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cuenr/7thBiennial/Sessions/37; http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/handle/1957/8332

The diverse contributions of immigrant and native cultures are generally overlooked as students learn about the development of natural resources in the American West. Presentation of these varied perspectives, from Alaska to the Southwest, from California to the Mississippi, helps students recognize and appreciate historical and contemporary roles played by highly diverse groups of Native Americans, Asians, Latinos, African Americans and Europeans. Initially funded through the USDA, these ideas were developed for an on-campus baccalaureate core course in the Department of Fisheries & Wildlife at Oregon State University that span anthropological, historical and contemporary uses of grasslands, tundra, oceans, deserts and forests; subsequently a 28-lecture video distance course, that is presently offered in DVD format, was created with assistance from the Agricultural Education Consortium. Curriculum development that incorporated data and image gathering at national and regionally appropriate cultural centers and museums, and learning activities that included written essays and online discussions will be discussed in this presentation. As the course was designed for students with interests in a wide range of disciplines, the importance of natural resources was established in the context of particular landscapes and climates. Fulfilling the university’s Difference, Power and Discrimination requirement, the course emphasizes not only diversity, but also the discrimination experienced by many groups despite their important contributions in sustaining the explosive population growth in the West over the last 150 years. The breadth of backgrounds represented by the enrolled students enhances discussion of these ideas among them, and empowers them to work towards greater diversity in their particular work places and in their personal lives.