PROJECT NATURECONNECT
Institute of Global Education
Special NGO Consultant to the United Nations Economic and Social
Council
WWW.WEBSTRINGS.ORG
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"If
contemporary life does not meet your deeper ideals, chances are
you want to build your relationships around webstrings and
you don't even know it."
An archive of University of California at Santa Barbara student responses and interactions in the webstring Organic Psychology Natural Systems Thinking Process Orientation Course on the internet. Student names are witheld to protect their privacy .
Course title:
Course Description:
Course Purpose and Environment: The course has been integrated
into the Environmental Studies curriculum and may be used by
students in the University System of the State of California. Course theme:
Prerequsite
One: Who we are.
Participants' personal and professional areas of interest include Science
Quotes from course participant's (anonymous) applications:
Questioning "As an Environmental Studies major in my second year at UCSB, I have had the pleasure of partaking in many wonderful courses that have asked me to think about my place in contemporary American society. The more I question, the deeper my confusion flows, as a member of our consumer culture who strives to exist in a state of balance and devotion to nature. The psychosocial aspect of environmental affairs has always fascinated me, though I lean more towards the scientific observations."
Understanding "Throughout my time in the back country, lessons on the fragility of human life and the omnipresent forces of nature that exist beyond man's control traversed my consciousness. Separated from the destructive capacities of modern man, I lived in observservation of this climate of raw power and undisturbed energy that possessed a serenity the like of which I have never known. Experiences such as this have sparked my interest in seeking a solution to the problems that we face as people and as a society in the coming years. In taking this course, I hope to gain a better understanding of how peoples' attitudes shape their response to the natural world, and how we may be able to create a sustainable future for life as we know it."
Wisdom "Every time I learn a new fact about nature, or experience its wisdom and grace I feel like my life, my place as a living human is put into a perfect perspective. I love learning as a young mind in a comparatively old and wise place. The exploration, and gratification never ends."
Togetherness "Being able to connect with nature, and you folks, will hopefully bring me a little closer to understanding what living really is. I am ready to open up all of my senses, and let mother nature shape me, or open me up to growth, is more appropriate. Bonding with like-minded people to feel all sorts of intense passion, from joy, and pain, is intriguing. This is a time for a mini evolution ... of our lifestyles. Time to create and learn together. "
Love "I have had a love for nature, especially the ocean, for a long time. It has made me sad to watch the ocean be polluted. This is one of the reasons that I was interested in the Environmental Studies. I think if nothing else it will lead me to spend more time outdoors, which I like."
Reconnection "I have always had great interest in nature and feel almost out of place in an urban environment. I think it would be just awesome to completely "reconnect" with nature and everything about this course seems to fit me well. Among other things, I'm interested in Film, Law, and the environment. I think this course will have a positive impact on my life and the way I view nature. "
Strength "I feel that I am fairly connected with nature already, but hope that, through taking this course, I will strengthen my bonds with nature. I'm also interested to see how something like this is taught. "
Community "I have always felt very close to nature. The opportunity to take this course really excites me because at this point in my life I feel the need to regain communication with nature so that I might find better ways of living in its "global communtiy".
Inspiration "I'm very excited to be taking this course because of the incredible benefits Dr. Cohen described to us in his lecture. For the past few years, I have had a very strong spiritual connection with nature that has become an increasingly positive and inspiring force in shaping my self. I hope to dedicate myself to promoting environmental sanity and am optimistic that this course will be a powerful asset in relating to the planet and interacting with others in a way that will inspire responsible environmental consciousness. "
Beauty "There's something about nature that is a release for me, it's spiritual, cleaning, inspirational, and so much more. From my days as a little girl there has always been an attraction to the outdoors, which is one I see myself maintaining throughout life. I want this attraction to be able to be enjoyed by those who come after me, in the scope of the world's timeline. I can't possibly imagine the world without the preserves of nature, some of which I have been lucky enough to enjoy. It would be an incredible misfortune if the selfishness of man destroyed nature's beauty for the rest of humanity."
Learning "I am a registered psychology major. Upon seeing that there was a connection between what I thought I might have wanted to study and what I now am thinking I want to study, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for me to learn more about both disciplines. A new area of study is always something interesting to me, and I have a feeling this will be a different sort of learning than that to which I am accustomed. "
Feeling "I have very strong, deep feelings for the environment. I take everything involving the earth very personally. I think this can benefit me because I will always be passionate about the work I do, but at the same time it may be a disadvantage because I can get easily discouraged since it is such a personal subject. It hurts my feelings when I see damaging things happen to the earth. I try to focus on channeling that energy into positive action, but it is difficult to stay optimistic. "
Sensuous "I am taking this course because I feel as though it is very important to have a deeper connection with nature. I always try to maintain a relationship with the earth, but it will be interesting to have a "guided relationship. Hopefully it will teach me new ways to feel the earth and become a part of her. I am very excited to learn about the 53 other senses. I am curious to see what they are and feel them. They may even be senses that I feel or have felt before, but didn,t categorize. I am excited to experience something new and different. "
Happiness "I have always had respect for the environment, and I felt that I wanted to learn more about the subject. I attended Mike's lecture in IV Theater it impressed me enough to also came to the lawn meeting after the lecture. I am positive that if I achieve half of what I perceive the benefits of this course are, then I would come out of this experience very happy indeed. "
Peace "I'm so happy to be living in a place where nature is everywhere and I can observe something other than ugly cookie-cutter houses and shopping malls. I really want to learn more about how I can become more spiritually satisfied and how I can more actively become a better inhabitant of the earth. I don't recall ever having much of an interest in nature, growing up amidst the splendor of shopping malls, but I have become passionate about discovering the natural world around me. I feel that it may help me to find greater spiritual peace and that it may help to expand my circle of thought. "
Rewards "As I grew older I realized that I could not save the planet, but I could do my part to preserve it for my children and grandchildren to see. I worked with friends in high school along with the Octagon Club to clean up beaches in Half Moon Bay. I was not enthusiastic while I cleaned up the beaches, but the result was very rewarding".
Opportunity "Although, after hearing Dr. Cohen speak and seeing the fire in his eyes I am very curious to see what he is up to. For this reason I am eager to participate in the course. I am also interested in this course because I care dearly about the environment. I care very much about trying to preserve our environment for future generations because I would be very inconsiderate to others if I polluted and plundered the environment at will. The environment belongs to all of us, and all of us should have an equal opportunity to enjoy it whether alive now or in generations to come. "
Educational "I am interested in the course for a few reasons. I think it may be beneficial to me as I have spent time working with children in nature as a camp counselor and have even run environmental education programs with the kids."
Amazement "When I was a child at camp, every afternoon we would climb this hill and sit on this huge rock at the top and watch the field below to hopefully just get a glimpse of some animals. Then all of a sudden a huge family of deer showed up on the plain below this one afternoon. It was amazing! There must have been 50 or more of them just trotting in. I just sat there and watched them slowly graze and walk across the field. They were so graceful and peaceful that I really fell in love with nature.
Helping "Especially over the years
I have become fascinated with the ocean. I first realized there
was a problem with the environment when oceans began to be closed
down due to pollution. This is why I'm in this class to see what
I can do to help the environment." Continue to Page Two of this Archive
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