Water as life, death, and power: Building an integrated interdisciplinary course combining perspectives from anthropology, biology, and chemistry

In response to a request from a campus student organization, faculty from three fields came together to develop and teach an integrated interdisciplinary course on water issues and social activism. This course, “Water as Life, Death, and Power”, brought together topics from the fields of anthropolog...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The journal of scholarship of teaching and learning 2013-12, Vol.13 (5), p.106
Main Authors: Willermet, Cathy, Mueller, Anja, Juris, Stephen J, Drake, Eron, Upadhaya, Samik, Chhetri, Pratik
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activism
College Students
Cooperative Learning
Course design
Group Activities
instructional learning community
Interdisciplinary Approach
Interdisciplinary aspects
Michigan
Pollution
Seminars
Social Problems
student activism
Student Empowerment
Student Participation
Student Projects
Teacher Collaboration
Teaching Methods
Water
water issues
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Summary:In response to a request from a campus student organization, faculty from three fields came together to develop and teach an integrated interdisciplinary course on water issues and social activism. This course, “Water as Life, Death, and Power”, brought together topics from the fields of anthropology, biology and chemistry to explore water rights, access to clean water, and water treatment methods. Students enrolled in the course developed interdisciplinary projects related to a variety of local and global water issues to present real-world solutions at a university-wide student research showcase. This article describes the process by which the faculty learning community designed the course as a truly integrated whole, and reflects on the challenges and rewards of teaching a course in this way.
ISSN:1527-9316
1527-9316