Syllabus

Facilitator:Terry O’Day
Office: Brown Hall 108
Hours:  MW 2:30-3:30 or by appointment
Email: odayt@pacificu.edu
Project Website

Zoom link: https://pacificu.zoom.us/j/932994248.

Course Description
This course focuses on the design process as a tool for conceiving and planning sustainable communities patterned on examples provided by nature. We will consider strategies for producing necessities such as food, energy, shelter, and clothing in ways that enhance lifestyles, strengthen communities, and promote ecological health. Students will learn the principles, practices, and processes of sustainable design through reading, writing, discussion, and hands-on practice in the community. This course carries a requirement of working 2 hours/week outside of class at one of the sustainability-oriented education sites in our community. Counts toward core requirement: Artistic Practice, Civic Engagement, and Sustainability. 4 credits.

Meeting time: Monday/Wednesday
Location: Price 202
Final: Friday December 10, 12-2:30

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

In order to help students achieve the learning outcomes for the course, it requires the following elements:

  • Class participation
  • Reading for Information and Context
  • Practice for Skills-building
  • Engagement for Connection to Community

Opportunities for consideration and development of individual interests in relation to course material are included throughout the course. Application of course activities towards achieving individual learning goals is highly encouraged.

 Participation

Classes follow a workshop format so missing class means missing work that will be hard to make up. Therefore attendance is important. Lack of attendance will affect your grade.

Reading for Information and Context

The design process includes the gathering of relevant information that is needed to solve the design problem at hand. As well, designers must develop the context and questions that drive their design activity.

In this course, our overarching context is sustainability: How can we provide for our needs without compromising the ability of future generations to provide for their needs? Each of the required books and DVD’s consider this question and offers information relevant to answering it. Discussion about individual, cultural, and social goals and values in relation to the concept of sustainability will be considered throughout the course.

Read 3 assigned books
Books provide basic information about the design method through the permaculture frame, as well as highlighting current and historical examples. Books are on reserve in the library. Reading responses will be recorded in the portfolio.

Watch 3 DVDs
DVDs provide additional information about applying the design process to different areas. Choose 3 of the following:

 Practice and Skills-building

Assignments provide opportunities to understand the design process through practice by completing the following projects. Projects will be documented in the portfolio as described in the project procedures.

Engagement, Connection to Community

This course fulfills the CE core requirement and therefore must adhere to specific guidelines determined by the Center for Civic Engagement. According to these guidelines, CE courses should:

  • Serve the common good
  • Involve students in experiential learning outside the classroom and the teaching lab
  • Engage students with the campus community or the broader world
  • Include appropriate orientation, preparation for the project, and opportunity for thoughtful reflection

In order to meet the above goals, this course includes the following activities:

Attend 3 Forest Grove community meetings
Community meetings provide local context for permaculture practice as well as offering opportunities to connect with others who share your goals and aspirations.  There are many options for fulfilling this requirement.  A few of them are listed below:

Complete 24 hours of work-to-learn practice at one of the sustainability-oriented education sites in our community.
Hands-on practice of course material outside of class solidifies understanding and builds skills.  Working on site will help you to develop familiarity with the materials, tools, and processes that are used in permaculture practice and will prepare you for leadership positions as a course mentor or site supervisor in subsequent semesters.

In order to complete the CE service requirement, you must log in 24 hours of work (about 2 hrs / week) outside of class. These hours will be documented in your portfolio. You are responsible for contacting the site supervisor and arranging work times. The site supervisor must sign off on your hours for each work session.

See the CE page for more info on sites.

A Word about Time…

Federal guidelines state that 1 credit hour = 40 hours of work. Following that guideline, the expectation for a 4 hr class is 160 hours over the semester.

The semester is 14 weeks, or 28 class meetings.

  • Class is 2.5 hrs x 28 classes = 70 hours
  • 2 service hours/week x 12 weeks = 24 hours
  • 4 homework hours/week x 14 weeks = 56 hours

70 class hours+24 service hours + 56 homework hours = 150 hours.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

This course focuses on achieving specific outcomes  that should contribute to your overall learning at Pacific. Outcomes for courses and programs are formulated, not only to help you succeed in a specific discipline, but also to help you be a productive member of society regardless of your program of study. Art program outcomes were formulated with transferability in mind – we believe that the skills and behaviors we’ve laid out will be useful no matter what career path you choose. The ability to think creatively, produce a realistic plan, carry that plan through to completion, and learn from the process are desirable attributes in every field.

The links in the list below will take you to a detailed explanation of each of the outcomes assigned to this course. The DVD response  assignments will provide you with multiple opportunities to review these outcomes by asking you to scan through them and choose the ones that seem most appropriate to the movie you watched. It is recommended that you choose different sections for each movie so you have a chance to review them all by the end of the semester.

Role of the course for the general student population:

  • Introduces the role of design and designers in our society
  • Provides a basis for making informed decisions about sustainable lifestyle practices and community development
  • Provides opportunity to develop communication and team working skills
  • Provides opportunity to interact with real-world problems in service to the common good
  • Provides an opportunity to interact with the community
  • Completes the Civic Engagement core requirement

Role of the course in fulfilling the Civic Engagement requirement

  • Serve the common good
  • Involve students in experiential learning outside the classroom and the teaching lab
  • Engage students with the campus community or the broader world
  • Offer appropriate orientation, preparation for the project, and opportunity for thoughtful reflection

Role of the course for students interested in Design and Sustainability

  • Introduces permaculture as an example of an ecologically-based design framework
  • Explores Design activity in relation to individual and cultural values and ethics
  • Explores Design activity in relation to the concept of sustainability
  • Completes the first half of the permaculture design certification
  • Fulfills the Sustainability core requirement

Role of the course for students in the Art program:

  • Introduces the design method, vocabulary, and concepts
  • Introduces the design method as an integrative problem-solving process
  • Introduces project management skills
  • Develops capacity for describing and justifying context in relation to concept
  • Offers opportunities to explore and develop hand skills with a variety of materials
  • Introduces the e-portfolio and documentation of work
See all Learning Outcomes

College of Arts and Sciences: Core Outcomes

This course fulfills the “Creative Process and Artistic Practice,” “Civic Engagement,” and “Sustainability” core requirements.

Creative Process and Artistic Practice Outcomes
At the end of this course, students will be able to:

  • Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
  • Convey meaning through the presentation of their own artistic work.
  • Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work
  • Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art.

Civic Engagement Outcomes
Upon completion of this requirement students will be able to:

  • Connect and extend knowledge (facts, theories, etc.) from one’s own academic study to civic engagement and to one’s own participation in civic life, politics, and government.
  • Demonstrate the ability to effectively express, listen, and adapt to others and communicate ideas in a civil manner when establishing and/or maintaining relationships to further civic action.
  • Demonstrate attitudes in line with the democratic aspirations of equality, liberty, and justice, and democratic practices of social responsibility and inclusion of diverse perspectives in civic processes and community life.
  • Plan, carry out, and critically reflect upon civic action to address a public problem in a manner that demonstrates personal integrity and ethical conduct.

Sustainability Outcomes:
Upon completion of this requirement students will be able to:

  • Evaluate sustainability issues and solutions using an approach that focuses on the intersections between complex human and natural systems.
  • Describe the three aspects of sustainability (environmental, economic and social) and give examples of how at least two of the three are interrelated.
  • Articulate how sustainability relates to their lives as community members, workers and individuals and how their actions impact sustainability.

Art Program Outcomes

Outcome 1: The Creative Process
Students will be able to use a variety of brainstorming techniques to generate novel ideas of value to solve problems

Outcome 2: Development of Context and Concept
Students will be able to develop ideas that are relevant and responsive to the world around them.

Outcome 3: Development of Skill and Technique
Students will have sufficient mastery of one or more media to complete the technical and formal challenges pertinent to a body of original work.

Outcome 4: Communication of Ideas and Context
Students will be able to clearly communicate the content, context, and process of their work visually, orally and in writing.

Outcome 5: Development of Deliberate Practice
Students will demonstrate behaviors, such as curiosity, initiative, and persistence, that will help them engage with the world in productive ways. Students will be able to work independently or collaboratively to achieve stated goals
See more detail on art program outcomes

Outcomes for Design Foundations courses

This course fulfills the Design Foundations requirement for the Design Track of the Art major. Upon completion of this requirement students will be able to:

  • Describe relationships between the elements in a design according to principles specific to a particular design framework
  • Demonstrate knowledge of vocabulary and relevant design concepts through participation in group reviews, in-class dialogues and written assignments
  • Produce a proposal for a project that includes a rationale, concept, timeline, and budget

Outcomes for Civic Engagement courses

This course fulfills the Civic Engagement (CE) core requirement. Upon completion of this requirement students will be able to:

  • connect and extend knowledge (facts, theories, etc.) from one’s own academic study to civic engagement and to one’s own participation in civic life, politics, and government.
  • demonstrate the ability to effectively express, listen, and adapt to others and communicate ideas in a civil manner
  • demonstrate attitudes in line with democratic aspirations (e.g., equality, liberty, and justice) and practices (e.g., social responsibility and inclusion of diverse perspectives in civic processes and community life)
  • prepare for, carry out, and critically reflect upon civic action to address a public problem in a manner that demonstrates personal integrity and ethical conduct.

Outcomes for Sustainability courses

This course fulfills the Sustainability core requirement. Upon completion of this requirement students will be able to:

  • Evaluate sustainability issues and solutions using a transdisciplinary approach that focuses on the intersections between complex human and natural systems
  • Describe the environmental integrity, economic vitality and social equity aspects of sustainability and give examples of how they are interrelated.
  • Articulate how sustainability relates to their lives as community members, workers and individuals and how their actions impact sustainability.

See more detail on learning outcomes for the Sustainable Design concentration of the PCS major

Outcomes for the Permaculture Design Certificate

This course partially fulfills the requirements for the Permaculture Design Certificate. (to complete the certificate, see your instructor) At the end of this course, students will be able to:

  • Provide a concise definition for the term “Permaculture”
  • Describe permaculture ethics, discuss why they are relevant, and give examples of how they can influence design decisions
  • Describe how permaculture principles reflect ecological patterns
  • Refer to principles while describing relationships between elements in their own designs
  • Read landscapes and describe how that information applies to their own designs
  • Select and justify appropriate design elements in relation to local context and desired outcomes in their own designs
  • Apply permaculture principles to land and community development in small and large-scale designs
  • Describe a “domain” for permaculture practice that is specifically relevant to individual interests

  Related outcomes information

SMART Goals
Employer wish lists

GRADING

Grades will be determined based on the presentation of the work product on the portfolio website. Each section has specific instructions for how the work should be documented. Work should be linked to the Assignment Sheet page on your website. For the purposes of this course, if it’s not documented on the portfolio website, then it doesn’t exist!

Grading  Percentages:

  • 34%:  Projects and Charrettes, Reading and Writing assignments
  • 33%:  Service hours, Community Meetings
  • 33% Attendance

Attendance Policy
Given that this is a workshop course, class attendance  is very important. Please make every effort to be in class on time and plan to stay through the 2 hour 20 minute duration of the class. Coming late or leaving early will result in a partial mark for that day

If you must miss a class, please let me know beforehand. Absences with notification can be made up by working an additional 2.5 service hours. Make-up hours must be noted as such on your service hours timesheet.

COLLEGE POLICIES

Limiting the Spread of COVID-19

Students are expected to check themselves for symptoms of COVID-19 daily. Any student who is exhibiting any symptoms of any illness should not attend class in-person. Students who are exhibiting signs of illness (for example, coughing or sneezing) will be asked to leave class and to contact the Student Health Center. Students will not be penalized for staying home while sick. Help care for each other: Stay home when you don’t feel well.

Students will wear appropriate face-coverings during class. This includes either a disposable mask/face covering or a reusable cloth mask/face covering. If you do not have a face covering, you may ask your instructor for one. You may not attend class without a face covering and if you are in class without  your face covering properly worn, you will be required to leave class. Students unable, for health reasons, to wear a cloth face covering must obtain a documented exception from the Office of Accessibility and Accommodations.

Students will maintain a minimum of 6 foot distance from all other class members at all times unless your class has been set up to allow for closer contact. Students uncomfortable with in-person study have the option to study remotely.

Academic Misconduct Policy
Pacific University has no tolerance for academic misconduct/cheating. It is university policy that all acts of misconduct and dishonesty be reported to the Associate Dean for Student Academic Affairs. Sanctions that may be imposed for such misconduct range from an “F” for the assignment, an “F” for the course, and suspension or dismissal from the university. Forms of academic misconduct include but are not limited to plagiarism, fabrication, cheating, tampering with grades, forging signatures, and using electronic information resources in violation of acceptable use policies.

Learning Support Services for Students with Disabilities
If you have documented challenges that will impede your learning in any way, please contact our LSS office in Clark Hall (ext.2717; lss@pacificu.edu). LSS staff will meet with students, review the documentation of their disabilities, and discuss the services that Pacific offers and any appropriate ADA accommodations for specific courses.

The Center for Learning and Student Success (CLASS)
The Center for Learning and Student Success (CLASS) is located on the second floor of the Tran Library overlooking the lobby. CLASS is an open study space that offers individual tutoring, group tutoring, and guided study sessions for students. CLASS has peer tutors available from 10 a.m. through 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. Appointments are strongly encouraged, but not required. Check the schedule for up-to-date availability of tutors, drop-in hours, or to make an appointment: pacificu.edu/class

Unauthorized Recordings
Students are prohibited from making audio and/or visual recordings of lectures or presentations without prior consent of the instructor or presenter.

Statement in Support of Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion
Students of all backgrounds, political persuasions, sexual and gender identities, physical and mental ability levels, religions, and race and ethnicity are welcome in this class. As the instructor, I will try to honor the diversity among us in class discussions and experiences. Students who experience negative stress related to their identity—as a result of class experiences or otherwise, including those that may have been inadvertently brought on by the instructor—are encouraged to voice their experience in class and/or privately with the instructor, who strives to create a safe space for discussion of difficult issues. Conversely, in this class comments or behaviors that create an environment of oppression will not be tolerated and should be surfaced by students or the instructor for discussion and resolution. Students who have experiences related to the class or otherwise that they do not wish to share with the instructor may contact our Executive Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Narce Rodriguez (nrodrigu@pacificu.edu, 503-352-1457) for support.