BIOL 101 - The Biosphere in Translation

Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)

The biosphere is all the living parts of Plant Earth. The living parts of land, air and sea. Earth teems with life, and has for the past almost 4 billion years or so. Life comes in many different forms and can be found everywhere, from the bottom of the ocean to the hot springs of Yosemite. Even in the clouds! And, like in The Lion King, all of this life interacts in complex and wondrous ways.

The biosphere is strongly connected with nonliving parts of the planet, like the atmosphere (upper, lower) and wind/weather, water, rocks and soils. And, it turns out that life also affects the wind/weather, water currents, and the type of soils. So, the living part of the planet collaborates with the nonliving parts of the planet to create our livable Earth.
This first year writing seminar examines the biosphere from multiple perspectives: biological, environmental, societal and philosophical. We read and discuss the work of a variety of influential writers, including Henry David Thoreau, Charles Darwin, Rachel Carson, John R. McNeill, and James Lovelock, among others. Through different types of media, we examine our own place in the biosphere. An important focus of the course is developing reading, writing and speaking skills to translate aspects of our biosphere into different forms and for different audiences. Kathleen Susman.

Two 75-minute periods.

Course Format: CLS