Fall 2012
Register online or print out course registration form by visiting the website: http://www.western.edu/extendedstudies
AQUAPONICS*
Dusty Szymanski
27370, CEU 1, $30
Date: 10/20/2012
Day: Saturday
Time: 9:00AM-12:00PM
Location: Straw and Timber Craftsmen, 115 S Colorado St.
Aquaponics is the combination of aquaculture, raising fish and hydroponics, cultivating plants in water. This sustainable living system is a very resilient and fun method of growing food for personal use or commercial applications. Students spend time in a classroom and tour a residential working aquaponic system and learn about the aquaponic system being designed and built at Western State Colorado University. The course reviews theory, system design, materials and requirements, aquatic species and ongoing care and maintenance. No refund after 10/13/2012.
BASICS OF FOOD PRESERVATION*
Beth Coop, Rose Tocke
27359, CEU 1, $80
Date: 9/27/12, 9/29/2012-9/30/2012
Day: Thursday, Saturday, Sunday
Time: Thursday 6:00PM-8:00PM, Saturday 9:30AM-5:00PM, Sunday 12:00PM-5:00PM
Location: Thursday Kelley 118; Saturday and Sunday TBD
This session covers the principles of safe food handling and basic techniques for home food preservation. Students learn how to plan and prepare for canning projects and get hands-on experience canning and dehydrating fruits and vegetables that are in season such as peaches, apples, tomatoes, and peppers. Students make jams, salsas and sauces using mostly organic ingredients. There is also an emphasis on minimizing food waste and reducing resource consumption during the preservation process, as well as learning how to source foods locally. Each student can expect to leave with 4-5 items preserved by the class and a belly full of food. No refunds after 9/22/2012.
GREEN HOUSE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION*
Dusty Szymanski
27369, CEU 1, $30
Date: 10/06/2012
Day: Saturday
Time: 2:00PM-5:00PM
Location: Straw and Timber Craftsmen, 115 S Colorado St.
Do you enjoy gardening in the Gunnison area? Familiar with all the challenges of growing our own food in this cold climate? Come learn about greenhouses, hoop houses, and cold frames. Learn how to extend your growing season. Class discusses how to extend gardening by a few weeks, how to achieve year round greenhouse growing, and everything in between. Discussion includes passive and active climate batteries, permaculture concepts, design guidelines, heating, cooling, and material use. No refunds after 9/25/2012.
RESPONDING TO SITE & MATERIAL: SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH RE-USE FOR VISUAL ARTISTS, PERFORMING ARTISTS, MUSICIANS, POETS, WRITERS AND OTHERS*
Julie Wills
27371, CEU 1, $80
Date: 9/22/2012-9/23/2012
Day: Saturday, Sunday
Time: Saturday 9:00AM-4:00PM, Sunday 10:00AM-2:00PM
Location: Taylor 105
Sustainability acknowledges the pre-existing characteristics of any place or context, whether environmental, historic, or materials for builders, architects, planners or others. This means working sensitively with existing natural and built features, rather than scraping a site for a ‘blank canvas.’ Creative artists can also benefit from this approach, acknowledging and responding to rich contextual information already present in every place and material. Through a series of guided written, brainstorming and hands-on exercises, each course participant selects and responds to a particular site and combination of materials of their own choosing, and can document the temporal finished work. On-site activities take place at the Coldharbour Sustainable Living Center east of Gunnison, a rural site on Tomichi Creek with a wide range of natural and historic features and available materials. Each participant works through and receives feedback on their own work, whether physically created in the landscape or otherwise responding to that particular site and its offerings. All skill levels and backgrounds are welcome, from the newly curious to the working professional artist. Participants may enter the workshop with a particular mode of working (i.e., sculpture, music, poetry) in mind, but this is not necessary. Your curiosity is all that is required! No refunds after 9/14/2012.
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE & SMALL FARM DIVERSITY: ANIMALS, CROPS & EDUCATION*
Mark Waltermire
27347, CEU: 1, $80
Date: 10/05/2012-10/07/2012
Day: Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Time: Friday 5:00PM-8:00PM, Saturday 8:00AM-6:00PM, Sunday 8:00AM-3:00PM
Location: Thistle Whistle Farm, Hotchkiss, CO
Learn how small diversified farms go through the process of managing soil, water, crops and animals while trying to sustain the people who live and work on them, the systems on which the farm depends, and those who consume the products of the farm. Explore crop and variety choices, soil health and soil-building ideas, and irrigation technologies appropriate to the economics of a small farm. The class is held on a small, diverse farm, with participation in farm activities, including harvesting, planting, crop tending, bee keeping, and goat milking and cheese making, along with classroom lecture and discussion time focused on concrete practices that aspire to make small-scale farming possible and sustainable. Travel not included. No refunds after 9/28/2012.
SUSTAINABLE BUILDING DESIGN*
Maya Silver, Bart Laemmel, Paul Tame
27351, ENVS 397, Credit: 2, $200 + $270 course fee
27341, CEU: 2, $270
Date: 9/05/2012-11/07/2012
Day: Wednesday + one Saturday field trip, date to be determined
Time: 6:00PM-9:00PM
Location: Kelley 129
Grading: A-F
Whether you're looking to join the growing green building industry, gain a background in sustainable design or build yourself a net-zero cabin, this course is the gateway to the wonderful world of the green built environment. Students gain an overview of what it takes to build green through a variety of snapshot modules on energy/water efficiency, cold climate construction, natural building, renewable systems and working with codes and certification programs. Students not only learn to build green, but to learn to build better.
Continuing Education Units (CEUs)
The Continuing Education Unit (CEU) is a nationally recognized method of quantifying the time spent in the classroom during professional development and training activities. Ten hours of instruction = 1.0 CEU. One hour of instruction = 0.1 CEU. CEUs appear on your Western State Colorado University transcript; however, they are not college credits and do not fulfill degree requirements.
