In Natural History of the Maine Coast, Literature and the Land, and Ethics: Understanding and Choice, students grapple with life’s central questions. What is our relationship to the natural world around us? How
do I make decisions about how to live my life? What is good work? What are my responsibilities to human and natural communities? Sharing these academic experiences provides students with fodder for discussions inside and outside the classroom.

All students enroll in Natural History of the Maine Coast and then choose one of the two English courses.

Natural History of the Maine Coast

This course examines the evolution and diversity of life along the Maine Coast, but it does so in an unusually exciting and rewarding way. Rather than rely exclusively on the lectures, textbooks, and labs of a traditional science classroom, we open the door at the Maine Coast Semester and go exploring.

Each week we spend approximately four hours in the field, complementing our work in the classroom by visiting rocky intertidal zones, sandy shores, salt marshes, freshwater marshes, ponds, streams, bogs,
and forests. Studying community and systems ecology at each site, we gain a thorough understanding of the natural history of the Maine Coast. We also develop an appreciation for the beauty, complexity, and interconnectedness of natural surroundings that are too often taken for granted.

Literature and the Land

This course presents an opportunity to read and then reflect on, speak about, and write on a variety of topics. What is nature? What is the distinction between nature and wilderness? Where do people fit into the natural world? What are our rights? What are our responsibilities? What part does an individual’s or community’s sense of place play in shaping a
relationship with the land? What are some of the cultural, historical, and religious traditions that have shaped American views of land; how should
these attitudes change in the interest of the earth’s future?

We also consider the role of “environmental literature”: why writers write about nature, and to what degree this writing molds our vision of the natural world. Finally, we reflect on more personal and
immediate topics. What is my personal story? What is happening here at Maine Coast Semester and how does my personal experience relate to
larger issues?

Ethics: Understanding and Choice

We often hear in the news, or ourselves are confronted with situations in which we scratch our heads in determining the right thing to do, or
whether someone should be blamed, punished, or praised for doing (or not doing) something. This course gives students some tools with which to approach and weigh difficult choices.

After a brief foray through three traditional ethical theories, we take a careful look at some of the most challenging contemporary choices in today’s society. Through examination of issues such as capital
punishment, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, reproductive technologies, genetic engineering, human uses of animals, and other
moral questions, we develop ways of talking and thinking about difficult moral choices. These issues are of interest in their own right, but they also help us learn how to recognize and approach important choices in our own daily lives.