Proposal for Learning Residence
Gordon College
Nathan Josephs
Nate Mori
Advisor: Rich
Obenschain
Intent and Purpose
We, Nathaniel Mori and Nathan
Josephs, are proposing to spend the fall semester 2012 living together in a
tent on the property of Gordon College. We will sleep, cook, and spend many of
our non-academic hours at our tent site. Our hope is that we can work with the
Gordon College administration to create an educational experience that is
beneficial for us as individuals and for the larger college community.
The purpose for our endeavor is
twofold: to learn about ourselves and our world with respect to living simply
and close to nature, and to engage and educate our community to the same
effect. Both of us were students of the Wilderness Immersion and Leadership
Development (W.I.L.D.) Semester. During that semester we learned academically
and experientially the power of solitude, reflection, engagement with nature,
intentionality, and simplicity. We hope to be able to apply the ideas and
concepts we learned during the W.I.L.D. semester to our living situation. The
experience will help us hone our understanding of what is practical and what,
for us, constitutes a meaningful lifestyle.
Learning Components
Personal
We plan to include two components in our personal learning
experience. The first is learning through reading works by thinkers who
espoused a similar lifestyle. The second is to try to apply some of their ideas
through creative reflection, conversation, and experimentation. We hope that
the process will enlighten us as to what is possible and practical in our new
living situation.
Some of the authors we plan on reading are Henry David
Thoreau, John Muir, Wendell Berry, and Richard Foster. There are many common
themes expressed by these thinkers, including: simplicity, connection with
place, thorough enjoyment of nature, reflection on experience, and spiritual
awakening incited by a simple, natural lifestyle.
Since we have acquired many essential outdoor skills on the
W.I.L.D. semester, we are in a place to implement new ideas that build upon the
base we have already created. Along with
honing our camping skills, we will be able to expand upon, explore and
implement our sustainable living skills. We will have the opportunity to
examine our environmental impact since we will be removed from convenient
garbage disposal and water supply. The distance and difficulty for acquisition
of resources will cause us to be acutely aware of our impactful actions.
Community
In addition to personal benefits, we anticipate several
benefits to the Gordon Community, both in our outdoor education community as
well as in the general student body. We hope to engage Gordon’s faculty, staff,
and students through several venues:
Small Group Discussion
Series. We hope to engage the Gordon Community in a series of faculty and
staff discussions on the benefits of sustainability, economy, and nature. Professors
from a variety of departments will be invited to share on topics including, but
not limited to; outdoor education, biology, economics and art. The series will
be advertised to the Gordon Community, but attendance will be by reservation
only (in order to keep the group size around twelve for minimal impact). The
‘lectures’ will be formatted according to what the presenter wants to share,
but we would suggest a half hour of presentation time followed by a half-hour
discussion.
Blog. In order to
share with a larger audience at Gordon and beyond, we will keep a blog
detailing our daily life and discoveries. It will consist of thoughtful
reflections on our endeavor along with reports of atypical events that arise
from living outside.
Discovery. We are
working with Rich Obenschain of the Outdoor Education department to create a
short presentation for discovery students. We will present how it is possible
to live comfortably and enjoyably with fewer amenities. Our experience will
allow us to provide concrete examples that will give students an idea of what
is possible in regards to simple living.
W.I.L.D Semester. As
alumni of the W.I.L.D. semester, we will be able to share with the current
W.I.L.D. students what lessons we have been able to apply during our experience.
We will work with David Starbuck, the director of the W.I.L.D. semester, to
create a presentation that demonstrates the valuable lessons to be learned from
direct experience with nature.
Risk, Safety and Responsibility
Risks
The risks associated with camping are minimal. We anticipate
that we will receive objections based on sanitation, fire, and temperature
(cold). We are both Leave No Trace (LNT) trainers. Two of the key aspects of
LNT are sanitation and proper fire control. We do not plan on building wood
fires except maybe in a fire pan (which we understand is legal) when hosting the
lecture series. For sanitation we intend to have little to no solid waste in
the woods, but if we do, we understand how to properly dispose of it with minimal
environmental impact by digging cat holes in accordance with LNT guidelines.
The final concern (cold conditions) is not an issue for us. Since this venture
is relegated to the fall semester, we do not anticipate cold weather beyond
that which we are prepared for. We both have sleeping bags rated for
comfortable sleeping at temperatures down to 0°F. According to
weatherbase.com, the coldest recorded temperature for November is 10°F
with an average of .3 days below 0°F for the month of December. With our
equipment and experience in winter backpacking the danger of suffering
hypothermia due to the cold is little to none.
Safety Precautions
Personal: We believe
that we will be safer during this semester than many Gordon College students. It
is arguable that our venture carries far less risk than most of Gordon’s study
abroad programs. Living relatively removed from highly populated areas will
reduce our risk of human caused harm. In addition, we will be spending time
outside, which will necessitate a certain degree of healthy activity and
exercise. Moreover, being outside will likely reduce the number of diseases we
contract because we will not be living in close quarters with a large group of
germ-carrying individuals (as is the situation in residence halls).
Food: In order to
keep our food from being eaten by animals, we will keep our food in animal
proof containers. From our previous camping experience we know well how to cook
and eat to reduce animal attraction and habituation. We will employ all of the
techniques we have accrued to minimize or eliminate the impact our foreign food
would have on the wild animals.
Belongings: Since
we will not pack up camp during the day, we will leave our cloths, sleeping and
cooking gear at the site. In order to prevent theft, we will store any valuable
belongings in a locked chest (one that is designed for the beds of pickup
trucks). We will not hold Gordon College responsible in any way for theft
resulting from our inhabiting the woods.
Location: The desired
site is in the woods to the north of the Brigham Athletic Field track. It is
secluded, out of the way of traffic, and out of sight from any road or walkway.
Responsibility
We understand that there are two questions to be raised with
regard to responsibility.
1. 1. Who is responsible if something goes wrong?
We are responsible if something
goes wrong. As demonstrated, we understand the risks involved and take full
responsibility for loss or damage of personal property as well as unforeseeable
accidents that may occur. If necessary we would like to work with the college
to create a legally binding document to this effect.
2. 2. Who is responsible to make sure things go right?
Again, we would like to take full
responsibility to monitor and hold each other to a high ethical and moral
standard. It is our constant endeavor to act rightly in all situations. This
includes following Gordon’s standards of conduct. However, if it is seen as
necessary we are willing to have a faculty or staff member regularly check in
with us to make sure we are following the agreed-to standards.
