Harvest: Quyurciq examines the Alaska Native harvest of sea otters and, by extension, broader topics of environmental management, Native science, and Indigenous sovereignty. We will view and thoroughly discuss various topics and subjects of a documentary film, Harvest: Quyurciq. The course content is particularly suitable for students studying environmental science, marine biology, Indigenous studies, and United States history. That said, Indigenous education is traditionally holistic and interdisciplinary, and the curriculum also includes elements of mathematics, art, and law.
Lessons include contextual information about the specific topics and subtopics explored; such as environmental racism, an identification of the lesson’s learning objectives; preliminary reading material; and in-class exercises. Analysis of the film is paired with additional audio, video, and text media to investigate the curriculum’s key inquiries.
This course is part of the project, Far Away yet So Very Close: Embodiment of Culinary Wisdom and Storytelling, which the Visual Arts faculty member, Yoko Inoue, collaborates with diverse scholars, artists, activists, collectives and practitioners to coalesce and develop Critical Kitchen Pedagogy for in-situ learning.
This class will meet asynchronously, Wednesdays, 12:30-2:00pm and Sundays, 3:00pm-5:00pm.
Learning Outcomes:
Students should be ready to learn through workshops, field research and discussions.
- Identify foundational events and historical texts that set the tone for colonial attitudes, practices, and policy toward Native Americans. Recognize contemporary manifestations of colonial mentality and policy.
- Resolve polarizing differences of perspective in order to come to consensus and build a common memory.
- Understand the effect that contemporary marine mammal legislation has on Alaska Natives’ self-determination, their relationship with their ancestral home, and the species which comprise it.
- Understand some of the fundamental differences between Western and Indigenous approaches to science and environmental management
- Identify some of the most prominent ways in which anthropogenic climate change affects marine ecosystems.
- Counteract widely perpetuated stereotypes and falsehoods about and against Indigenous people and marine mammal harvest.
Delivery Method: Fully in-person
Prerequisites: A paragraph indicating interest in narrative from the BIPOC perspectives to yinoue@bennington.edu. Please describe how it applies to your research and/or creative work and experience.
Course Level: 4000-level
Credits: 2
W 12:30PM-2:00PM, Su 3:00PM-5:00PM (2nd seven weeks)
Maximum Enrollment: 8
Course Frequency: One time only
Categories: 4000 , All courses , Environment , Fully In-Person , Second Seven Week , Two Credit , Updates , Visual Arts (VA)
Tags: activism , climate change , collective thinking , collectivism , community , cooking , environmental racism , food , healing , indigenous values , land , relationship building , responsibility , social justice , Storytelling