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Free Course Explores Sense of Place

By Jenny Bjelland
UW-RF News Bureau

FEB. 18, 2005--The outreach and graduate studies office at UW-River Falls will be offering a new free, noncredit course this spring, "Discovering a Sense of Place."

The course aims to help participants understand the concept of place through a "bioregional" perspective. Participants will explore a personal sense of identity through an examination of the cultural and environmental aspects of where they live. Participants will also investigate what it means to develop and foster stewardship and an awareness of place.

Topics covered include what constitutes a sense of place; intimacy and stewardship of place; learning about an area's bioregion; living, mapping and building a sense of place; and empowerment in protecting place.

The methods and materials used in this course were developed by the Northwest Earth Institute, an organization dedicated to bringing earth-centered conversation into workplaces, neighborhoods, faith centers, and homes. The class is organized as a facilitated reading and discussion course in which group members are encouraged to take turns sharing opinions and leading weekly discussions.

The course is sponsored by the UW-RF College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences Outreach program and will be offered on Thursday evenings from 6 to 7:30 p.m. beginning March 10 and concluding April 28. Classes will meet in the board room at the River Falls Public Library located on the corner of Main and Union streets in River Falls, Wis.

Registration forms and more information are available online at http://www.uwrf.edu/ogs. Registrations can be submitted online, by phone 715/425-3256 or 800/228-5607, by fax to 715/425-0624, or in person or by mail at the OGS office in the Regional Development Institute, UW-RF, 410 S. Third Street, River Falls, Wis. 54022. Class size for this course is limited. Registration will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information on the course contact Kristen Allen, UW-RF College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences outreach program manager, at 715/425-3751 or by email at kristen.allen@uwrf.edu.

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