a liberal arts college of human ecology on the maine coast "If Plato were to return and take a professorship, I'd bet my copy of The Republic that he would settle in to teach at College of the Atlantic." > colman mccarthy THE WASHINGTON POST of the Atlantic life changing world changing 2004-2005 mission statement WARENUARDING THE HENDAGE 1016 UNTURE CLENERATIONS The faculty, students, trustees, staff, and alumni of College of the Atlantic envision a world where people value creativity, intellectual achievement, and the diversity of nature and human cultures. With respect and compassion, individuals will construct meaningful lives for themselves, gain appreciation for the relationships among all forms of life, and safeguard the heritage of future generations. College of the Atlantic enriches the liberal arts tradition through a distinctive educational philosophy-human ecology. A human ecological perspective integrates knowledge from all academic disciplines and from personal experience to investigate, and ultimately improve, the relationships between human beings and our social and natural communities. The human ecological perspective guides all aspects of education, research, activism, and interactions among the College's students, faculty, staff and trustees. The College of the Atlantic community encourages, prepares, and expects students to gain the expertise, breadth, values, and practical experience necessary to achieve fulfillment and to help solve problems that challenge communities everywhere. welcome You may be holding just a viewbook in your hands, a brochure that is cool to the touch and flat in nature. But as you flip through these pages, we hope that your mind will begin to churn with possibilities. This book is a collection of thoughts and images reflecting the experiences available to the COA com- munity. Whether tackling the frets of a guitar, quietly stalking birds, solving a physics problem, writing a paper, or canoeing down a creek while studying rivers, imagine yourself here, in the intellectually rich and environ- mentally stunning working and living spaces of COA. contents COA History and Philosophy 3 Academic Life 7 Curriculum 11 Academic Facilities and Special Programs 17 Degree Requirements 25 Between Classes 26 After COA 35 Admission and Financial Aid 37 nathaniel keller, 04 hometown Charlottesville, Virginia high school Charlottesville High School > life after COA Travel on a Watson Fellowship: "On and Off the Pitch: the International Language of Soccer" in Croatia, England, Argentina, and Brazil. Following this year of travel, my plans are to study environmental law and land use planning. > internship I interned with Virginia's Piedmont Environmental Council in 2001, investigating land use change in a rapidly growing county. > classes taken > senior project at COA My senior project is "Mixing it Up: Cross Cultural Reflections on Space." Advanced Composition In November of 2003 I returned to Virginia to research the role of public space in my hometown. I began to construct a narrative examining Advanced Watershed Planning how public and private space in places like Charlottesville, Virginia; Agriculture and Biotechnology Cambridge, Massachusetts; Ames, lowa; and Bar Harbor, Maine have Art of the Puppet informed my values and beliefs. Articulated Identities Classic Shorts International "Attending COA has been Comparative Colonialism a life changing experience in the Americas because of the people COA Conservation Biology attracts and the opportunities it Contemporary Art provides. The experiential learn- Cultural Landscapes ing that takes place here is as of the United States valuable as the learning that Environmental History takes place in the classroom. Environmental Justice Sophomore year I took Ken Cline's Human Ecology of Wilder- and Social Welfare ness, which began with a weeklong canoe trip along the Allagash Environmental Law and Policy Wilderness Waterway. Throughout the week we discussed and Ethnographic Research Methods I debated the qualities of wilderness, whether cooking a campfire Field Ecology and Data Analysis dinner or paddling. My friend Sam and I swam out into frigid Government & Politics: United States Churchill Lake and a loon dove after a fish within an arm's length History of the American of us. Conservation Movement "I have made amazing friends at COA. For four years have Human Ecology Core Course debated world affairs with students from Israel, Tibet, Ethiopia, Introduction to Arts and Design Denmark, Nepal, Sudan, and Argentina. Economics, land use, Issues in National Park Planning politics, and globalization are not just areas of study but something Land Use Planning we all participate in together. Marine Policy "I investigated land use in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I observed People and Public Space squatter children playing in the space between the huts and shacks. The Effects of Development watched the 2002 World Cup from a on the Malaysian Landscape houseboat in Tama Negra National Park The Human Ecology of Wilderness with Malay cooks and river guides, all the Understanding 21st time beginning to realize that the global- Century Economies ization I studied at COA was personal- Use and Abuse of our Public Lands was watching ESPN on a river in one of Writing Seminar the most beautiful places in the world.' This is a college with a mission: training students to understand co-educational college in the liberal arts tradition. It would intro- the relationships between humans and our environment. Even duce a new interdisciplinary approach to education. At its center more important, this college expects its students and graduates to would be Human Ecology. help solve the urgent problems confronting our natural and social