Writing Rivers
Writing Rivers In this class we will read and write about rivers, as well as streams, brooks, and creeks, considering the ecology of rivers, rivers as metaphors, rivers in literature, and rivers in our lives. Our readings will come from: the writings of scientists such as Kurt Fausch’s For the Love of River; works of philosophers such as Kathleen Dean Moore’s Riverwalking; and novels such as Norman Maclean’s A River Runs Through It. As part of the class, we will take regular field trips to rivers and streams in the Middlebury area, especially in the nearby Green Mountain National Forest.
Professor Dickerson is very passionate about the nature and rivers. He led interesting field trips on most Tuesday labs and once bought Lulu ice-cream for us in Vergennes. In classes he often invited the writers of the books we read to give chalk talks. Gradings are based on discussions and writing. Although the structure constantly changed and was not very organized, it was still a really fun FYS.
Professor Dickerson is very passionate about the nature and rivers. He led interesting field trips on most Tuesday labs and once bought Lulu ice-cream for us in Vergennes. In classes he often invited the writers of the books we read to give chalk talks. Gradings are based on discussions and writing. Although the structure constantly …Read more
I had a great experience in this class. We went on weekly field trips to local rivers, streams, and brooks, making the most of Middlebury's rural setting. Professor Dickerson's enthusiasm for writing and rivers helped my writing and storytelling skills improve.
Professor Dickerson was very fair in his grading although he wasn't always the most clear in assigning work and teaching. I really enjoyed some of the novels we read and thought there were useful writing tools that I learned. Keep in mind that this FYS has a lab, one of the only ones with a lab, this was maybe a part that I'm not sure I liked because even though the labs were nature walks and journaling it was a huge chunk of time (1:30-4:15) that we were in class.
Professor Dickerson was very fair in his grading although he wasn't always the most clear in assigning work and teaching. I really enjoyed some of the novels we read and thought there were useful writing tools that I learned. Keep in mind that this FYS has a lab, one of the only ones with a lab, this was maybe a part that I'm not sur …Read more
Professor Dickerson was very passionate about rivers and new a great amount about them. He cared for his students greatly and was accommodating to needs. The class was discussion based on different river based readings and there was 3 papers self narrative style.
Professor Dickerson was extremely passionate about the course material and often shared his enthusiasm with the class in unique ways. Much of our time was spent outside exploring local rivers and streams and writing our observations; on one occasion we even went on an excursion to get ice cream. The class and the writing assignments were loosely structured, but grading was more than fair and we never had any exams.
Professor Dickerson was extremely passionate about the course material and often shared his enthusiasm with the class in unique ways. Much of our time was spent outside exploring local rivers and streams and writing our observations; on one occasion we even went on an excursion to get ice cream. The class and the writing assignments …Read more
Professor Dickerson is really passionate about rivers but his teaching style was not engaging and didn't follow a clear structure. He deviated from the syllabus frequently without updating which made the class fairly disorganized.