This Semester's Classes

I am really enjoying my courses here! I am taking two Indigenous Studies courses. One focuses on politics and contemporary issues, including the historical context. I am beginning to see many patterns of interaction between settlers and the Aboriginal people, and the settlers in the United States and the Native Americans. I am excited to see what new perspective these classes will give me on Native American relations. My other Indigenous Studies course is a higher level course called Country, Nature and Identity: Sustainability. So far we have done a lot of deeper, philosophical thinking about what these words mean. The past two weeks have been a discussion of the social construct of wilderness and how that word has shaped interactions between settlers and the Aboriginal people who come from a belief in Country, in which humans and nature live in deep connection with one another.

The focus on nature and sustainability in those courses coincides interestingly with my Nature-Based Tourism class. As we learn about tourism in natural areas, I cannot help but put it within the context of wilderness or Country and thinking about the way that humans interact with nature. It is giving me a new perspective, which I can really appreciate due to my personal love of nature and the large amount of nature tourism my family has done throughout my life.

Today we went on a field trip to Penguin Island to look at the management and implementation of ecotourism planning. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain all afternoon, but we still got to see penguins as well as other wildlife. Before our tour, we spoke with a ranger and he talked to us about how tourism and the environment coincide in a conservation facility like Penguin Island. We got to see 10 penguins during their feeding in the indoor 'Penguin Experience' while their keeper talked about them. Then we went on a cruise in a glass bottomed boat which took us around to see some small shag islands that are nesting areas for many different species of birds, especially the pelican. There was even a sea lion resting on the beach and dolphins swimming alongside the boat!