Each year, the Center offers a series of living laboratory courses on current applications in regenerative studies (RS 414/414L). These courses emphasize "hands on" application of regenerative principles and practices, and topics will change quarterly. RS 414/414L course numbers can be repeated for a total of 12 units. Contact the program advisor for more information.
Living laboratory courses for 2011-12 include:
Fall, 2010
RS 414/414L: 4 units. Current Applications in Regenerative Studies: Social Justice in a Regenerative Society. Dr. Susan Mulley, Instructor
The framing question of this course is: “What responsibility do I, as an individual, have for improving social and environmental justice within our society?” Further, as a future graduate of a specific academic or professional program at Cal Poly Pomona, what actions are possible within the scope of my career? What is my wider mandate as an individual within a civil society? This course will examine issues of social justice through lectures, readings, field trips, discussions and action. We will examine precedents for action from various fields, and discuss how those precedents were created, formalized and implemented. Students will identify an area of concern appropriate to their academic field and will create an implementable program/design/response during the 10 week course.
Winter, 2011
RS 414/414L: Current Applications in Regenerative Studies: Solar Energy Systems. 4 units. Don Serio, Instructor
Analysis of solar technologies applied to heat, power generation and associated loss mechanisms. Lecture examines fundamental theories that form the basis of light from the sun, and how this energy stream is appropriated for human usage. Lectures strive to exemplify principals that must be applied and verified in lab. The lab component utilizes projects that must be designed and built by the student to test theory. Recommended prerequisite: Beginning trigonometry
Spring, 2011
RS 414/414L: Current Applications in Regenerative Studies: Biomethane as an Energy Source. 4 units. Phil Wolf, Instructor
Natural gas is a fossil fuel. But natural gas can also be obtained from non-fossil sources, such a landfills and anaerobic digesters on farms and at sewage treatment plants. This course looks at both fossil and non-fossil sources of natural gas; at designs that recover natural gas from landfills and from organic wastes; and at how biogas production can be integrated into a larger regenerative strategy. The course includes field trips to a conventional natural-gas fueled power plant, a sewage treatment plant, and to a farm-based anaerobic digester, as well as lab work building and investigating the energy recovery and gas production from a lab-scale anaerobic digester.
RS 400. Directed Study in Regenerative Practices. 2-4 units.
Individual study by the student on a subject agreed upon by student and advisor. Total credit limited to 4 units, with a maximum of 2 units per quarter. Prerequisites: RS 301 and 302 or permission of instructor. Approval of study proposal must be granted before enrollment. Contact the program advisor for more information.
RS 465. Ecological Patterns and Processes. 4 units.
This course introduces students to principles in the emerging field of landscape ecology, and their relationship to planning and design decisions upon the land. Students will learn about the intellectual roots of this approach to understanding landscape patterns and processes, the fundamental vocabulary and key concepts within the field, and their relationship towards the goal of increased environmental sustainability.
RS 499/499L. Special Topics in Regenerative Practices. 2-4 units.
Exploration of topics of current interest related to regenerative practices or technologies or their roles in society. May include lectures, seminars and/or laboratories on a schedule to be determined by the instructor. Total credit limited to 8 units, with a maximum of 4 units per quarter. Prerequisite RS 301 or RS 311 or permission of instructor.
