First Year Seminar 191CNS2 - FYS- Topics in CNS

First-year (R1ST) Course Title: Secret Life of Your Pet Rock
How do we uncover the secrets of Earth?s deep past? And how can such ancient history inform our future? The answers to these questions can be found within rocks. At first glance, most rocks may seem simple to understand. But every rock, just like every person, has a story to tell; we just have to listen. In this course, you will adopt and care for your own pet rock, and together we will learn how to think like geologists to translate your rock?s hidden secrets into the geologic story buried deep beneath UMass Amherst?s campus ? one that?s over 500 million years in the making! Our rocks will teach us about landscape evolution, climate change, human history, and even how to care for ourselves and adapt to the changing world around us. We?ll explore different ways of knowing the natural world, interrogate traditional methods of Western science, and consider how our own experiences and identities as humans can transform these hidden natural histories into something bigger than ourselves. You?ll also build skills to help you succeed in your first semester and beyond at UMass Amherst.