Learning from the land

This summer IU will offer students a unique opportunity to rediscover the connection between their own lives and the source of all life -- the earth. While one might call it a religious experience, and others might describe it as a process of relearning common sense, IU's Permaculture class has broadened the perspectives of dozens of students and will provide an opportunity for dozens more to participate this summer. Camping for the entire two-week class period, the Permaculture Experience provides an opportunity for students to learn from the land.\nPermaculture is a philosophy, a design system and a way of living in a sustainable way. It teaches people how to decode the patterns found in nature and replicate them efficiently and effectively in the complex system that is our interconnected world. Permaculture can be applied in the city, on a farm or in the wilderness. It fuses many disciplines, including agriculture, anthropology and economics, as it draws wisdom from diverse traditions, ancient and modern alike. The foundation of this concept is as old as the earth, but it was first introduced to the environmental movement in the 1970s by David Holmgren and Bill Mollison. \nMollison and Holmgren, two Australian ecologists, had become disillusioned activists as they watched their homelands get destroyed despite their countless efforts to preserve it. Permaculture is a response to their feelings of powerlessness and a practical solution for others who experience the same frustrations. Instead of giving up, they created a system that empowers individuals to change the world, regardless of whether they are being ignored by decision makers. Permaculture doesn't provide the answer to the question, "What should we do?" Instead, it offers students a framework with which they become able to answer that question themselves. \nDavid Haberman, the IU Permaculture instructor, was originally inspired to make the course accessible to IU students after taking a Permaculture class. \n"After that experience, I thought this is exactly what students in a major university should be thinking about," he said, "because it provides beneficial tools to deal with the situations they will be facing in their lifetimes."\nTwo years ago, Haberman turned his vision into a reality as the first Permaculture class was offered through IU. He brought in the two Permaculture experts with whom he studied, Keith Johnson and Peter Bane, who both live and work at Earthaven ecovillage in North Carolina. He found a location to offer the course, at the Lazy Black Bear Lodge, home to longtime friends Linda Lee and Andy Mahler. Located in the middle of the Hoosier National Forest, the Lazy Black Bear is a site Haberman describes as one of the most beautiful places in southern Indiana. The course has since been offered twice and will continue to be offered every summer. The instructors all hope that Permaculture alumni will eventually become an intricately layered network of Permaculturalists who are able to fuse their individual endeavors into a collaborative effort to transform the world. This was certainly the case for Permaculture alumna Kristen Becher. \n"This course allowed me to engage my creativity with a group of students to envision a habitable world we can co-create in a sustainable and productive way," she said.\nMany alumni have said that the Permaculture Experience, which is only two weeks long, is one of the most intense classes they have ever taken. The intense nature of the course is partly due to its structure. Instead of a stuffy classroom with florescent lights and a monotone professor, classes are held in a rustic barn with engaging discussion. In fact, the land is the primary classroom.\n"This is the first class I have ever had where I could literally dig my hands into the dirt," said Kitty Kaler a senior majoring in social environmental justice. \nA typical day at the Lazy Black Bear Lodge includes classes, impromptu adventures, music making and more. Most nights students share late night discussions around a campfire or silent reflection under the full moonlight. In fact, other than the barn where some classes are held, Permaculture students do not go indoors for the entire two-week class. \n"I've never loved being outdoors so much," said Daniel Cappy, a senior majoring in criminal justice. "I've never been outdoors for two weeks before. During this class, I remembered what it meant to be from the Earth."\nWhile all of these features make this class unique, for Permaculture student Kaler, it is the message and the subject matter that really make this class stand out from the typical college courses offered at IU.\n"Most of my classes at IU teach students about the world's problems," Kaler said. "This class is the first one that is completely focused on solutions." \nPermaculture students do not just talk about solutions, they learn how to implement them. The process of transforming ideas to action begins as students shift their perspective. \n"Permaculture radically changed my perspective of the world," said senior Kristen Becher, who is a double major in religious studies and ecospirituality. "I began to look at urban spaces as a world of possibilities instead of a world of problems." \nHands-on action follows as students implement what they have learned. Permaculture alumni's Danny Atlas and Justin Peterson are currently working on a project to install a garden outside of Collins Living-Learning Center this spring. Similarly, Kate Mobley said she hopes to incorporate what she has learned from Permaculture into her new position with Bloomington's City Commission on Sustainability.\nThe Permaculture class will be offered during IU's second summer session from June 19 to July 3. The class is three credit hours and students receive Permaculture certification upon completion of the course. Applications are available on the Web at www.indiana.edu/~llc/permaculture.shtml. An information session is scheduled for interested students at 5 p.m. Feb. 23 in the Collins LLC Coffeehouse. Interested students can also contact David Haberman, at dhaberma@indiana.edu for more information.\n-- Contact Staff Writer Vanessa Caruso at vcaruso@indiana.edu.