The undergraduate course, Environmental Psychology at Rocky Mountain National Park, examines human relationships with the rest of the natural world. Two main themes organize the course's content: (a) the meanings people find in nature and corresponding evidence of nature's psychological importance, and (b) psychology's potential to help address global environmental problems. Course assignments are designed to stimulate and support students' academic and experiential learning, and the course's off-campus location at a national park enriches student experience by dramatically highlighting certain environmental issues and by affording opportunities for daily interaction with sublime nature. The course is an interdisciplinary mixture of psychology and environmental studies and contributes to the curriculum in both departments.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BermanM. G., JonidesJ., KaplanS.2008. The cognitive benefits of interacting with nature. Psychological Science, 19:1207–1212.
2.
BurnsG. W.2005. Naturally happy, naturally healthy: The role of the natural environment in well-being. HappertF. A., BaylisN., KeverneB.The science of well-being, 405–431. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
3.
ClaytonS.2003. Environmental identity: A conceptual and an operational definition. ClaytonS., OpotowS.Identity and the natural environment, 45–65. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
4.
ClaytonS., MyersG.2009. Conservation psychology: Understanding and promoting human care for nature. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.
5.
Connor-GreeneP. A.2005. Fostering meaningful classroom discussion: Student-generated questions, quotations, and talking points. Teaching of Psychology, 32:173–175.
6.
De YoungR.2010. Restoring mental vitality in an endangered world: Reflections on the benefits of walking. Ecopsychology, 2:13–22.
7.
DunlapR. E., Van LiereK. D., MertigA. G., JonesR. E.2000. Measuring endorsement of the new ecological paradigm: A revised NEP Scale. Journal of Social Issues, 56:425–442.
8.
GardnerG. T., SternP. C.2002. Environmental problems and human behavior, 2nd. Boston, MA: Pearson Learning Solutions.
9.
GoodallJ.1990. Through a window: My thirty years with the chimpanzees of Gombe. London: Phoenix Giant.
10.
GruchowP.1995. Grass roots: The universe of home. Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions.
11.
HindsJ., SparksP.2009. Investigating environmental identity, well-being, and meaning. Ecopsychology, 1:181–186.
12.
HowardG. S.1997. Ecological psychology: Creating a more earth-friendly human nature. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre DamePress.
13.
JohnsenS. A. K.2011. The use of nature for emotion regulation: Toward a conceptual framework. Ecopsychology, 3:175–185.
14.
KaneD. B., RostenI., SkinnerT.1980. National parks, playground or paradise?[Video recording]National Geographic Society.
15.
KaplanS., TalbotJ.F.1983. Psychological benefits of a wilderness experience. AltmanI., WholwillJ.F.Behavior and the Natural Environment, 163–203. New York: Plenum Press.
16.
KellertS. R.1997. Kinship to mastery: Biophilia in human evolution and development. Washington, DC: Island Press.
17.
KogerS. M., WinterD. D.2010. The psychology of environmental problems: Psychology for sustainability, 3rd. East Sussex, UK: Psychology Press.
18.
LouvR.2008. Last child in the woods: Saving our children from nature-deficit disorder. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books.
19.
LowryW. R.1994. The capacity for wonder: Preserving national parks. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
20.
LowryW. R.2009. The restoration of the nature in America's national parks. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.
McKeachieW. J.2002. Teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers, 11th. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.
23.
MelsonG. F.2001. Why the wild things are: Animals in the lives of children. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
24.
MyersG.2006. The significance of children and animals: Social development and our connections to other species, 2nd. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press.
25.
National Geographic Society (Producer). 1998. Jane Goodall: My life with the chimpanzees[Video recording].
26.
NashR.2001. Wilderness and the American mind. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press(Original work published 1967)
PriceJ.1995. Looking for nature at the mall: A field guide to the Nature Company. CronenW.Uncommon ground: Toward reinventing nature, 186–203. New York: WW Norton & Co.
29.
RoszakT.l995. Where psyche meets Gaia. RoszakT., GomesM. E., KannerA. D.Ecopsychology: Restoring the earth, healing the mind, 1–17. San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books.
30.
SaxJ.1980. Mountains without handrails: Reflections on the national parks. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
31.
ThompsonS. C. G., BartonM. A.1994. Ecocentric and anthropocentric attitudes toward the environment. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 14:149–157.
32.
WilsonE. O.1984. Biophilia: The human bond with other species. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
33.
WohlwillJ.F.1983. The concept of nature: A psychologist's view. AltmanI., WohlwillJ.F.Behavior and the Natural Enviroment, 5–37. New York: Plenum Press.
