Gordon Natural Area Visits with Students
In September, two Communication Studies faculty, Dr. Megan Schraedley and Dr. Stephen DiDomenico, took their classes on field trips to the Gordon Natural Area (GNA) – a 126-acre biodiverse area of WCU’s southeastern campus. Both Dr. Schraedley and Dr. DiDomenico teach special topics courses offering upper-division students in the Department of Communication and Media a chance to study more advanced, contemporary communication challenges and contexts.
In COM 397: Social Support, Technology, and Loneliness, Assistant Professor Stephen DiDomenico focuses students' attention on the ways technology can both extend and hinder the experience of social connection in society. Walking around the GNA offered the class a chance to collectively experience how intentionally "disconnecting" from their different communication devices can help them savor more of the beauty of the natural world.
In COM 398: Organizing & Sustainability, Associate Professor Megan Schraedley emphasizes teaching students how to critique and navigate the different ways in which to organize their lives more sustainably. GNA Director Nur Ritter guided students along two trails and discussed how the GNA makes the university and surrounding community more sustainable spaces.
Undergraduate student Kody Taylor said, "The field trip also underscored several connections to sustainable living. Walking and biking through the trails instead of using vehicles not only reduces our carbon footprint but also allows us to directly engage with the environment. Additionally, the natural resources available, such as edible herbs, exemplify how nature can provide for various needs in a sustainable manner."
Schraedley and DiDomenico both plan to offer these courses again in the future, though likely as permanent courses in the university's course catalog. As Communication Studies faculty, they are always eager to design new opportunities for students to grapple with today's most complex communication problems.
