This course will be an opportunity for students to read and write about the desert while they experience it firsthand. The “classroom” will be Big Bend National Park (BBNP), located in far West Texas. Traveling with Dr. Jim Petersen and his physical geography class, students will practice close observation, learn how to recognize various landforms and vegetation, keep a field notebook, and ultimately transform this knowledge and experience into a 15-page essay.

Because of its size and diversity, Big Bend National Park is an ideal environment for students to learn about desert literature. Dr. Petersen offers this observation: “[I]t includes three very different environmental areas, the desert lowlands, the Chisos Mountains, and the riparian corridor and deep canyons along the Rio Grande. The diversity exhibited by classic Chihuahuan desert environs, stark badlands, shady canyons, and forested mountains exists in close proximity.”

Course Options

ENG 3311 Advanced Reading and Writing, with an
emphasis on nature writing.

Tuition and Fees

Three hours of university credit: $565.00
Transportation, room for 6 nights, and materials: $300.00
TOTAL COST:    $865.00

All tuition and fees are payable to Texas State University-San Marcos.
You must enroll for this course through the Office of Extension Studies,
located in Academic Services Building-North, Room 301.

For more information on expenses, please e-mail The Office of Extension Studies. Paying the deposit as early as possible will help to ensure that a
place is held for you.

Payment Schedule

Due at sign-up: $200.00
Second Payment due    March 13, 2009:    $400.00
Remaining Balance due April 15, 2009:    $265.00
Total Cost: (Field Trip Expenses/Tuition/Fees):    $865.00

Two mandatory organizational meetings will be held in April. Times and days
for these meetings will be arranged and announced by March 27, 2009.

Contact: Susan Hanson, Senior Lecturer
sh17@txstate.edu
Department of English

* Offered May 2009