ENVR87  “God, Satan, and the Desert Experience”

This Environmental Humanities seminar provides an introduction to desert environments and the diverse ways they have been understood across cultures and traditions. The desert has been viewed as a geographical barrier, barren wasteland, locus of punishment, abode of evil, and source of resource extraction. Yet deserts have also been understood as places of existential freedom, spiritual enlightenment, and home.

Combining classroom study with experiential learning, the seminar includes a weekend field experience in the Colorado Desert—the westernmost portion of the Sonoran Desert—centered on Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Encompassing more than 620,000 acres, Anza-Borrego is the largest state park in the Western United States and is surrounded by extensive federally protected lands. A $100 program fee covers transportation, food, and all necessary equipment for the weekend excursion.