AuSable Institute

Students intending to enroll in Au Sable Institute must contact David Warners, Au Sable advisor (DeVries Hall 125), for application forms.

ASI 310 Biology in Winter (four semester hours). Students in this course study the biology and environment of Northern Michigan plants and animals in winter through lecture, films, and field experience. Prerequisite: one course in biology. Fee: TBA. Staff. Off campus.

ASI 346 Winter Stream Ecology (four semester hours). This course—in geological, physical, and chemical features of streams in winter—focuses on ecological interactions and applications to the stewardship of streams and watershed. Prerequisite: one year of biology. Fee: TBA. Staff. Off campus.

ASI 350 Environmental Ethics (four semester hours). In this course contemporary problems of environmental stewardship are investigated, including the use of renewable and nonrenewable natural resources, pollution, appropriate land use and development, Third World concerns, and preservation of wild nature. These problems are set in a historical perspective of humankind's relationship to the nature environments, especially as this relationship is viewed in light of Christian thought and doctrine. Current attempts to develop a theology of nature and principles of Christian stewardship are considered. Fee: TBA. Staff. Off campus.

ASI 427 Ecology of the Indian Tropics (four semester hours). In this course, which is taught in Tiruchirapalli , India , the tropical ecology of south India is studied with an introduction and comparative analysis of coastal ecosystems, the plains, and montane tropical ecosystems of the Lesser Ghats, including altitudinal zonation. Topics include tropical ecosystem structure and dynamics, past and present human interaction with the landscape, and autecology of selected plant and animal species. Students originating from North America begin orientation in Chicago at the Field Museum of Natural History and an Indian cultural district. Prerequisite: at least one ecology course or permission of the Au Sable representative. This course will meet the Cross Cultural Engagement (CCE) core requirement. Fee: TBA. Staff. Off campus.