First-Year Experience 2013-2014

Integrated Study of Earth and the Environment (ISEE) Program

"Participation in the Integrated Studies of Earth and Environment program has been one of the high points of my teaching career at UVM. This intensive program allows instructors and students to get to know each other as individuals keenly interested in similar topics, and a synergistic learning effect is created when what is acquired in one course complements content in a second course. It is a pleasure to work within a community of learners."-Dr. Cheryl Morse, Assistant Professor

ISEE, one of four College of Arts and Sciences full-year Teacher-Advisor Programs, offers students a chance to explore the study of the Earth system and environment within the context of a liberal arts curriculum through a set of first-year courses that investigate how the Earth "works" from an interdisciplinary perspective. This program links classes in geology, geography, history, English, and environmental studies with residentially-based activities that foster interactions among students and faculty who share a common academic interest.

Classes and discussions with faculty and guest speakers in the residence halls offer insight into the different questions and methodologies used to study the Earth and environment. ISEE courses span local to global scales and explore environmental processes and human-environment relationships. Field-intensive elements of the courses provide the opportunity to learn through the Vermont and regional landscapes. ISEE students take two required fall courses and two required spring course options.

ISEE courses have included:

• Weather, Climate and Landscapes
• Earth and Environments through Time
• Mountain to Lake: Geology of the Lake Champlain Basin
• Geography of Vermont
• Reading the American Wilderness
• Global Environmental History

Through participation in the program, students fulfill humanities, social science, and natural science degree requirements in small-class settings. They are advised and mentored by an ISEE faculty member during the first year.

The ISEE Program is located in the University Heights South residential complex, home of the GreenHouse Environmental Residential Learning Community. Participants live in single and double rooms grouped together with other ISEE classmates.

Admission is by application, either online or via US mail.

Beverley Wemple, Professor and ISEE Program Director
Beverley.Wemple@uvm.edu
802-656-2074