SUST 174 - Sustainable Ecotourism and Parks

4 Credits

This course will cover the development and administration of park and recreational facilities in natural settings including ecotourism businesses, governmental approaches to natural resource management, and park existence in general. The development of community and community resources will be focal points of discussion and learning. This includes specifically land and water resources in communities as these resources provide recreational opportunities, lead to learning opportunities, and culminate in community and personal well-being. We will discuss and critically analyze resources, their usage, and their conservation and/or preservation. Finally, fundamental concepts of recreation and leisure and their roles in modern American culture and the global context will be discussed.

Fees

Quarters Typically Offered
Summer Day, Online
Fall Day, Online
Winter Day, Online
Spring Day, Online

Designed to Serve Students interested in American history, agrotourism, ecotourism, recreation, parks, hospitality, and tourism. The course is particularly important to students interested in park settings, communal well-being, and sustainability.
Active Date 20210403T10:09:52

Grading Basis Decimal Grade
Class Limit 22
Shared Learning Environment Yes
Contact Hours: Lecture 22 Lab 44
Total Contact Hours 66
Degree Distributions:
ProfTech Course Yes
Restricted Elective Yes
Course Outline

Understand the history of parks and green spaces around the world, beginning with the first national parks being founded in the USA
Understand the socio-cultural and geo-political importance of park settings to community well-being
Comprehend financial realities such as neoliberalism and the futurology of parks and agro/ecotourism as market-based goods in conjunction with ecological modernization
Be able to serve as a natural tourism guide in established park areas
Describe play and leisure as distinct components of societies
Understand the continuum of preservation/conservation in the context of wilderness and green spaces
Explain modes of tragedy of the commons
Understand the three pillars of sustainability: people, planet, and profit

Student Learning Outcomes
Learners will convey the importance of parks and green spaces from both a historic and futuristic perspective.

Students will explain the social, cultural, geographical, and political significance behind human experiences in/of parks settings and green spaces.

Students will lead discussions in the role of a nature tourism guide.

Students will demonstrate integral concepts to recreation and park studies such as play and leisure.

Learners will apply the idea of sustainability situationally and to society at large (i.e. people, planet, and profit conservation).