Two Unique Horticulture Classes Capture Diverse Student Interest

There are many opportunities to expand the reach of horticulture well beyond traditional settings and students through unique courses.  This presentation showcases two successful approaches to teaching undergraduates with diverse interests, from every major.  An Art of Horticulture experiential survey course offers a deep exploration into self, the classroom, and community, by engaging with the plant world in a creative context.  There are two distinct units that overlap throughout the semester: plants used in/as art, and plants as a subject of art.  Students explore the ways in which plants can be used in or as art, such as living sculpture methods (including turf-works and tree sculpture, for example), and as a subject of art, including botanical illustration, and watercolor painting. An Experiential Garden-Based Learning in Belize class provides students with a deeply reflective experience in garden-based learning by working collaboratively with one another, and through working directly with a non-governmental organization in the Toledo District of Belize. This working partnership enables students to help to establish new school gardens, assess and make improvements to existing gardens, form linkages between the gardens and the school curriculum, to collaborate with Mayan teachers.  The presentation will include an overview of assessments and evaluation measures used as an alternative to traditional testing, creative final project requirements, a participation rubric, and reflective writing guidelines.