In a departure from our usual format, in which we interview an exceptional faculty member to learn about their approach to teaching, this time we’re showcasing an exemplary piece of student work: an exploration of ways in which seemingly everyday places and activities, such as a cornfield, the meeting place of two rivers, or the process of planting and tending crops, are imbued with sacredness in Diné (Navajo) tradition. This episode was created by first-year students as a semester-long project in the course SP.360 Terrascope Radio as part of MIT Terrascope, a learning community for first-year undergraduate students focused on solving complex environmental problems. (For more information on the Terrascope learning community and its approach to student-led problem-solving, check out our interview with Dr. Ari Epstein in Season 5 Episode 5, which we’re releasing simultaneously with this special episode!) Follow along with the Terrascope students as they visit the Navajo Nation and learn firsthand about how the Diné people’s traditional relationship with the land survives as a powerful force in their lives, both shaping their response to environmental issues and marking their identity as a distinct people.This episode was produced by the Spring 2023 MIT Terrascope Radio class: Xiner Luo, Jacqueline Prawira, Nevena Stojkovic, and Elisa Xia. Relevant Resources:MIT OpenCourseWareThe OCW Educator PortalS5 E5 Chalk Radio interview about Terrascope with Ari EpsteinTerrascope RadioThe Navajo Nation at WikipediaNMSU Agricultural Science Center at FarmingtonThe Gold King Mine incidentMusic in this episode by Blue Dot Sessions
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