Julia Fennell ’21
This month, 12 students in the Environmental Studies and Sciences course Race, Racism, and the Great Outdoors will spend three-and-a-half weeks studying how race and racism affect place and participation in the outdoors through the lens of systemic racism and settler colonialism. The students will focus their studies on the lived experiences of minoritized people in the outdoors.
“In short, the goals of the class are to understand how settler colonialism and systemic racism have set the stage for varying rates of participation and belonging in outdoor recreation by varying groups, and how the outdoor industry has, and hasn’t, made strides to be more inclusive,” says class instructor Dr. Drew Cavin, Director of Field Study.
Students in this class will study the history of Colorado’s public lands systems from the perspective of settler colonialism and various cultural narratives about the outdoors. They will learn about efforts to make the outdoors more inclusive and examine why outdoor recreation is such an impactful and important activity for people of all ages.
“While it may be simple, I believe the outdoors gives people joy and is a space for many to take necessary breaks from everyday life,” says Grace St. John ’26, who plans to double major in Environmental Studies and Design Studies. “For many, time spent outside represents a break from the stress of everyday life and is a moment where they can find clarity from a change in scenery. Spending time outdoors may also make activities like exercise more enjoyable when we are able to do so in spaces surrounded by natural scenery. Additionally, outdoor activities such as boating or hiking cannot be replicated well indoors, thus making the outdoors a fundamental space for enjoyable activities and recreation to simply occur.”
St. John is most looking forward to learning about the impacts of environmental racism and accessibility to the outdoors. “I personally find significant enjoyment in a variety of outdoor activities and was lucky to grow up in an area of Colorado with well-developed outdoor spaces,” she says. “For that reason, I wish to understand how to decrease barriers to the outdoors for others from different regions and backgrounds.”
During third week, students will spend a week at the Baca Campus, where they will bond, discuss (texts about…?), and hike to the boundary of the Sangre de Cristo wilderness.
“Given that the class focuses on aspects of environmental racism, I believe studying in a different environment will give me a beneficial perspective of the content and allow me to connect with it further than I would simply on campus,” St. John says. “Further, I think spending time outdoors and utilizing resources like hiking trails will be a good reminder of why we value access to the outdoors and the importance of studying it.”
This class is largely discussion-based, led by students. The first week will be focused on settler colonialism and public land, followed by an emphasis on systemic racism and outdoor recreation during second week. Students will learn how the outdoor recreation industry has taken on
diversity, equity, and inclusion work during their week at the Baca Campus, and will then focus on final assignments during week four.
“I find the aspect of environmental racism to be a key area of study given that inequality in access to and treatment of nature and/or the environment is a prevalent issue contributing to global warming and who it is impacting most,” says St. John, who added that she feels more prepared for this class after taking Introduction to Global Climate Change and Environment and Society.
“I chose this class because since I moved to Colorado and was introduced to the great outdoors to the next level, I realized how it is a privilege to have access to all the required gear to be safe in the backcountry,” says Jose Rodriguez Poggio ’27, who plans to major in Environmental Science. “If it was not for the Outdoor Ed gear rental that the school provides, I would have missed so many fun memories I hold now as part of my time here in college.”
Rodriguez Poggio is most looking forward to thinking of potential solutions to making the outdoors as accessible as it can be, as well as listening to people’s ideas and enriching her understanding of race and racism.
“I am deeply interested in understanding the world I enjoy, nature, and its relationship with human beings,” Rodriguez Poggio says. “Going in-depth into the roots of this (sometimes) non-sense system that makes race have to do something with who has access to nature.”
Alondra Valdez ’26, an Environmental Studies major and Southwest Studies minor, is taking this class because it’s the perfect combination of her interests: environmental studies, outdoor recreation, and race studies.
“As someone who loves the outdoors, and as a person of color, I take special interest in the overlap of race in the outdoors and the implications of what it means to be a person of color partaking in outdoor recreation,” says Valdez. “Having experienced these implications first-hand both in and out of CC, I am excited to have discussions on the topic in this class.”
Dr. Cavin has previously taught this class five times: three times as a Bridge Scholars Program course with Dr. Tina Valtierra, Associate Professor and Chair of the Education Department, and two times as a First-Year Program class. Block 5 is the first time this class is open to non-first-year students.
“The main difference for this iteration will be the addition of multiple sources for looking at the experiences of minoritized people in the outdoors,” Cavin says. “There are several new books with firsthand perspectives that we will look at and compare to my research from 15 years ago.”
Cavin is also swapping some of the college’s on-boarding type assignments he used when he previously taught the class with more content-based work. Along with other duties that come with being the director of Field Study, Cavin is responsible for managing the Baca Campus, which gives him additional insight into the campus when bringing his class there.
Cavin stumbled into this topic 20 years ago when he was working on his PhD in Recreation and Parks, where he focused on the experiences of African American Outdoors Recreationists. Since then, he’s followed the progression of discourse on race in the outdoors and recognizes how important it is to teach students about where and how race and the outdoors intersect.