Fungi for Human Health and the Environment

Mushrooms and other fungi play many important, fascinating roles in both ecology and human history. In this interdisciplinary program, students will learn the fundamentals of fungal biology and ecology and diversity, with an emphasis on fruiting mushrooms of Pacific Northwest. Mushroom identification labs and self-guided field study of mushrooms will serve as a foundation for learning to identify common species and to develop fluency in mushroom identification terminology. Students will have hands-on opportunities to learn the basics of mushroom cultivation and textile-dyeing with mushroom pigments. At the end of the quarter, students will have the skills to safely identify local mushrooms including edible, medicinal, and poisonous species.

Students will also explore connections between fungi, humans, society, and the environment with an emphasis on the intersections of fungi and food justice; topics will include traditional ecological knowledge systems as well as history, political economy, and equity issues within the fungal food system. Guiding questions will include: What are the social and ecological impacts of commodifying mushrooms and other fungi, especially ones that have major significance to Native communities across the Americas and beyond? Who benefits, who gets excluded, and who gets burdened with the costs? Learning modalities will involve weekly asynchronous activities as well as synchronous class meetings. Assignments will include discussion board posts, collective seminar annotations, and a final integrative reflection.

The program is a hybrid-remote offering. To be successful in this program, students will need access to reliable high-speed internet and a computer. Students can expect our teaching to be a blend of 3-6 hours a week of synchronous (scheduled) class (in-person and on Zoom) and an additional 16-20 hours a week of asynchronous work including completing assignments and studying fungi in the local environment.