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On a cool high-desert summer evening, about four-hundred community members gathered under an open tent to hear and observe Clay Jenkinson, Director of the Great Basin Chautauqua, perform in the role of John Wesley Powell, pioneer explorer of the Colorado River. Stomping about the stage, the bearded Jenkinson/Powell told spellbinding stories about the exploration of the Colorado by raft--of men lost in the river and on land, of his personal doubts and ambitions, of his dreams and visions for the American west. Afterwards Jenkinson emerged from his role to answer questions about his understanding of Powell and why he had portrayed him as he had.
Among the four hundred in the audience were thirty teachers, kindergarten through college, who had gathered on the University of Nevada campus in Reno for the first "Truckee River Community Project." During this two-week institute, participants became involved in an intensive interdisciplinary exploration of "our" river, the Truckee--much smaller than the Colorado--which nourishes our community and the physical, social, and cultural environments that surround it.
From the onset, we decided not to make the program overtly pedagogical; that is, instead of focusing on interdisciplinary teaching processes and methods, we introduced participants to the richness of interdisciplinary study through a series of hands-on experiences similar to those we were advocating for students. Since few of the teachers had had interdisciplinary experiences in their school and college days, we felt that involvement would best introduce teachers to interdisciplinary study. They would draw the pedagogical implications for themselves.
THE PROJECT
The Truckee River originates in the high Sierras at Lake Tahoe and winds its way through the mountains into the Truckee Meadows, where the city of Reno and the University of Nevada are located. We focused on the river specifically because it is a familiar part of the local landscape and is easily accessible to students and teachers. More important, perhaps, the Truckee River serves as a powerful metaphor for cultural and political issues important to the region. Reno was originally established because of the river: it provided a path to California for the pioneers, and its meadow provided feed for pioneers' cattle. Almost every issue and problem faced by our area, from bloody battles between white settlers and Paiute natives to disputes...