As a wood scientist, Jim Armstrong has no trouble seeing the forest for the trees. He’s applied that insight to his course, Forest Resources in U.S. History.
Armstrong, an associate professor in wood science and technology in West Virginia University’s Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences, developed the course to give students a sense of the tremendous impact forests and wood products have had on American culture, industry and the environment. It is being offered for the first time this semester as an elective for forestry students.
The course examines human use of forest resources in America from pre-Colombian times to the present,Armstrong explained. From the use of fire by Native Americans to promote game habitat to the development of advanced wood-based building materials, subject matter ranges from the sociological to the scientific.
Armstrong, whose academic background is in wood anatomy and engineering, maintains that,every wood scientist is something of a generalist.The generalist scope of the course is evident in topics for student presentations, one of the final projects for the course.
One pair of students will be discussing the logging and lumbering history of Cass and another will examine the history of the Civilian Conservation Corps,Armstrong explained.The class will also hear oral histories of two logging families from West Virginia
Class presentations are planned for April 28.
The WVU Faculty Senate recently gave the class, WDSC 100 , status as a Cluster B and C course in the University’s Liberal Studies Program. It will be offered for cluster credit for the first time in the Fall 2004 semester. Armstrong hopes the course’s new-found status will introduce more students to the field and its range of professional prospects.
WVU’s wood science and technology program is noted for the exceptional and diverse career opportunities enjoyed by its graduates,Armstrong said.Nearly all wood science graduates find jobs in their field upon graduation and approximately half find jobs with West Virginia companies.