Allen Centennial Garden is the perfect place for collaboration and learning by doing for students from across the University. We’ve worked with instructors from CALS, L&S, Nelson, SoHE, and Education to develop experiences in the Garden to fit with their course goals and objectives. Could you be next? Explore some of our past and ongoing partnerships below or fill out the class visit form here to start a conversation about the possibilities.
Departments and Programs we’ve worked with:
| Agroecology | Entomology | Marketing |
| Art | Environmental Studies | Pharmacy |
| Chicano/Latino Studies | Folklore | Plant Science and Technology |
| Community and Environmental Sociology | Forest and Wildlife Ecology | Plant Pathology |
| Counseling Psychology | Gender and Women’s Studies | Religious Studies |
| Curriculum and Instruction | History of Science | Science Communication |
| Design Studies (Textiles) | Landscape Architecture | Urban Planning |
"Many thanks to both of you for hosting my class at the garden today! I was so excited by how many aspects of the tour touched on topics we’d discussed in class—plants as medicine, food justice, and sustainable growing practices, to name a few. It was also amazing to get out of the classroom, the students really took to the volunteer work and it ended up being a lovely bonding activity.
"Thanks for making this workshop happen so seamlessly, I really appreciate it!"
Professor of a Gender and Women's Studies course
Some of our areas of expertise include:
- Plant care
- Biology of plants
- History of science & gardens
- Plants and religion
- Science communication
- Plant-based arts
- Human uses of plants
- Plant-animal interactions
- Cultural plants (especially Afrodiasporic, Latine, Indigenous, Hmong, English, and Islamic gardens)
Examples from Specific Courses:
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C&I 399 - Cultural Foundations of Learning and Development
Prof. Diego Román
Students in this course worked in small groups to create interactive plant labels that tell a cultural backstory about plants at ACG (or plants that could be added) as they learned about ways to integrated plants and nature into their own teaching practices as the prepare to be primary and secondary level teachers. Click on the photos below to watch some of the videos the students created:
DS 327 – Textile Design: Manual/Computer Generated Imagery and Pattern
Prof. Jennifer Angus
Textile design students visited the Garden for a special tour about the seasonality of plants to get them thinking about how they might create textile designs that are ecologically accurate. Then, they returned on their own to volunteer in the Garden and took pictures in the Garden that they transformed into beautiful textiles of their own design. See a few of their creations below.
HORT 120 – Introduction to Plant Sciences
Prof. Shelby Ellison
In their discussion sections, students visit for a staff-guided tour of Allen Centennial Garden that focuses on course content related to plant families, plant parts, and terminology. Then, TAs lead students through a self-guided scavenger hunt activity.
HIST SCI 211 – Food History from Farm to Table
Prof. Dana Landress
To summarize their learning for the semester, students in this communications B course visited the garden to learn more about seed starting and saving, foraging for edible plants, and planting gardens. During their 75-minute class, students visited three topical stations and then gathered on or terrace to enjoy some ice cream from nearby Babcock Dairy Store (provided by the instructor).
LA 375/URB R PL 590 – Mindfulness and Restorative Environments
Instructor: Nathan Larson
Students in this course use Allen Centennial Garden as their classroom every week during fall semester until the weather gets too cold. Over eight weeks they have the chance to try out numerous activities in the Garden like nature journaling and making mandalas. Plus, the Garden serves as a space for lectures and other course content too. See some examples of their activities below.
RELS 120 – Exploring Religion in Sickness and Health & RELS 403 – Food, Meaning, Identity
Instructor: Dr. Corrie Norman
In past years, students have toured the Garden to learn more about plants that are used for healing in different cultures as well as plants with religious names. Allen Centennial Garden staff have also given guest lectures related to how agricultural rituals can be seen in religious traditions from around the world. Students have also started the seeds used in our multi-cultural kitchen garden. Activities vary by year, course, and level of students.
