Psychology courses currently using the Cowling Arboretum for an outdoor classroom are: Psychology 244 Positive Psychology.
Psychology Professor Neil Lutsky assigns students a series of “Positive Psychology Interventions”. One involves a “Slowing Down” experience related to immersion in nature. The specific instructions used are given below. Afterwards, students write a course journal entry addressing their experience and its relationship to issues we are covering in the course.
Nature Immersion: Your task is to dedicate time each day for a week for a substantial encounter with nature. The argument in positive psychology is that immersing ourselves in nature frees our attention, enhances our well-being, puts us in contact with the richness of life, and reduces stress. To meet the task’s goal, go for a good winter walk each day in Carleton’s positive psychology laboratory, the Carleton Arboretum. Try to vary the paths you take and to attend to the natural life around you. In the reading on “Savoring” Kurtz cites these instructions from a study by Bryant and Veroff on savoring walks: “try to notice as many positive things around you as you could (e.g., flowers, sunshine, music), to acknowledge each of these things in your mind when you noticed it, and to identify what it was about each thing that made it pleasurable.”