INDIVIDUAL

STUDY PLAN

2015

Community, Environment and Planning

Anna Michel
annam27@uw.edu
University of Washington

Individual Study Plan

Individual Study Plan

C O M M U N I T Y, E N V I R O N M E N T A N D P L A N N I N G

LETTER OF INTRODUCTION
This document outlines my two years in the Community, Environment, and Planning (CEP) program at the
University of Washington. It is a living document first created in the Fall of 2013, and will continue to be
edited through my graduation in the Spring of 2015. There are a number of components to this Individual
Study Plan, this document will cover an overview of my educational goals, a course map of my 6 quarters in
the CEP program, an overview of my senior project and internship. The accompanying piece of this document
is an E-portfolio, accessible at http://annamichelcep.weebly.com/
My college experience began in the Fall of 2009 at Edmonds Community College. I was enrolled in a
dual credit program that allowed me to earn an Associate of Arts degree simultaneously with a high school
diploma. During my 2 years at the community college, I first became interested in communities and
environmental issues through involvement in the Learn and Serve Environmental Anthropology Field (LEAF)
School. Throughout my involvement in this program I was able to volunteer with dozens of non-profit,
government, and tribal organizations throughout Washington State. I volunteered for over 450 hours in the
2010-2011 school year as a part of the Students in Service AmeriCorps program. One of my major projects
was working with urban planners at the Snohomish County Public Works to document wildlife movement
through a culvert at Swamp Creek in Lynnwood, Washington. Through expanding my community involvement
and concern in a variety of social and environmental contexts, I got a chance to try out different fields and
types of work. It was through these experiences that I found my passion in understanding the roles of
governments and community organizations in mobilizing positive social and environmental change.
After my high school and community college graduation I took on the role of Retention Project
Coordinator in the Center for Service Learning at Edmonds Community College. I completed an 11 month term

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Individual Study Plan

of service and volunteered for over 2,000 hours. My main roles were to coordinate college student to youth
mentoring programs in local high schools and with the Indian Education Program in the Edmonds school district,
train college students mentors, organize one time service events for college students with local organizations,
and plan and execute alternative winter and spring breaks that were volunteer based. Through this role I got
a chance to experience working in an office environment, work on skills as a facilitator and presenter, and
experience a wide variety of vocations through partnerships with schools and nonprofits.
After finishing my time at Edmonds Community College I wanted to experience some time outside of
the educational system and in a new area of the world. I travelled to Belgium and began volunteering on a
smallholding with a Flemish family in West Flanders. I spent 5 months travelling in Belgium, Wales, England,
and France volunteering on a number of farms, a vegetable grower, and on an eco-building project. After
concluding my time on organic farms I continued to work and travel for 6 additional months in Ireland,
Germany, Poland, Italy, and Croatia through a combination of CouchSurfing, working at a hostel, and
volunteering at a language school. Throughout my time in Europe I experienced living in an incredible array
of communities and families, and experienced many ways of life. Through understanding some of the subsidies
and policies of the European Union, I began to comprehend the importance of policy decisions on small
farmers and sustainable development. It was this combination of experiences that led me to decide to study
Public Administration and Policy, especially Environmental Policy.
After originally declaring an Environmental Science and Resource Management major, I was referred
to CEP. Through Community, Environment, and Planning I hope to tailor my undergraduate degree to best fit
my desired future educational and career path. Through a blend of political science, environmental studies,
economics, leadership, communication, and planning classes, I hope to develop a unique educational plan that
will give me a broad basis for understanding environmental issues and the policies that effect how we deal
with them.

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Individual Study Plan

VISUAL COURSE MAP

Academic Plan for:

Student #:

Last Revised

Anna T. Michel

1366367

Fall 2013

CEP Requirements
Core
Governa
nce

30 Credits (5 per quarter)

6 credits (1 credit CEP 400 per
quarter)
4 credits (1credit CEP 300 Fall
and Spring)

Retreat
Senior
Project

CEP
AUTUMN
Cre
Course
dit

WINTER
Cre
Course
dit

Year 1
SPRING
Cre
Course
dit

SUMMER
Cre
Course
dit

2-6 credits CEP 490 and CEP

491 (1-3 variable credit/qtr)

Internshi
p

5 credits -120-150 hour

internship with CEP 446

Methods

25 credits of upper-division
coursework

Diversity

5 Credits at any level

TOTAL 77-81 Credits

Q uarter
total:

14

Q uarter
total:

Restrictions/ Rules
O nly 15 credit overlap for double majors
Minors have to be 60% different than a
major
Can miss one core course for study
abroad

18

CEP

Q uarter
total:

17

Q uarter
total:

Year 2

AUTUMN
Cre
Course
dit

WINTER
Cre
Course
dit

SPRING
Cre
Course
dit

Q uarter
total:

Q uarter
total:

Q uarter
total:

SUMMER
Cre
Course
dit

KEY
CEP Core Required Courses
Methods Credits
Diversity & Internship
Required Minor Credits

15

Requirements for 2nd major

Remaining General Education Reqs

17

14

Q uarter
total:
TOTAL
CREDITS

0
95

Credits included from

previous quarters

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Individual Study Plan

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
Fall 2013
CEP 301 Idea of Community: Theories of community and communal rights and responsibilities. Experience
building a learning community within major. Explores struggles for community in every sector of life. CEP Core
Requirement.
ENVIR 200 Environmental Communication: ENVIR 200 Environmental Studies: Communication and
Information: A practical course for developing the skills necessary to engage, analyze, write, and speak about
complex environmental issues in a variety of disciplinary contexts with particular values and emphases. Focus on
reading, writing, presentation, and critical analysis of written material. This course is works towards my last five
credits writing cross the curriculum credits. It also gave me an introduction into policy writing.
ESRM 490: Special Topics

Winter 2014
CEP 302 Environmental Response: Explores issues of environmental crisis and societal responses. Readings
and reflective analysis from broad selection of authoritative sources to develop grounded perspective in
ecological literacy and consciousness. Concurrently, experiential education in challenges and practical responses
to building sustainable society through participation in community-based environmental effort.
PB AF 400 Professional Leadership (METHODS): Cultivates practical skills required to lead within various
organizational contexts: managerial strategies for public, nonprofit, and business organizations are developed through
case studies and guest speakers. Focuses on analytical and ethical approaches to problem solving and the
communication skills needed for effective leadership in any career. This is one of two courses offered for
undergraduates in the Daniel Evans school of Public Affairs (my desired masters program). I hope to develop the
skills necessary to work in a professional context. Leadership and communication are two of the foci that I hope to
work on in my two years in CEP, I believe that this course will help me to develop both skills.
CEP 498 Grant Writing: In the past I have written two small successful grants, yet I have never been formally
educated in the area. I believe that grant writing is a very necessary and useful skill in many fields, and I hope to
hone my skills in this area. Both in government and non-profit work, grant writing is an incredibly valuable
professional skill, through this practicum I was able to get experience writing a grant proposal.

ECON 200 Introduction to Microeconomics: Analysis of markets: consumer demand, production, exchange, the
price system, resource allocation, government intervention. One of Marxs theories is that everything in a society
is based off of economics; I think that econ is a gap in my knowledge that is very important in understanding
our society. This class mainly contributed to my understanding of basic economic principles and gave me the
vocabulary to discuss economic principles and forces.

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Individual Study Plan

Spring 2014
CEP 303 Environmental Response: Investigates use of formal and informal social structures and processes
within context of community and environment. Looks at patterns and institutions of social organization and
relationships among different sectors. Issues of interrelatedness, citizenship, knowledge, and communication. This
class relates directly to my focus of environmental policy. It is a core requirement for CEP but will also help me
to further understand the interrelation between communities and environments.
CEP 446 Internship: Connects core and individual courses with field work. Group and individual readings
develop understanding of how students' internships and field placements constitute particular element of
community and environmental planning. Explores how what we do for a living is part of our lives as citizens and
public service. You can read further about my internship plans in the Internship section of this document.
POL S 385 Political Ecology of the World Food System (METHODS): Investigates the intersection of
globalization and food politics, the pivotal role of petroleum in the world food system, and the commodity chains
for some foods. This class helped me to build a broad, global understanding of environmental policies through
the scope of the geopolitics of the world food systems. Understanding how international policies and
economics shape the landscape of the world food system and ultimately local communities is an integral piece
of understanding the role of environmental policies in individual lives.

Fall 2014
CEP 460: Planning in Context: Examines theory against backdrop of practice for broad historical understanding
of social, political, environmental planning. Critique from viewpoints, e.g., planning history, ethics, ecofeminism,
environmental justice, class and capitalism, planning and global economy. Develop personalized history reflecting
individual experience, professional experience, and philosophical heritage of planning profession. Although my
focus is environmental policy, I think that planning is absolutely essential to understand. This class is a required
CEP core class, and will help me to better understand urban planning as a career.
SOC 415 The City and Neighborhood Dynamics (METHODS): Focuses on a diverse set of topics including the
changing social meaning of community, the effects of the urban setting on social interactions and attitudes, urban
poverty, residential segregation, and the neighborhood dynamics of crime. Students have the opportunity to
contribute directly to research- and policy-related projects. In CEP, I am working to build skill sets and
knowledge sets that will help me to enact positive change in my communities, through understanding policy as
well as community organizing. Understanding the changing context of communities due to urbanization is an
integral part of creating this understanding. This class helped me to build an understanding of instrumental
and expressive community groups, as well as the global trends of urbanization and the effect of those trends
on communities.

Winter 2015
CEP 461 Ethics and Identity: Examination of personal, societal, vocational, environmental, planning ethics.
Readings and discourse on ethical foundations for public life. Individual and group readings on values, human
potential. Develops understanding of ecological context, moral responsibility, self-awareness. Constructs positive,
diverse view of humanity, environment regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, beliefs. This is a CEP core class that
will help me in the future by helping to provide an ethical basis to understand my future work.

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Individual Study Plan

COM 329 Rhetoric of Social and Political Movements: Inquiry into the rhetoric of social and political
movements; emphasis on investigation of persuasive discourse; examination of the nonverbal symbols of
persuasion. This class will fulfill my last 3 credits of VLPA requirement. A major part of my focus when entering
CEP was on public administration and policy. I wanted to learn how people effect change in the world, and
believed that understanding policy was one avenue to understanding the creating of positive social change.
This course gave me an avenue to understanding how change is made outside of institutions that influences
decision-makers and public opinion. I had hoped for a more practical understanding of how social movements
work, yet instead this course was very focused on the rhetorical strategies social movements and social
movement leaders employ.
SOC W 536 Social Movements and Organizing: People, Power, and Praxis : Focuses on social,
economic, and political problems from an organizer's perspective, and strategies, tactics, and skills necessary to
engage in organizing activities. Emphasizes principles common to community, electoral, union, and issue
organizing. Addresses why people organize, how organizing works, and what it takes to be a good organizer.
This class was my first masters class and was an absolutely phenomenal experience. Jim Diers is an excellent
instructor and community organizer, and being surrounded by masters students was intellectually stimulating.
The readings for this class made me deeply critique our social services and client communities, I felt that
between reading, case studies, and Diers storytelling of successful examples of community-based power, I
gained new insight into change-making and the importance of communities.

Spring 2015
CEP 462 Community and Environment: Capstone quarter merges core seminars, disciplinary courses in
major, community field experiences for mastery of personal knowledge and skills. Reflection and synthesis of
themes in major; engagement with contemporary issues. Compares theoretical definitions of community and
environment with individual philosophies and knowledge within thoughtful, applied context. This is a required core
class of the CEP major. I was able to use this class to understand and reflect on the skills and values I have
been studying over my two years in the CEP major.
ANTH 339 Social Movements in Contemporary India: Covers issues of social change, economic
development, and identity politics in contemporary India studied through environmental and women's movements.
Includes critiques of development and conflicts over forests, dams, women's rights, religious community, ethnicity,
and citizenship. This class fulfilled my diversity credits for the CEP requirement. While keeping in the trend of
social movements and organizing, this class gave me a much broader, global understanding of social change
and forms of oppression. The U.S.-focus of my social movements and community organizing classes in my
previous quarter were very relevant, yet lacked a global perspective. Environmental movements and feminist
movements are much different in wealthy, urban areas of the U.S. than they are in poor, rural areas of India
(obviously), yet reading Indian critiques of Western ideas of feminism and environmentalism and a wide
range of other isms was an excellent practice in considering things from multiple perspectives.

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Individual Study Plan

INTERNSHIP
For my internship I served as a Service-Learning Coordinator at Edmonds Community College (EdCC)in the
Center for Student Engagement and Leadership. This is a part-time professional staff position that I began in
January of 2014 and left in June of 2015. This job consisted of hosting at least five small service-learning
projects per quarter, and planning one large 100-150 person event for the National Days of Service (Make a
Difference Day, MLK Jr. Day, and Earth Day) each quarter. Through the course of this job I also partnered with
faculty and staff members of the college to coordinate events on campus that incorporated elements of civic
engagement and/or peer advocacy, such as our annual Fair Trade coffee/chocolate fair, the EdCC Powwow, the
annual Celebration of Food Festival, and the campus Memorial Day Event. Another aspect of this job was
assisting with hiring, training, scheduling, and management of service learning peer advocates and facilitating
peer advocate placement into pre-college classes. Another aspect of overseeing peer advocates was working
with faculty from developmental courses to develop service learning by supporting daily classroom activities and
connecting faculty and students to service opportunities.

Service Project Highlights!

These photos are both from the National Days of Service that I have been coordinating once per quarter for the
past five quarters. These are unique events, as we partner with the Snohomish Tribe and the Blue Heron Canoe
Family to maintain and develop an ethnobotanical, Stolja Ali or Place of Medicine garden in a local park.
Coordinating these events includes creating signs with Lushootseed names and traditional uses for plants in the
garden, coordinating with local partners, garnering food and supplies donations from local businesses,
coordinating and overseeing volunteers, and public speaking.

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Individual Study Plan

This was a really excellent job to use as an internship for CEP, as it was a perfect blend of community,
environment, and planning. When first starting at Edmonds Community College as a student in the Fall of 2009
as a high school student, I was fairly apathetic in regards to my education and made very few connections at the
college. Service-learning was a turning point for me in the Spring of my first year at the college. One of the most
incredible things about this job is that I get to see the same process happening for my peers. Service-learning is a
way to see real-world applications to your studies, and it is a way for many students to get out of their bubbles
and to try something new. Facilitating reflections for students at this job on an almost weekly basis made me
more aware of the importance of reflection in my own education, work, and volunteer experiences. This job
gave me a chance to take complete control over my work. I was working as a professional staff member in the
same department that I served as an AmeriCorps member directly following high school, in the 2011-2012
school year. With all of the turnover in the department, this meant that I was in some ways the most senior
member of the department. I realized the incredible importance of being connected to the community in a
service-based job. This also meant that I had a lot of responsibility in training new employees, serving as a
sounding board for my boss, and representing our department to the campus and community. It was incredibly
frustrating working only part-time, as I really believe in the type of work we were doing, and desperately wanted
to contribute more than I could in my limited hours each week. I often found myself working up to 30 hours
during busy times of the year, and think that my schoolwork suffered. However I have found that applying ideas
of community organizing in a real workplace and community is in many ways more fulfilling than reading
theories. In a lot of ways I felt that I was ready for the world and workplace, and that receiving my B.A. was a
prerequisite for the type of work I was already doing. Yet my classes and peers really helped me to examine my
work and process in a much more critical way. I feel that the balance of this job with my studies was an ideal
combination. In projects like the National Days of Service at the Stolja Ali Ethnobotanical Garden, I could see the
interplay of community and environment while getting real-world experience in planning.

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Individual Study Plan

SENIOR PROJECT
For my full Senior Project report, please see the Senior Project tab of the website!

Abstract:

Increasing car dependence over the past few decades has affected the physical landscape of our cities. This
project analyzes the broader effects of this changing urban landscape on community health and individual
well-being. One indicator of individual and community health is self-reported happiness levels. My research
looks for a significant correlation between commute style and happiness. I analyzed commute style based on
two factors, length and mode, and tested two hypotheses. The first hypothesis is that a correlation
exists between active commute modes and higher self-reported happiness levels. Specifically, driving and
public transportation (inactive commute modes) should correlate with lower happiness levels, while walking
and biking (active commute modes) should correlate with higher happiness levels. My second hypothesis is that
a correlation exists between shorter commute times and higher self-reported happiness levels. To test these
hypotheses, I conducted surveys at the Dravus Street QFC in Seattle. I have used a chi squared analysis to test
for significant correlations in collected data. These results fit into a broader body of evidence linking cardependent development to negative societal impacts, and specifically to lower levels of individual and
community health and happiness.

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