Richard Borden teaches courses in environmental psychology, personality and social development, contemporary psychology, and the history and philosophy of human ecology. Rich has just returned to full-time teaching, having served as COA’s Academic Dean for twenty years. He is a Past-President of the Society for Human Ecology and continues to serve as its Executive Director.

In addition to his passion for networking human ecology worldwide, Rich also enjoys the more domestic pleasures of cooking, carpentry, old-time fiddling, and sailing.

He is the author of numerous books and articles, he has been a USIA academic specialist and consultant in the area of human ecology and served as an advisor to human ecology programs in China, Russia, and elsewhere in Europe and in North and South America.

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50 years’ experience in human ecology

College of the Atlantic (COA) -- founded in 1969 -- is an independent higher education institution dedicated to the study of human ecology. This session offers a fifty-year overview of the college’s founding, growth, and influence. Academically, the college is fully interdisciplinary: there are no departments, and all students receive the same degree: the B. A in Human Ecology -- or for a small number of advanced studies candidates, the M. Phil. in Human Ecology. Classes frequently bridge several disciplines and provide opportunities for experiential work in the field, applied research and community engagement. The presentation will begin with a review of events leading up to the idea of the college, its educational mission, and early years. This will be followed by a description of the institution’s long-standing approach to self-directed studies, the growth of its campus, along with a review of recent academic developments, partnerships, and future plans. Time will be reserved at the end of the session for questions, back-and-forth exchanges, and collaborative discussions with attendees to the session.