ENVR 140 - Wilderness and Human Values - Siapno [SP24]

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ENVR 140 – Wilderness and Human Values – Siapno, Winter 2024

Instructor: Dr. Jacqueline Siapno (Joy)

Email: jsiapno@ucsd.edu

Websites:

https://environmentalstudies.ucsd.edu/people/core-lecturers

https://ucsd.academia.edu/JacquelineSiapno

Class and Sections:

Lectures: MWF 10-10:50am, MANDE B-150. 

Mondays and Wednesdays are in-person;

Fridays are asynchronous work on Canvas: "Fridays for the Future".

Discussion Sections, Fridays, with Teaching Assistants:

These are the 5 TA section assignments for ENVR Spring 24. Please communicate with your Section TAs directly regarding any questions related to your Friday sections.
  • A01, Friday 11 am – Jordan Chalmers: jrchalme@ucsd.edu
  • A02, Friday noon – Tanisha Devjani: tdevjani@ucsd.edu
  • A03, Friday 1 pm – Manal Vishnoi: mvishnoi@ucsd.edu
  • A04, Friday 2 pm – Ashima KC: askc@ucsd.edu
  • A05, Friday 9 am – Matteo Schaffner: mschaffner@ucsd.edu

 

Dr. Siapno's Office hours: Wednesdays 11am-12 noon; or if you cannot make it at this time, by appointment via email.

Office: Room 2064 Humanities and Social Sciences Building/Tower, Muir College.

Note: I will not be responding to messages during non-work days (weekends). Teaching during these times is very challenging and we need radical self-care in order to be able to do collective care.

Course Description

Welcome to the Wilderness and Human Values, ENVR 140!

We will begin by asking what “wild” and “wilderness” mean in different historical and comparative contexts globally, and amongst different kinds of “humans” and multiple species globally. Grounding ourselves in Indigenous belief systems and practices in different parts of the world, where for some, “wilderness” is “home”, we will examine the entrenchment of imperialism and settler colonialism, “discoveries” of places, de-colonization, and the counter-narrative histories and rise of movements for environmental and climate justice in the global South. These themes will be introduced through primary sources, works of fiction, scholarly articles, and praxis (practice & theory), hiking, being wilderness.

Land Acknowledgement

For millennia, the Kumeyaay (Kumiai) people have been part of this land. UC San Diego is built on the un-ceded territory of the Kumeyaay Nation.  Today, the Kumeyaay people continue to maintain their political sovereignty and cultural traditions as vital members of the San Diego community.  We acknowledge their tremendous contributions to our region and thank them for their stewardship. 

Student Learning Goals & Course Objectives:

  1. Experience being nature, through praxis (hiking, camping, foraging, trip to the zoo, wilderness areas, ocean as method -- all voluntary and in your own time) and creating positive Writing Environments; we are looking at the possibility of a hiking + camping fieldtrip for May 27, Monday, Memorial Day with Outback Adventures USCD (details to be announced, depending on interest);
  2. Analyze the history of the concept of “wilderness”, “conservation” and their relationship to indigeneity and environmental justice;
  3. Produce learner-centered creative strategies for de-colonization and building inter-personal friendships and communities for a global climate justice movement.

Learning Outcomes: After completing this course, you should be able:

To think globally, act locally and become visionary global citizens; identify, understand, and explain the main historical and theoretical debates on the concepts of “wild”, “wilderness”, “conservation”, and environmental and climate justice; produce creative strategies on international cooperation without domination, survival of the kindest (not the fittest), and build connections to specific local and global communities working on environmental justice programs; examine how we can learn from history in order NOT to repeat the same mistakes; and en-gender hope, strength, and inspiration; and contribute towards innovative, creative, learner-centered/student-centered repertoire of pedagogies of hope and possibilities for the kind of more beautiful, sustainable global futures you’d like to see for ourselves, our communities, and our planet.

Required Readings: Readings are available as pdfs on Canvas, under Modules and Files. If they are not there, then please go to the UCSD Library. Take time to get to know the librarians and libraries really well. When you have known items you cannot find with UCSD holdings, it’s best to use the Ask a Librarian from this pagehttps://ucsd.libanswers.com/  or from the Library guides pagehttps://ucsd.libguides.com/ . or from UC Library Search chat button. Or email us directly at ask-us@ucsd.libanswers.com You can also do Inter-library loan from the other 9 campuses within the UC system.

Course Requirements and Assignments:

Attendance and Participation in class: 30% of grade. If you can't come to class, please let us know in advance; you are only allowed 3 excused absences.

We will be organizing a field trip (camping and hiking) on May 27. We'll let you know more as the course goes along. Please indicate in advance if you're interested. It may cost approximately $100 (with Outback Adventures, UCSD); less if more people go.

Also, your sections may be going on other field trips (your TAs will organize these).

Reading Response Notes, Weekly: 30% of grade. Submit at the beginning of each week. If you don’t read the readings on time, there will be a penalty/reduction for late submission. No deadline extensions unless you submit a formal accommodation request.

Rubric:

Please choose at least 3 readings posted on Canvas each week (and do not choose only the shortest); do a CLOSE READING (see Historical Thinking Chart); make sure to reference and cite the readings with "direct quotes" in your reading responses and discussions with 3 other classmates. 

Essay, Nature Writing, Writing Environments: 

What does wild and wilderness mean to you?

20 % of grade. Due May 3, Friday, 11:59pm.

Voluntary hiking and being in wilderness; either solitary or with classmates.

See Essay Exemplar under Modules.

Rubric:

1,000 words. Learn how to write powerfully, but to the point; succinctly.

Please do NOT use ChatGPT and AI to write your Essay.

The essay will be a preliminary comprehension and interpretation assignment based on the course readings. You can do a photo analysis, song analysis, eco-garden analysis, ocean analysis, community mapping and counter-mapping, narrative and counter-narrative.

Essay exemplars are available under Modules and Files in Canvas.

Group Oral Presentations & Peer Evaluations sign-up by Week 5, May 3, Friday, under Discussions on Canvas. This is your Final Exam. Last 3 weeks of classes. 

Rubric:

Go to Media Gallery for Previous Examples and Rubric for Evaluations

20% of grade.

Maximum 4 people in each group.

Last 3 weeks of classes: sign-up in Canvas, Discussions, by May 3 with Group Members and Thematic Topics.

Accommodations. Students with Special Needs. Varied learners. Students with special needs may request appropriate academic accommodations. Students are advised to email or talk to the Course Instructor as soon as possible so that the appropriate arrangements can be made. See also: https://osd.ucsd.edu/students/registering.html

https://osd.ucsd.edu/students/general-differences-between-k12-and-university.html

Support systems. If you require additional support with academic writing, library assistance, research skills, and other issues, you may want refer to the UCSD campus website for further information on the wide range of academic supports available for students on campus. You can also come to my office hours or make an appointment.

How to write: see pdf on Canvas “Who is your audience?”. See also Writing Support: https://writinghub.ucsd.edu/for-undergrads/index.html

A short guide to Community Based Participatory Action Research: https://hc-v6-static.s3.amazonaws.com/media/resources/tmp/cbpar.pd

Covid-19 and UC Strike Reset: our highest priority in our class is social and emotional learning. If you have non-emergency physical or mental health concerns, please contact the following student support systems: Covid-19 guidelines: https://returntolearn.ucsd.edu/campus- guidelines/testing-and-screening/student-screening-and-testing/index.html

Student Health Services: https://studenthealth.ucsd.edu; Counseling and Psychological
Services: https://caps.ucsd.edu

Emergency Preparedness:https://blink.ucsd.edu/safety/emergencies/preparedness

Week 1: 

Introduction. Being nature (hiking, camping, foraging, trips to wilderness). Writing Environments: keep a journal for the entire quarter.

Schedule and organize a hiking trip, camping, trip to the the UCSD Nature Reserves, trails, wilderness, foraging, the zoo. These activities are voluntary. Brainstorm some possibilities with your section and TA. Write about it.

En-vision, imagine, design, and plan on how, where, and when you want to be in or be wilderness. Make a schedule, hike, camp, and write a journal about the experience. Optional. Voluntary. If you do go, please sign the liability waiver form: 

https://blink.ucsd.edu/_files/safety-tab/risk/general-waiver.pdf

Readings (see Modules also):

Hendro Sangkoyo, `Loss, Healing and Struggle': 

https://www.wrm.org.uy/bulletin-articles/loss-healing-and-struggle

Nafisa Tanjeem, `Lessons from Palestinian Feminist Organizing': https://www.newagebd.net/article/227317/lessons-from-palestinian-feminist-organising#google_vignette

Zakaria, The Camphor and the Elephant 

Mawson, Incomplete Conquests

Jacobin, The Good Die Young (on Henry Kissinger)

Dina Gilio-Whitaker, 2020.  “The Problem With Wilderness”. https://www.uuworld.org/articles/problem-wilderness

The Word for Woman is Wilderness: https://www.literature.green/en/feminizing-wilderness-writing-in-the-anthropocene/

Wilderness, Nature Writing: https://www.eou.edu/mfa/wilderness-writing-concentration-overview/

Foraging: https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2021/09/09/173838801/meet-alexis-nikole-nelson-the-wildly-popular-black-forager

Dispossessing the Wilderness: Indian Removal (see three Chapter pdfs on Canvas).

Christopher J. Keller, 2005. “Of Gardens and Classrooms, Plants and Discourse,” in Writing Environments.

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, 2022. The Best American Nature & Science Writing 2022 (See Modules, Canvas for pdfs).

 

Brainstorming possibilities for places to go exploring/hiking:

Scripps Coastal Reserve: hiking trip: https://nrs.ucsd.edu/reserves/scripps/index.html

UC San Diego Natural Reserve Systems. Schedule and RESERVE your visit at this website: https://rams.ucnrs.org/

Mission Trail/s: 1 Junipero Serra: https://mtrp.org/

El Prado: for May 27 (holiday): will discuss this more. With Outback Adventures.

Pine Creek Wilderness: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detailfull/cleveland/specialplaces/?cid=stelprdb5286397&width=full

Global (for Summer; or Virtual):

Indonesia: https://indonesia.wcs.org/Wild-Places.aspx

Gunung Leuser, Sumatra:

https://en.unesco.org/biosphere/aspac/gunung-leuser

https://globalconservation.org/projects/leuser-national-park-indonesia/

Read and research on: The Coral Triangle (in Southeast Asia) and Marine Biodiversity:

https://oceanconservancy.org/blog/2022/08/25/coral-triangle

https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/okeanos/explorations/10index/background/biodiversity/biodiversi ty.html

 

Week 2: 

Wild Women. Untitled Movement. Guest Speaker, April 8, Monday: Jessica Rabanzo-Flores: https://www.untitledmovement.com/meet-jess

Guest Lecturer's bio:
Jessica Rabanzo-Flores (she/her) is a dance artist, educator and choreographer native to San Diego. She grew up training and performing with Eveoke Dance Theatre. She holds BAs in Dance and Sociology from UC Irvine. She was the winner of San Diego Dance Theater's Young Choreographers Prize in 2013. She has been commissioned to create works for Malashock Dance, Gotham Dance Theater (NYC0 and Canyon Crest Academy. She is currently choreographing at Mesa College as an Adjunct Professor. She is a certified trauma-informed personal trainer and founder of her own dance-inspired fitness method `Untitled Movement'. She trains clients (both virtual and in-person) and teaches class virtually and at San Diego Dance Theater. Jessica is in her second season as a company dancer with Malashock Dance. She recently choreographed and performed a dance entitled `she is what she is and she is whole' - an exploration of the wild woman archetype, expressed in a singular woman and then amongst four women, inspired by the book `Women Who Run With the Wolves' by Clarissa Pinkola Estes; and performed in `Companions' a contemporary dance performance inspired by Arshile Gorky's `Child's Companion' at the San Diego Museum of Art, Balboa Park.

De-colonizing “wilderness”. 

What if wilderness is home? 

Readings, films (also see Modules):

Trance and Dance in Bali, documentary film, on “wild women”; also Aswang, film.

Claire Holt, Chapter 4: "The Dance," in Art in Indonesia: Continuities and Change, Cornell University Press, 1967.

Kecak, Monkey dance, Bali:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViKT5gPoZW8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCUdEnGvYFk

 

John Muir, Wilderness Essays (see Modules, Canvas for pdf).

The myth of a wilderness without humans: https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-myth-of-a-wilderness-without-humans/

Ferdinand Malcom, 2022. Decolonial Ecology: Thinking from the Carribean World, Polity Press, 2022.

Muir College, Land Acknowledgement: https://muir.ucsd.edu/about/MuirandtheEnvironment/land-acknowledgment.html

Critical debates about John Muir:

https://muir.ucsd.edu/about/MuirandtheEnvironment/index.html#Critical-Debates-About-John-Mui

The Miseducation of John Muir:

https://longreads.com/2016/07/26/the-miseducation-of-john-muir/

What makes us human: on de-wilding and re-wilding:

https://aboutplacejournal.org/article/what-makes-us-human/

 

Week 3: 

On Human zoos, “Wild women”, “wild peoples”, “outsiders”, Aswang (women half-human, half-wild animal), Mermaids, "jungles" in Southeast Asia

Mulaika Hijjas, “The English Tiger,” in Petals of Hibiscus, e. M. Quayum, Petaling Jaya: Pearson Malaysia, 2003.

Living Side by Side with Tigers: https://indonesia.wcs.org/News-Room/Events-Announcements/ID/14635/KOMPETISI-ILUSTRASI-LIVING-SIDE-BY-SIDE-WITH-TIGER.aspx

Human zoos and exhibits. https://ca.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/1904-worlds-fair-exhibition-of-the-igorot-people/asian-americans/

https://archive.advancingjustice-la.org/what-we-do/curriculum-lesson-plans/asian-americans-k-12-education-curriculum/episode-1-lesson-1-1904

Mark Dowie, Conservation Refugees: The Hundred-Year Conflict Between Global Conservation and Native Peoples. MIT Press, 2011.

Nick Joaquin, “The Summer Solstice”, in Tropical Gothic, University of Queensland Press, 1972.

James Scott, The Art of Not Being Governed: An Anarchist History of Upland Southeast Asia, Yale University Press, 2010. Read the following Chapters: Introduction; State Space; Orality

Benedict Anderson, “An Outsider’s View of Thai Politics”: https://prachatai.com/english/node/2694

Barbara Humberstone, “Becoming a ‘mermaid’: Bodies and technologies : myth, reality, embodiment, cyborgs, windsurfing and the sea,” in Living with the Sea, Routledge, 2018.

Week 4: 

Environmental and Climate Justice. Environmental Racism.

Global Indigenous Peoples’ Movements.

Iha ailaran (in the jungles); guerrillas in the jungles. Mapping and Counter-mapping.

Required Readings:

Chad Brown, “Racial Injustice Pervades our Wilderness”: https://columbiainsight.org/racial-injustice-pervades-our-wilderness-a-change-of-heart-is-needed/

Greta Gaard, "Feminism and Environmental Justice," The Routledge Handbook of Environmental Justice, Routledge, 2017.

Beyond Extractivism: A Material Transition, War on Want: https://waronwant.org/sites/default/files/2021-03/A%20Material%20Transition_report_War%20on%20Want.pdf

Sexy Killers: oil and big coal: https://news.mongabay.com/2019/04/in-sexy-killers-journos-probe-indonesian-candidates-ties-to-big-coal/

Rise of Electric Cars Threatens Philippine Forests, PCIJ: https://pcij.org/article/7649/rise-of-electric-cars-threatens-philippine-forests

Do research on the recent COP 27 (Egypt) and COP 15 (Montreal); United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP); Early Warning Systems.

Climate Controversies in Southeast Asia, organized by Stiftung Asienhaus in
Germany: https://www.asienhaus.de/aktuelles/climate-controversies-in-southeast-asia- weekly-digital-lecture-series

Decolonising Gender and Climate Change, organized by University of Leeds: https://climate.leeds.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Decolonising-Gender-and-CCC- final.pdf

 

Essay on Nature Writing is due.

 Who is your audience/reader?

What do you want your audience/reader to know about and understand?

What is the question/problem you want to answer/understand?

What is the story you are trying to tell? What is the narrative and counter-narrative?

What has already been written (literature review) about this topic/problem/story?

Week 5:

Indigenous Belief Systems and Practices of Conservation. Environmental History.

Tarabandu. Indigenous practices of conservation. Timor Leste/East Timor. https://news.mongabay.com/2018/10/timor-leste-maubere-tribes-revive-customary-law-to-protect-the-ocean/

Benjamin Madley, An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846-1873, Yale University Press, 2017.

William Skeat, Malay Magic: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/47873/47873-h/47873-h.htm

“Climate Imperialism in the 21st Century”: https://monthlyreview.org/2022/07/01/climate-imperialism-in-the-twenty-first-century/

During Week 5: Sign-up for Oral Group Presentations (see Discussions).

Week 6: 

Being Wilderness.

Ocean as Method (see readings).

Ruy Cinatti, Motivos Artisticos Timorenses e a Sua Integracao. Lisboa, Instituto de Investigacao Cientifica Tropical, Museu de  Etnologia, 1987.

Roxana Waterson, The Living House.

Multi-species justice

Animal Legal Defense Fund, Rights of Nature: https://aldf.org/article/ecuadors-constitutional-court-rules-wild-animals-are-subjects-of-legal-rights-under-the-rights-of-nature/

“Borders of Care: Ethnography with the Monarch Butterfly”: https://americanethnologist.org/features/reflections/borders-of-care-ethnography-with-the-monarch-butterfly

Katharina Fackler & Silvia Schultermandl, “Kinship as critical idiom in Oceanic Studies,” in, Atlantic Studies, Routledge, 2022. (pdf, Canvas)

The more-than-human politics of cities: Multi-species policy futures and nature-based solutions: https://gssc.uni-koeln.de/en/veranstaltungen/public-lecture/pl-22-4-27-maller-afas

My grandmother/grandfather crocodile (Avo lafaek, Timor Leste/East Timor): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cxxCPaRIrA

 

Week 7: 

Wilderness and Conflicts over Natural Resources

Film, El Territorio and other films; create your own short films. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Territory_(2022_film)

San Diego Environmental Film Festival: https://sdeff.org

Rainforest Action Network, Publications. Choose your readings: https://www.ran.org/publications/

Global Indigenous Peoples’ Movements; Alianza Global de Comunidades Territoriales:

https://www.instagram.com/globalalliancet/

The Global Indigenous Movement to Fight Climate Chante, NY Times:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/01/opinion/climate-change-indigenous-activists.html

Ocean as Method

Elizabeth Deloughrey, “Toward a Critical Ocean Studies for the Anthropocene,” English Language Notes, Volume 57, Number 1, Duke University Press, 2019.

Chris Armstrong, Blue New Deal: Why we Need a New Politics of the Ocean. Read Intro: A Blue New Deal; Sea Level Rise; The Rights of Marine Animals (on Canvas, Module 8).

https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300270402/a-blue-new-deal/

Dilip Menon:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JHzYYKI0MQ

 

Week 8

Oral  Presentations Begin.

Dilip Menon, Nishat Zaidi, Malhotra Simi, Saarah Jappie, “Ocean Histories: From the Terrestrial to the Maritime,”Ocean as Method: Thinking with the Maritime, Taylor and Francis, 2022 (read an excerpt, not entire book): https://www.foyles.co.uk/witem/history-politics/ocean-as-method-thinking-with-the,dilip-m-menon-nishat-zaidi-simi-malhotra-saarah-jappie-9781032246772

Markus Rediker: Against Terracentrism: Oceans as Sites of Struggle in History; Maritime Radicalism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TkVpjVXVvE

Week 9: 

Learner-centered activities. Student Oral Presentation = your Final Exam is Oral. Peer evaluations (active listening and constructive evaluating for those who are not presenting). Sign-up on Week 5 in Canvas, under Discussions for your thematic topics.

Week 10:

Last week of classes.

Oral Presentations and Concluding remarks.

Additional Resources on Environmental and Climate Justice:

All readings will be on Canvas under each week’s Module and also under Files.

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP): Multi-hazard early warning systems: https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/major-new-project-enhance-early-warning-systems-increased-climate

Gender Action Plan, Green Climate Fund: https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/fp171-gender-action-plan.pdf

Gender, Global Environment Fund: https://www.thegef.org/what-we-do/topics/gender

Rainforest Action Network, Indigenous Communities are Forest Defenders: https://www.ran.org/issue/frontline-and-indigenous-communities-forest-defenders/

Our Children's Trust: https://www.ourchildrenstrust.org/

Greenpeace: https://www.greenpeace.org/southeastasia/press/58630/west-papuan-indigenous-defender-files-lawsuit-over-palm-oil-company-forestland-grab/

Additional resources, films, materials, events will be shared throughout the course by the instructor, TAs, and students...work-in-progress, learner-centered/student-centered contributions and processes...as new updates come up.

Resources for UCSD Students:

The Wealth of Resources that Support Student Health and Well-Being

 

The start of a new year provides an opportunity to reflect on personal well-being, refresh our habits and grow awareness of the many UC San Diego Health programs, services and resources for our undergraduate, graduate and professional students.

Below are brief descriptions of valuable resources that may be helpful in the coming year. Peers, faculty and staff who interact regularly with students can also use this list as guideline to available resources. Follow the links to learn more about individual programs and services.

We are grateful to each of you for all you do to ensure UC San Diego is a place where every student thrives.

Online Peer Support

Togetherall
Togetherall is a safe, free, online mental health support community where students may anonymously connect with others who understand what they're going through – 24/7.

Triton2Triton
Triton2Triton is a supportive, online connection space where students may connect via chat with trained peers who understand what they're going through and can help with navigating resources.

Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)

CAPS provides no-cost, integrative, student-centered services that are designed to support UC San Diego students’ academic success, personal development, and holistic well-being.

CAPS services include:

  • Culturally-sensitive, and confidential counseling services – including individual, couples, family and group counseling; crisis/urgent care interventions; and referral services
  • Psychiatric services and consultation
  • Tritons Rise Together workshops and community drop-in forums grounded in the science of optimal well-being and peak performance
  • “Let’s Talk” – informal support sessions designed to provide practical strategies, information, and support regarding general wellness-related issues
  • A Wellness Peer Education Program, nationally recognized as a model of best practice for empowering students to develop leadership and helping skills
  • Mental health and prevention programming focused on stigma-discrimination reduction and community-building
  • Innovative, self-guided technology programs that provide mental health at your fingertips
  • Student mentoring and advocacy
  • Outreach and consultation services for faculty, staff and university administrators
  • Referral to off-campus resources for students who would be best helped by longer-term care, or for those with chronic mental health concerns.

All registered UC San Diego students may access CAPS services by calling 858-534-3755 or visiting the CAPS website.

Well-being Services via Student Health and Health Promotion Services

Student Health Services
The team of health professionals at Student Health Services is here to support UC San Diego students’ well-being by providing on-campus, holistic, preventive care, as well as treatment for illness, injuries, and medical conditions.

For a full range of services and hours, please visit the Student Health Services website.

Behavioral Health
The Behavioral Health Services Team – comprising a Student Health Services social worker and CAPS psychologists/psychiatrists – works collaboratively to provide focused, targeted care (e.g., insomnia, anxiety, adjustment to medical diagnoses, stress management, etc.) as well as support with referrals to community resources, mental health providers, medical specialists, and basic needs resources.

Students may schedule an appointment with the Behavioral Health Team by calling SHS Group 3 at 858-534-5571.

Disordered Eating Treatment
Student Health and Well-being employs a multidisciplinary treatment team equipped to treat common co-occurring conditions, including body dysmorphic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Students may inquire about the Eating Disorders Treatment Team by calling Student Health Services at 858-534-3300 or Counseling and Psychological Services at 858-534-3755.

The Zone
The Zone is a lounge for student well-being designed to promote healthy, balanced living. In support of the eight holistic dimensions of well-being, it offers programs such as stress management workshops, cooking demonstrations, and crafting projects. Between programs, The Zone is a space to relax, hang out, study, and destress.

Visit The Zone in Price Center Plaza to connect with yourself and other students, as well as learn more about wellness resources available throughout campus.

Gender-Affirming Care
We understand that students who identify as part of the transgender, non-binary, or gender non-conforming community may be coping with a unique set of stressors and challenges. Student Health Services is committed to providing respectful, gender-affirming medical care.

Please visit the Transgender Care page on Student Health Services’ website to learn more.

Health Coaching
UC San Diego offers free, 45-minute coaching sessions with a health educator who can help students make simple lifestyle changes that support overall health, as well as personal and academic success.

Health coaches can address a broad variety of health issues, such as: weight loss, stress reduction, management of chronic conditions, improving diet and exercise, tobacco cessation, addiction, sexual health, and adjusting to life-altering health events.

To schedule an appointment with a Health Coach, please visit the Health Promotion Services website.

Substance Use Support
UC San Diego’s Health Promotion Services team offers a variety of recovery, education, and preventative support resources for those navigating substance use/abuse.

To learn more about the substance use/abuse supports available to UC San Diego students, please visit the Health Promotion Services website.

Recreation: Promoting Physical Well-Being

UC San Diego Recreation offers activities and resources to help students embrace fun, manage stress, develop resilience, seek adventure, build community and enrich their lives. Activities include yoga classes, Esports and Sports Clubs, Intramurals, backpacking through the Sierra Nevada, learning to cook healthy meals, weekly Trivia Nights, being a lifeguard, and more.

Visit the UC San Diego Recreation website to see a list of current offerings.

Basic Needs

Basic Needs refers to the most essential resources required to thrive as a student, which include access to nutritious food, stable housing, and financial wellness resources. The Hub Basic Needs Center provides resource referrals and services for registered UC San Diego undergraduate and graduate and professional students.

The Hub Basic Needs Center is located in the Original Student Center and can be reached by phone at 858-246-2632.

Campus Community Centers

Campus Community Centers aim to build affinity among a diverse population of students, faculty, and staff at UC San Diego – contributing to the evolution of our socially just university.

Emergency Support

Triton CORE
Triton CORE is UC San Diego’s mobile crisis response team that provides compassionate, mobile crisis response, mental health wellness checks, and telehealth assessment for students facing mental health challenges, substance-use related crises, and other forms of distress.

Triton CORE may be activated by calling UC San Diego Police Dispatch at 911 or 858-534-4357.

CAPS Crisis Line
Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) offers 24-hour crisis counseling services outside of operating hours.

The CAPS Crisis Line may be activated by calling CAPS’ main number at 858-534-3755, and selecting option 2.

Sexual Assault Response Resources

CARE at the Sexual Assault Resource Center provides violence prevention education for the entire UC San Diego campus and offers free and confidential services for students, staff and faculty impacted by sexual assault, relationship violence and stalking.

Visit the CARE at SARC website to learn more.

Supporting Students in Distress

Below are resources that support students whose academic progress or functioning in the university environment is adversely affected.

Triton Concern Line
UC San Diego faculty and staff members who are concerned about a student may utilize the Triton Concern Line 24 hours-a-day.

Referrals will be routed to third-party services for assessment, and then follow-up by university professionals (Student Affairs Case Management Services, Deans of Student Affairs, Assistant Dean of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs, etc.)

Faculty and staff may report their concerns about distressed/distressing students by calling the Triton Concern Line at 858-246-1111.

Triton Concern Form
UC San Diego faculty, staff, fellow students, and community members may utilize the Triton Concern Form to refer students for support.

Deans of Student Affairs

The Undergraduate Colleges are available to support students who experience challenges that impact their well-being and academic success, and the student’s Dean of Student Affairs is available as a resource to help students in distress with navigating challenges and accessing resources.

The Deans of Student Affairs can help in any of the following ways:

  • Working with students to understand their needs and coaching students on how/where to access resources;
  • Connecting students to appropriate College resources (e.g., Academic Advising, Residential Life, Writing Program, and/or Office of the Provost);
  • Helping students get connected to College and campus involvement opportunities;
  • Providing immediate connection to support services, including activation of the Temporary Housing Protocol and/or Emergency Meal Assistance Program;
  • Connecting students requiring formal accommodations to the Office for Students with Disabilities;
  • Outreach to faculty for students who need short-term flexibility for serious disruptions to their academics (including support for students who are in isolation due to COVID-19;
  • Coordinating with International Students & Programs Office (ISPO) on behalf of international students who need support for visa issues or whose home countries are experiencing turmoil;
  • Coordinating with Counseling and Psychological Services for student-specific workshops and 1:1 counseling; and
  • Referring students to Student Affairs Case Management Services and coordinating ongoing support with their assigned case manager.

See the College Resources page or below for college-specific contact information.

Student Affairs Case Management Services

Student Affairs Case Management Services (SACM) creates a culture of care via inclusive, comprehensive support services that empower UC San Diego students to address all aspects of their health and well-being.

In collaboration with university and community partners, SACM triages and addresses student distress that interferes with their learning, development, or success – by ensuring that identified students are connected to appropriate resources.

SACM does this via:

  • Navigation of institutional processes and paperwork 
  • Collaboration with Undergraduate Deans and Graduate Assistant Deans of Student Affairs
  • Basic Needs Resources and Students with Dependents consultations
  • Providing insurance and resource navigations
  • Assisting with Office of Student with Disabilities accommodations
  • Offering long-term care and support
  • Providing training to faculty/staff/students training to support students in distress

Non-UC San Diego Resources

Call 988 | Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide or having a mental health crisis, dial 988 to get help. Callers will be connected to a trained counselor at a local call center and ultimately routed to potentially lifesaving support services.

Call 211 | San Diego Database
211 San Diego is a free, 24-hour confidential phone service and searchable online database of more than 6,000 services and resources that are updated on a real-time basis, with Community Connectors that help connect San Diegans to the accurate information they need. 211 San Diego is the region’s trusted source for information and connections to community, health, and disaster resources. Help is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and in more than 200 languages.

Contacts

Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
Email: vcsa@ucsd.edu
Phone: 858-534-4370 
Website: studentaffairs.ucsd.edu

Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)
Phone: 858-534-3755
Website: caps.ucsd.edu

Student Health Services
Phone: 858-534-3300
Website: studenthealth.ucsd.edu

Student Affairs Case Management Services
Email: sacm@ucsd.edu 
Website: sacm.ucsd.edu

 

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