I recall that time as a special time and can still say, even after all these years, that this was a course that I got more out of than any other course that I had previously taken or have since taken. It was the start of what would be my choice of a career to study the mysteries of the fungus world. Although I have studied fungi because they are of interest to me, over the years, I have accumulated a great deal of practical knowledge concerning fungi and thought that this knowledge could be presented in a fashion that would be of interest to the nonscience students since fungi have a daily impact on our lives. I had in just reading about various aspects of fungi. The goal of this course is to study the impact that fungi have on the world around us.
Fungi have both a negative and positive impact in nature and on humankind.
Some of the topics that will be covered include the roles that fungi have played in well known historical events, their activities as decomposers, pathogens and symbionts, and their uses in cultures throughout the world in religious ceremonies, food and beverage productions and as recreational drugs. The specific topics are listed in the Botany 135 Syllabus.