Dr Lee Raye.. Bushcraft Instructor???

[Greg]

Made an enquiry earlier for a bushcraft course.. I was told it was being run by a certain Dr Lee Raye.
There is no doubt the Dr (Non-Binary individual) is a genuine Educator / University Lecturer, but have any of you heard of him in Bushcraft Circles and is he known as a Bushcraft Instructor??

 

[Woody girl]

Is this a distance learning course from the usa.? That's all I could find.
Dr lee raye (medical) sana university distance learning bushcraft course. There was a pdf to download to get details,, not going to bother doing that to get more info that I dont want myself.
Never heard of him/her, and I doubt many if any this side of the pond will have either, though you may be lucky..

 

[Greg]

Is this a distance learning course from the usa.? That's all I could find.
Dr lee raye (medical) sana university distance learning bushcraft course. There was a pdf to download to get details,, not going to bother doing that to get more info that I dont want myself.
Never heard of him/her, and I doubt many if any this side of the pond will have either, though you may be lucky..

This is the one I am asking about.

Lee Raye | The Open University - Academia.edu

THE ATLAS OF EARLY MODERN WILDLIFE - my new book, is out in June 2023 (I'm really excited!) It draws together 10,000+ records of wildlife from 200+ sources…

open.academia.edu

 

[C_Claycomb]

Nope. Not heard of that one.

Have you read down the list of papers and conference talks on that page? If it were me, I would not find the list of subjects and titles encouraging for a bushcraft course instructor. They seem a little eclectic and those relevant to bushcraft appear so only in the most tangential manner.

I would contrast that with the work of Lisa Fenton, a lecturer at Cumbria University, who appears to be far less published, but who has a very solid background in bushcraft.

If I was looking for an instructor from academia, I would prefer one with a resume like Lisa's, rather than one that contains papers about the feeding habits of swallows, the medieval mania for beaver, Arthurian legend and the use of whale bone in Wales.

 

[Woody girl]

I'd be giving that a swerve.!
Money better spent on other courses with better known and accredited persons.
I've heard good reviews of Paul kirtly, and there are many other good ones online from known providers, or free you tube courses on relevant subjects such as mushroom and tree ident.
Go for them.

 

[Greg]

Nope. Not heard of that one.

Have you read down the list of papers and conference talks on that page? If it were me, I would not find the list of subjects and titles encouraging for a bushcraft course instructor. They seem a little eclectic and those relevant to bushcraft appear so only in the most tangential manner.

I would contrast that with the work of Lisa Fenton, a lecturer at Cumbria University, who appears to be far less published, but who has a very solid background in bushcraft.

If I was looking for an instructor from academia, I would prefer one with a resume like Lisa's, rather than one that contains papers about the feeding habits of swallows, the medieval mania for beaver, Arthurian legend and the use of whale bone in Wales.

Totally agree

 

[Suffolkrafter]

I've heard good reviews of Paul kirtly

I'll second that. Just started the tree and plant ID course. Early days, but so far it's excellent.

 

[Paul Moseley]

I can confirm, Dr Fenton is just phenomenal and her work on bushcraft, both in her own writing and through the Master's degree pathway in Bushcraft, is just wonderful

 

[Spirit fish]

Made an enquiry earlier for a bushcraft course.. I was told it was being run by a certain Dr Lee Raye.
There is no doubt the Dr (Non-Binary individual) is a genuine Educator / University Lecturer, but have any of you heard of him in Bushcraft Circles and is he known as a Bushcraft Instructor??

Read books then get out there save your money buddy

 

[nigelp]

Read books then get out there save your money buddy

I’ve just spent two days on a trailing course with Jon Rhyder from Woodcraft School. Those two days taught me far more than all of the books I had read and the practice I had done prior to it.

 

[Tengu]

Theres a Masters in Bushcraft now?

 

[C_Claycomb]

Well, not exactly.
Experiential and Outdoor Learning Masters degree.

404 | University of Cumbria

www.cumbria.ac.uk

Stuart is on the course and we had an interesting chat about some of the work.

 

[Paul Moseley]

It is a Masters degree pathway. The degree issued is Experiential and Outdoor Learning (Bushcraft).

 

[TLM]

Hmm... Bushmaster?

 

[C_Claycomb]

It is a Masters degree pathway. The degree issued is Experiential and Outdoor Learning (Bushcraft).

Aye, but according to the chap on the course, there is less of what we think of as bushcraft making up graded work than you might think from how we are all talking about it.

 

[Paul Moseley]

I am on the course.

It is not about skill progression certainly, it is more concerned with understanding the origins, contemporary use and exploring new lines of inquiry for bushcraft from different cultural and philosophical perspectives.

 

[TLM]

it is more concerned with understanding the origins, contemporary use and exploring new lines of inquiry for bushcraft from different cultural and philosophical perspectives.

Sorry but that sounds a bit fishy. Has there been anything useful so far?

(PS. "fishy" might very well be the wrong word to imply a slightly suspicious skepticism (this from a fairly pragmatic engineer).)

 

[Paul Moseley]

Sorry but that sounds a bit fishy. Has there been anything useful so far?

oh indeed. It has been fascinating and has helped me develop a new kind of practice that I doubt would have been available to me otherwise . Why do you think it sounds fishy?

 

[C_Claycomb]

Sorry but that sounds a bit fishy. Has there been anything useful so far?

Fishy in what way? You weren't expecting an academic Masters Degree program to be all hands-on skill based, where you? That would be like expecting a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering to teach you how to repair your car. You want that, you go on a shorter, less academic, course to become a mechanic. You don't study for a Masters so that you can just be better at bow drill or shelter building any more than you do to be better at swapping piston rings or replacing a clutch.

That is what I meant about there being less of what folk here might think of as "bushcraft" in the course.

Hats off to you Paul, it wasn't clear to me from your earlier post that you were actually on the course yourself.

 

[TLM]

Why do you think it sounds fishy?

The idea of "theoretical bushcraft" is something I did not think existed. Apparently it does.

I do have a MS in mechanical engineering and it did include quite a lot of hands on doing. I did not change piston rings but placed more than a few strain gauges and measured a lot of strengths and stiffnesses on various things. Had to put together a lot of test rigs too.