Newswise — What is the best way to fully appreciate Henry David Thoreau's classic book, Walden?

For a May Experience course at Furman University this spring, the answer was a bit unusual. Spend one week reading the book and another week building a replica of the rustic cabin that Thoreau lived in while writing much of the book.

"It's been a really positive experience," said David Bernardy, a Furman English professor who is teaching the three-week course. "For many of the students, it was their first exposure to the book, and I think the experience of reading Thoreau has been deepened by the time they spent building the cabin."

The idea for the course was born when Richard Robb of Boca Grande, Fla., said he wanted to donate funds to Furman in honor of his love for Thoreau's ideas and his appreciation of Furman president David Shi's book, The Simple Life: Plain Living and High Thinking in American Culture.

After several discussions, he and Shi decided to showcase Furman's commitment to engaged learning and purposeful living by developing a course whereby students and professors would build a replica of Thoreau's cabin in a wooded area near the 30-acre lake on Furman's campus.

The class began on May 11 with 12 students. After reading Walden and Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self Reliance" along with other supporting texts, the students began constructing the cabin the following week.

It was shipped in kit form by the New England Nests company, and assembled under the guidance of Furman's carpentry shop. Students hammered nails and even used a hand drill to help secure the foundation.

Students also helped build the furniture that goes inside the house, including chairs and a writing desk. Bernardy said that they decided to leave out the bed so there would be more space inside the cabin.

Like Thoreau's cabin, the structure is 15 feet by 10 feet with two windows, a door, a chimney and a loft. It is located in a grove of trees on the far side of the lake, about the same distance that Thoreau's cabin sat from Walden Pond.

"I didn't know a lot about Thoreau or Walden coming into the class," said Katie Love, a freshman from Columbia who has yet to declare a major. "But it's been a great course, and it's been really fun building the cabin. It's taught us the importance of embracing nature and the simple things of life."

The students have been keeping a journal of their experiences and will spend the final week of the course coming up with ways that the Furman campus and surrounding community can make good use of the cabin. It's already been decided the cabin will be used as a teaching tool and learning laboratory for classes covering such subjects as environmentalism, philosophy and literature.

"Walden's message is particularly relevant given our current economic condition and a renewed national interest in environmental concerns," Bernardy said. "I think one of the things the students are particularly proud of is the opportunity to build a lasting structure here on campus and take part in something that will outlast their time at Furman."