2018 Conference

Individual Paper Presentation

Introductory environmental science courses for non-majors could be a pathway for recruiting students from marginalized communities into the field of environmental science. But as this presentation proposes, standard topics, assumptions, and assignments in such courses may need re-framing to provide a more welcoming entry point for these students, whose perspectives, strengths, and sensitivities frequently differ from those of more traditional ES students.

Every marginalized community is different and presents different issues and opportunities for teaching. This presentation is based on experience teaching introductory ES for non-majors at a Hispanic-serving community college where classes are racially, ethnically, and economically  diverse, and students come from the inner city neighborhood adjacent to the school, as well as from suburbs and small New England towns. The presentation examines such issues as: how is it the same or different to teach consumerism and the ecological footprint to students whose families run out of food before the end of the month and whose health would improve if they could consume more rather than less? How does the oft-repeated assumption that poverty is a major cause of environmental degradation play out with these students? How can a student’s direct, lived experience with environmental injustice be an asset for the course, more than his or her poor science background (frequently a reality thanks to underfunded K-12 schools in the inner city) makes for a liability? Finally, what are some useful ways of conceptualizing “environment” and “ecosystem” for students who urgently need to understand their environment, dominated as it is by pavement and human-made structures?