2018 Conference

Poster Presentation

It can be difficult to attract non-environmental majors to environmental classes, especially at a small religious institution. In Spring 2017, I taught the first iteration of a course titled, “Zombie Apocalypse.” I noticed that certain students (most commonly those who identify as politically or religiously conservative) were more likely to accept pro-environmental messages if such messages were packaged in terms of survival and self-reliance. In the second offering (Spring 2018), my goal is to present sustainability in terms of survival and self-reliance, using lessons from “doomsday prepping”, minimalism, homesteading, communalism, and permaculture, to a class comprised mostly of non-environmental majors. I will present zombies as a metaphor for unsustainable behavior, and “the apocalypse” as an outcome to be avoided through sustainability. I will administer a pre-course and post-course survey to determine changes in attitudes toward pro-environmental messages. I will have my students present a similar survey to groups of students, faculty, and staff during an environmental festival in April. The survey will be part of a traditional skills and simple-living demonstration during the festival. The goal is to determine if others will support pro-environmental practices if those practices are presented in this context. I will conclude with a classroom discussion or series of interviews to discuss changes in attitude more deeply. My intended outcome is that by presenting sustainability in more entertaining or congenial package, recalcitrant students (especially conservative or evangelical Christians) will be more likely to support pro-environmental messages and practices. This is an exploratory study in pedagogy to determine if a deeper study is justified in the future.