2015 Conference

Full Presentation Panel

Individual abstracts

Making ESS Relevant -- Pedagogical Implications of Class Background

Sasha Adkins, Antioch University New England, sasha.adkins18@gmail.com

How do we translate the principles of environmental justice into pedagogy? How do we create learning communities where we practice what we preach? I propose, for the sake of discussion that just as a community or an ecosystem is only as healthy as are its most vulnerable members, so a classroom is only healthy and functional when we care for our most vulnerable members. How do we model for students an equitable balance of voice and power in the classroom, particularly when the teacher was raised with more societal privilege than her or his students?   

Amy Knisley, Warren Wilson College, aknisley@warren-wilson.edu

Am *I* Environmental? Privileging 'Privilege' in Environmental Policy Instruction

In teaching environmental policy and law, the intellectual and practical skills involved in framing and articulating problems, and in advocating certain solutions, are natural opportunities to explore the existence and impacts of privilege as it has become manifest in our canon of environmental law and policy. In this session, we briefly consider how the impact of race, ethnicity (especially tribal affiliation), gender, and rurality is evident in certain common environmental policy topics, and discuss some in- and out-of-class pedagogical techniques for positioning various "others" in the role of "environmentalist."

Nancy Rich, Springfield Technical Community College, nrich@antioch.edu

When Students are from Environmentally Unjust Urban Communities: Implications for ESS Teaching 

Abstract

How is it the same or different to teach “ecological footprint” to students whose income scarcely buys enough food to get through the month?  What does the notion of keeping a journal of outdoor nature experience mean to inner city students who fear they will get shot if they linger outside? What does it mean to teach environmental appreciation when students and their families are not from here, and this land and weather feel alien?  How does discussion of poverty as a cause of environmental degradation play out with students who are but a small step from poverty themselves?  This presentation explores issues, assumptions, and research needs that arise in teaching environmental science in an inner city community college.

Integrating Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science into Forestry, Natural Resources, and Environmental Programs

Priya Verma, California Polytechnic University, pverma@calpoly.edu

A new minor titled Indigenous Studies in Natural Resources and the Environment (INRE) has recently been approved (i.e., 2013) at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California.  The INRE Minor became operational and available to students in the Fall 2013 quarter.  The INRE Minor aims to bring together principles of both Indigenous knowledge and western science.  Instruction in these two approaches is intended to provide students with the necessary skills, practical knowledge, research skills, and critical thinking skill to address complex environmental issues and natural resources management problems facing both indigenous and non-indigenous communities around the world today.  The INRE minor seeks to prepare students by providing a balanced education in the arts, sciences, and technology while encouraging inter-disciplinary and co-curricular activities.  This paper reports on the need for the INRE minor, learning outcomes, curriculum, approval process, student interest surveys, and enrolled INRE students focus group observations.