2015 Conference

Discussion Symposium

The proposed session builds on a mini-symposium, titled “Status Quo, Conflict, and Innovation in the ESS Curriculum,” to be published in the Journal of Environmental Studies & Sciences (JESS), and presents an opportunity for broader discussion by members of the ESS community. Key questions include “Is there a status quo in today’s ESS curriculum, and if so, how was it achieved?”; “What remain (or have emerged) as some of the major conflicts regarding the ESS curriculum, and how shall we understand and address these conflicts?”; and “As we consider the ESS curriculum in future, what are some possible and desirable paths for innovation?” The JESS mini-symposium features seven peer-reviewed articles on a variety of contemporary curricular issues in ESS, including the pre-undergraduate and undergraduate ESS experience; the role of objects, regions, and sustainability; the role of organizations such as the College Board and the National Council for Science and the Environment; and the range of implicit claims regarding social change and power embedded in undergraduate ESS curricula. Session participants will briefly summarize these papers, offer their own perspectives, then facilitate broader discussion, ultimately focusing on implications for the future ESS curriculum. In order to sustain discussion following the session, mini-symposium editors will extend an invitation for brief written comments to be submitted to JESS, to which authors will respond in an upcoming issue. Based on attendance and participation at a related session held at the AESS 2014 conference in New York City, we expect the proposed session to be well attended and generate lively discussion. Ultimately, we hope that the session will offer a forum for deeper discussion of the frameworks, actors, and norms upon which the future ESS curriculum will be constructed.