Is the St. Olaf Curriculum Sustainable? Could it be? Should it be?
Wednesday, October 10
Jim Farrell, History, American Studies and 2007-08 CILA Associate
members of the CILA Associate Learning Community on curriculum and sustainability
(co-sponsor: Environmental Studies)
In the 1960s, Paul Goodman advised students to “Think about the kind of world you want to live and work in. What do you need to know to help build that world? Demand that your teachers teach you that.” Increasingly, it seems that students (and not just Environmental Studies majors) will need to know how to build a sustainable world in the 2010s and beyond. Does the St. Olaf curriculum equip them to do that? When they graduate, do they know enough about environmental issues, private and public possibilities, ethical and aesthetic choices, global citizenship and civic engagement? If not, what should the faculty and staff of the college do to encourage (or require) some form of ecological literacy and/or engagement? In this session, Jim Farrell and a group of ecologicians in one of this year’s CILA learning communities will offer a few ideas (some contrarian) and facilitate a discussion.
For something to think about in the meantime, considering reading David Orr’s Earth in Mind: On Education, the Environment and the Human Prospect (Washington: Island Press, 2004).
