Penn State’s Sustainability Institute and the Penn’s Woods Program invite all faculty, graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants, and student organization leaders to attend a 4-part series on sustainability education. Beginning on November 18, 2021, the SI will host sessions focused on key content areas, sharing lessons and course designs, and how to use different media, including art and storytelling, to develop sustainability competencies in our students. Each session will occur on Thursdays during lunchtime and the Common Hour held at Commonwealth Campuses (12:20-1:20 PM EST).

2021 has made the case for a broader and deeper curriculum for sustainability unavoidable. Disasters in California, Oregon, Louisiana, and New Jersey show that a hotter globe creates a more violent atmosphere. In waters all around the world, nutrient pollution from agriculture, industry, urban development, and plastic consumption and waste are harming small waterways, bays, lakes, and the ocean. As the United States has woken up to the tragic legacy of systemic and institutionalized racism and injustice, many have brought environmental justice to the fore. At the same time, artists from every media and genre, from sculpture, fiction, or popular music to drama, painting, dance have incorporated themes of sustainability and unsustainability into their work through content or materials.

Faculty from across the Commonwealth will share their experiences in sustainability education. They will introduce educators and leaders to new ways of teaching and communicating and help sustainability education advocates connect while building their skills. Short presentations of lessons, assignments, activities, course designs, and other curricular developments will be followed by question-and-answer sessions and discussion. All are welcome.

Dates and contents: 

November 18, 2021:   Climate Change

February 17, 2022:      Environmental Justice

March 17, 2022:          Water

April 21, 2022:             Stories, narrative, and art

Faculty can request to join the cohort on Teams at Sustainability in Our Classrooms.

Faculty interested in presenting a course, lesson, or unit can contact PeterBuck, SI’s Academic Programs Manager, at PeterBuck@psu.edu.