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Integrating SUSTAINABILITY into Core Programs at UNC-Asheville
Grace G. Campbell, MLAHumanities ProgramUNC-AshevilleMarch 19, 2012
“Whenever society faces large problems, there is a tendency to think that either their roots or
their solutions lie at least partly in the educational system.” Andrew Brennan, 2008
“What if higher education [were] to take a leadership
role, as it has in the space race and the war on cancer, in providing the knowledge to achieve a just and
sustainable society? Second Nature. Education for Sustainability,2008
2012 Sustainability - core public value in society and in Higher Ed
Purpose of Educating for Sustainability:
To cultivate engaged, informed citizens capable of leading good lives and contributing to betterment of society and all life
Undergirding Values of Sustainability
1. Obligations to future generations2. Duty to increase/ protect human well-
being3. Duty to reduce global environmental
harm/ transnational injustice4. Stewardship of nature
Sustainability in Education: UNCA Rationale
Keep pace with contemporary environmental discourse
Prepare students for eco-focused future Implement Goals of UNC Tomorrow
Respond to student interest/demand Uphold UNCA’s mission -
interdisciplinarity/engagement UNCA Strategic Plan
Sites of Sustainability Education: Why Core Curriculum?
Every student across curriculum
UNCA Integrative Liberal Studies (ILS) Model (supports new course design)
UNCA Interdisciplinary Humanities Program (team-designed/ team taught)
Sustainability: (df) Pluralist Definition
UNCA FOCUS ON INTERDISCIPLINARITY
Capacity to endure and flourish:
Sciences: empirical /material
Social Sciences: choice architecture/ policy
Humanities: values /culture
Challenges addressed in curriculum
1. Inadequate Knowledge/ Concepts
Scientific uncertainty Lack of e-literacy Cradle-to-Grave design Risk Analysis v. Risk
perception Public Goods
Challenges addressed in curriculum
2 Inadequate Policies/ Mechanisms
Collective action problem (diffuse responsibility)
Perverse incentives Lack of human agency
Challenges addressed in curriculum
13. Un-sustainable Values
High social discount rate Nature/culture split Consumerism/
Greed/Materialism
“Sustainability Norms” (as taught in ILS)
Conservation /Limits to Growth
New concepts of human flourishing
New concepts of rational choice (satisficing)
Cosmopolitanism: global citizenship transnational solidarity
Biophilia
Global Justice / Human Rights
1. Senior Capstone ColloquiaLS 479: Cultivating Global
Citizenship
2. Undergraduate Research
How we do it:General Education at UNCA
LS 479 Course Learning Outcomes LS 479 Outcome 1:
Students analyze and interpret primary texts in Eastern and Western ethics in terms of the structure of arguments, the historical context of the works, and the students’ own values.
LS 479 Outcome 2: Students can explain the concept of sustainability-including its economic, social
and environmental aspects and can evaluate sustainability initiatives using contemporary ethical theory and ideas.
LS 479 Outcome 3: Students can explain, in scholarly written form, how cultural contexts have
produced humanity’s most significant global challenges, and how these contexts must also inform ethically-motivated responses.
LS 479 Outcome 4: Students can produce a written assignment or class project on engaged global
citizenship that links to their accumulated undergraduate learning and demonstrates understanding of diverse, contemporary ‘knowledges’ and cultures.
Sustainability at UNCA: Structural Advantages custom-published “Asheville
Readers” (Copley)
regional emphasis on outdoor recreation
Small campus (@ 3600 students)
Culture of Team-designed courses
“Common Lecture” format
Integrative liberal Studies Program (ILS)
Undergraduate Research
Sustainability in Core Programs:Shared Concepts
“cradle-to-cradle” biodiversity anthropogenic change collective action problems “tragedy of the commons” non-renewability “maldevelopment”
Sustainability: Auxiliary Learning Outcomes
Understanding Intersections (race / class / ethnicity)
Understanding human agency / choice architecture
Analyzing technology Familairity with global
studies/ multi-cultural studies
Cross-disciplinary cooperation
Sustainability: Sample texts Singer, Peter, “Animal Liberation”Tom Regan, The Case for Animal RightsAmartya Sen, Development as FreedomArne Naess, “The Deep Ecological Movement: Some
Philosophical Aspects”Berry, Wendell, “Manifesto: Mad Farmer Liberation Front.” Bryan Norton, “Environmental Ethics and Weak
Anthropocentrism”Deen, Islamic Environmental EthicsDillard, Annie. From: “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.”Dobel, Patrick, “The Judeo-Christian Stewardship Attitude to
Nature.” Dykeman, Wilma, “Who Killed the South French Broad?” Gordis, Robert, Judaism and the EnvironmentHardin, Garret, “The Tragedy of the Commons.” Keown, Buddhist Environmental Ethics Kuhn, Thomas, “Scientists and their Worldviews.” Leopold, Aldo, “Thinking Like a Mountain.” Leopold, The Land EthicLester Brown, “The Economy and the Earth”Lovins, Amory, “Technology is the Answer (But What Was the
Question?)” McDonough and Braungart, Cradle to Cradle
Paul Taylor, “The Ethics of Respect for Nature”Peter Singer, One WorldSallie McFague, “The World as God’s Body”Vandana Shiva, “Development, Ecology, and Women”Wilson, Edward O, “Storm Over the Amazon” Wilson, Edward O, The Diversity of Life
Sustainability Education:general working areas
Apocolyptic tone No “value-free” ideals Neglect of “urban environment” Starting late More faith-based content Book prices
Sustainability Impacts (UNCA)
Increased numbers of undergraduate research projects related to sustainability
Measurable increase in the number and scope of courses incorporating Sustainability
Further integration of environment content in humanities disciplines