Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability
June 13 - 14, 2012
Sustainability across the Curriculum Workshop
With all the environmental problems facing Americans—including global weirding, biodiversity loss, ocean acidification, resource depletion, soil erosion, etc.—it’s time for the college curriculum to signal students that environmental issues are essential to their future. And students want such engagement. At St. Olaf, for example, 76 percent of our entering students consider themselves environmentalists. Eighty-five percent of first-year Oles think that environmental literacy is an important part of a college education, and 58 percent support a general education requirement for environmental literacy. And their interest isn’t just informational or theoretical. Almost 71 percent of our students say that “one of the things I expect to learn in college is how to live an environmentally responsible life.” Your students are probably similar—they know that, for them, sustainability isn’t an abstract word. It’s their life—or not.
So plan to be a part of a workshop on Sustainability across the Curriculum to be held at St. Olaf College June 13-14 this year. Modeled on the faculty leadership workshops of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) and of the Upper Midwest Association for Campus Sustainability (UMACS), the gathering at St. Olaf will provide chances for individual faculty to re-think courses to see where the big ideas of their disciplines might intersect profitably with the big ideas of sustainability. And it will also provide suggestions for ways that faculty might be more involved in the sustainability initiatives on their diverse campuses.
The workshop will be facilitated by Jim Farrell and Jon Jensen from Luther College. Jon teaches courses in Philosophy and Environmental Studies at Luther College, where he’s been a leader in sustainability initiatives. Both Jon and Jim were invited to attend the AASHE curriculum workshop in San Diego in 2010, which resulted in the publication called Sustainability Curriculum in Higher Education: A Call to Action. Jon is also a board member of AASHE and UMACS, so he has finger firmly on the pulse of sustainability efforts in higher education.
Jim teaches courses in History, American Studies, and Environmental Studies at St. Olaf, including Environmental History, The Culture of Nature, Campus Ecology, and Imagining Environmentalism. He’s a member of the Sustainability Task Force at St. Olaf, and the author of The Nature of College: How a New Understanding of Campus Life Can Change the World(Milkweed Editions, 2010), which explores the intersections of college culture, consumer culture and the environment.
Conference on Worship, Theology and the Arts
July 16 - 20, 2012
Bring your event to St. Olaf
St. Olaf College provides an ideal venue for meetings, seminars, conferences, receptions, camps and special events. Our beautiful hilltop campus near the Twin Cities permits you and your attendees to focus on your objectives — from productivity and learning to creativity and celebration. We'll take care of the comfortable meeting rooms, state-of-the-art media, custom catering, ample free parking and gracious service. You just gather everyone for a first-class event.
Set atop Manitou Heights in historic Northfield, Minnesota, St. Olaf is one of the most beautiful campuses in the Upper Midwest. Complementing this idyllic setting are flexible meeting sites that are ideal for your function.
If you are interested in bringing your event to St. Olaf, visit here for more information, e-mail events@stolaf.edu or call 507-786-3043.
Summer guests Campus Policies 2010
For information on college events visit the master calendar.
