MMC Declares 2008-09 The Year of the Environment

“Human life depends on a healthy and sustainable environment, and we need to figure out what that is and how to attain it,” Assistant Professor of Philosophy Carrie Ann Biondi, Ph.D., said.

Ten courses with an emphasis on environmental issues are being offered this semester at MMC, including Digital Imaging, Evolution, Communications Today, Natural Disasters and the Environment, Social Issues in Literature, Environmental Science, World Geography, Environmental Ethics, Green Political Thought, and Writing Seminar on Environmental Policy.

Through this new initiative, students will also have the opportunity to minor in Environmental Studies, providing students with a basic scientific understanding of the natural world and its connection to human societies and individuals; an awareness of social, political, cultural and ethical issues related to the environment; problem solving skills in topics of local, regional and global importance; and an appreciation for the importance of multiple perspectives in understanding environmental issues.

In “Environmental Ethics,” Dr. Biondi will challenge students to explore open-ended questions, such as how human interaction with nature is changing, whether free enterprise or government regulation is the best way of responding to environmental issues, and if capitalism can be compatible with environmental sustainability.

“I see this course as giving students both the literacy needed to understand the metaphysical and ethical terms and perspectives involved in debates over environmental issues and the critical thinking skills needed for them to evaluate these debates for themselves,” Dr. Biondi said. “Taking appropriate action in relation to the environment presupposes that one knows what an environment is and that one has justified beliefs about environmental issues. Essentially, then, it is about learning how to think well before we act, so that our environmental awareness is an informed one.”

Alongside this course, each student has the option of choosing to volunteer a minimum of 20 hours throughout the semester with an environmental organization. 

“They will reflect on those experiences in an on-going critical response journal,” Dr. Biondi said, “and then write a ten-page policy analysis essay for their final project that integrates course readings with their volunteer experience in relation to a particular environmental issue.”

“Natural Disasters and the Environment,” taught by Assistant Professor of Physics Kelsey Jordahl, Ph.D., offers a topic that engages the interest of many people and provides an opportunity to learn about science, environmental issues and their connections to people’s lives. More prominently, the course investigates the forces that drive natural disasters, as well as human efforts to mitigate the destruction natural disasters cause.

“From one standpoint, what we call natural disasters are just the normal workings of the Earth that have been going on for millions of years,” Dr. Jordahl said. “Volcanoes, earthquakes, storms and floods have always happened, and will continue to happen regardless of what we do. From another standpoint, they become disasters because of our we build in floodplains or low-lying coastal areas, we build structures in fault zones that can’t stand up to the earthquakes that will happen there eventually, and we live in the shadow of volcanoes. We deal with all of these issues in the course.”

Within the “Senior Art Seminar,” one of the course threads offered is the “Artist in the Year of the Environment,” which challenges students to formulate a greener practice. Students in “Digital Imaging I” are working on one commercial and five creative assignments linked to the environment.

“The Year of the Environment” will increase awareness about environmental sustainability and protection, while simultaneously encouraging individual and collective action that will have a positive impact on the environment, and ultimately shrink the carbon footprint of the MMC community.

MMC will also integrate curriculum with co- and extra-curricular activities and events across campus. Co-curricular activities will include guest speakers, panel discussions, Honors Day presentations, Hewitt Gallery of Art exhibitions and video exhibitions. The College will sponsor activities, such as an alternative environmentally themed spring break, a commencement speaker from the field of environmental science and grassroots student efforts to promote environmental awareness and activism.

The Hewitt Gallery of Art has scheduled “Viridis I,” part one of a two-part exhibit that looks at nature and our relationship to it. In this collection, artists work in a variety of media to ask the viewer to acknowledge the fragility of our planet. Part two is scheduled to coincide with National Environmental Education Week and Earth Day. The exhibition will run from January 12, 2009-February 3, 2009.

“I think [examining our impact on the environment] is one of the most important issues of our time,” Dr. Jordahl said. “It requires that we engage scientists and policymakers as well as the general public. The science is a big challenge, and providing nonscientists with an understanding of what we know and how we know it is an even bigger challenge.”

Marymount Manhattan College is an urban, independent, liberal arts college. The mission of the College is to educate a socially and economically diverse population by fostering intellectual achievement and personal growth and by providing opportunities for career development.

Published: September 16, 2008