TEACHING SUSTAINABILITY: CAN YOU TEACH A PESSIMISTIC SUBJECT OPTIMISTICALLY?

“Life is a race between education and disaster.” (H.G. Wells)

In the next few decades of this Anthropocene time, the future of civilized society will be determined by the interactions of humans with the rest of the ecosystem, and with each other. Metaphorically, the American visionary Stewart Brand said: “We are as gods and might as well get good at it.” Short of a disaster, it will be difficult to change the ways of the current generation of adults, and so we must educate our children and students to prepare for their own future. For my first attempt to teach sustainability issues at the University level, I tried to balance reality and pessimism, with optimism and action ideas. To encourage students from a variety of departments, the only prerequisite was introductory geology, geography, or atmospheric sciences. The 13 students were from geology, atmospheric sciences, agriculture, law, and religious studies. “The Cartoon Guide to the Environment” by Gonick and Outwater was successful and popular as a text because of both the content and style, and it set the background for many detailed discussions. We supplemented it with data by reading and discussing the entire Science series on “The State of the Planet” (Science, Nov.-Dec., 2003).

Each week, students brought in current events-- relevant environmental news that caught their attention, ranging from serious and grim to outrageously funny. These snippets promoted discussion, allowed the students to express issues important to them, and provided me with a real-time indicator of their interests and concerns. There were two homework exercises (Ecological Footprint, 7 Generations). Ecological Footprint stimulated a number of resolutions for individual behavior change. 7 Generations gave them a historical perspective (7 Generations back) and the chance to project into the future (7 Generations Forward). Throughout the course, they role-played different interests in a debate on “The Future of Megadams” for a fictitious National Academy of Sustainability. The key to avoiding cynicism or undue optimism in the course seemed to lie in blending factual information, interpretations, action ideas, humor, and student input about their world and reactions to current events. Student evaluations provided a sound basis for material to keep, and material to change.