ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: A CONTEXT FOR LEARNING ABOUT THE EARTH

The InTeGrate project is fostering teaching of geoscience in the context of societal issues, both within geoscience programs and across the curriculum. The motivation is to link learning about our science to understanding its role in our society--both to increase interest in learning about the Earth and to better prepare the workforce for the future. Environmental justice which addresses the equitable distribution of risks and resources provides a powerful context for learning about the Earth because it brings together personal and community impacts with the scientific examination of the cause and effects of environmental contamination. In spring 2013, thirty faculty from humanities, social science, geoscience, math and physics came together to explore how issues and actions related to environmental justice are currently incorporated in the curriculum, the role of geoscience in those activities, and new ways in which we may be better able to integrate geoscience and environmental justice. Participants came to understand the breadth of approaches that different disciplines bring to this topic as well as their shared challenges. Key pedagogic discussions included strategies for approaching difficult topics, for developing empathy, maintaining hope, and developing agency. A collection of teaching activities demonstrates a wide variety of approaches from cyber-mediated ethnography to analysis of a Peruvian copper case study. Two modules are being developed by interdisciplinary teams for use in geoscience courses and beyond: one addressing environmental justice and fresh water resources, and a second addressing sensory mapping of the environment.