Peter Blaze Corcoran
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PETER BLAZE CORCORAN College of Arts and Sciences Florida Gulf Coast University Fort Myers, Florida 33965-6565 Office Telephone: (239) 590-7166 Office Facsimile: (239) 590-7200 Electronic Mail: [email protected] Academic Experience Academic Field: Science and Environmental Education Academic Programs: Ed.D., University of Maine, 1985, Orono, Maine M.Ed., University of Maine, 1981, Orono, Maine A.B., Antioch College, 1972, Yellow Springs, Ohio Academic Honors: Phi Kappa Phi Professional Experience University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya 2013-2014 Fulbright Grantee. I was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship for the 2013-2014 academic year at University of Nairobi in Nairobi, Kenya. Starting in September 2013, I will assist the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies (WMI) in realizing its mission and in achieving its strategic intent. This work will entail researching and writing an educational program for their consideration. The project will also include developing models of both academic programs and community environmental education programs and disseminating information about them. Specifically, the Institute has asked me to provide research assistance in advancing a draft for its recently approved Ph.D. program in Environmental Management and Governance, and in developing a master’s degree. I will also work to advance an international, intergenerational, informal network of centers of which FGCU is the secretariat. This work will be done in coordination with the United Nations Environment Programme headquartered in Nairobi. Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, Florida 1997-Present Professor of Environmental Studies and Environmental Education, College of Arts and Sciences, and Director of the Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education. I developed and coordinated the University Colloquium: A Sustainable Future, a course in ecological literacy required of all students. I teach a range of courses across the College in environmental studies, and work across all colleges toward the goal of keeping environmental education at the center of the academic program of one of America’s newest universities. I have engaged in a full range of University service including the Peer Review Committee, the President’s Environmental Stewardship Advisory Council, 1 and the Quality Enhancement Program for University re-accreditation. I currently serve on the Environmental Sustainability Subcommittee of the Planning and Budget Council. In 2003-2004, I developed an educational research and action center. The Center opened in 2004, and has now established itself in several signature areas, including the Rachel Carson Distinguished Lecture Series and a range of scholarly activities related to sustainability and to the Earth Charter. Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia 2010-Present Visiting Professor, Centre for Global Sustainability Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). Globally renowned as a university committed to environmental sustainability and poverty alleviation, USM employs a multi-disciplinary approach to research problems in Malaysian society and in the world community. In 2010, I was appointed as a Visiting Professor attached to the Centre for Global Sustainability Studies (CGSS). I advise the new Centre on its development in scholarship. This work includes the development of publications in a “Policy Discussion Series on Sustainability and Development.” My first scholarly initiative, undertaken with the Center’s editorial team, is an extended policy brief, “The Ethical Dimension of Sustainability in Higher Education: Applying the Principles of the Earth Charter in Malaysia and Beyond,” published in 2012. The University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji 2007-Present In 2010, I received an honorary appointment from the Vice Chancellor as an Adjunct Professor at The University of the South Pacific. I am attached to the School of Islands and Oceans and to the Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development. While on sabbatical in 2007, I engaged in collaborative research with members of the Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment, including developing a formal partnership with Florida Gulf Coast University. Specific projects included research in education for sustainable development, work as a researcher and participant observer in the United Nations University Partnership with The University of the South Pacific (USP) on a Regional Centre of Expertise, and work as a critical friend with the Asia- Pacific Cultural Center of UNESCO Partnership on a Regional Centre of Excellence. I have modest ongoing collaborative work with members of the Faculty of Education, including research in indigenous knowledge and in translation of the Earth Charter into the five major languages of the South Pacific island nations. I assisted in the preparation and presentation of a plan for education for sustainable development for the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, which was presented to the Pacific Ministers of Education in Auckland, New Zealand. Earth Charter Initiative, San Jose, Costa Rica 2002-Present Senior Advisor to the Earth Charter Initiative. I worked with the Steering Committee of the Earth Charter Commission and with the professional staff on a range of strategic, financial, and programmatic issues. I served as an active member of the Earth Charter Education Advisory Committee and work worldwide with educators using the Charter. I organized participation by governmental and non-governmental organizations in the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development Type II Partnership, “Living Sustainably with the Earth Charter.” Recently, I have edited two books on the Earth Charter and helped plan an international meeting in Amsterdam in 2005 to recognize five 2 years of Earth Charter activity. In 2006, I was invited to serve on a new Earth Charter Council of Advisors. Florida Gulf Coast University is now officially recognized as an Affiliate of the Earth Charter Initiative as a center for Earth Charter Education. In 2010, I am engaged in many Earth Charter +10 activities, including speeches on five continents. University Leaders for a Sustainable Future, Washington, D.C. 2000-2009 Senior Fellow in Education for Sustainability. I have consulted with a wide variety of organizations on the assessment of sustainability in higher education, including the Associated Colleges of the South and the South Carolina Sustainable Universities Initiative. I helped to organize international consultations on assessment in Washington and in Lüneburg, Germany. I helped found the Global Higher Education for Sustainability Partnership (GHESP), consisting of three consortia of universities, including the International Association of Universities, and UNESCO. I served as task master for eighteen months in 2001-2002. I have organized consultations on a GHESP Project, “Envisioning Sustainability in Higher Education.” In 2004, these were held in the Czech Republic, Sweden, Japan, Mexico, and the United States. In 2005, these were held in Canada, South Africa, and India. I worked with the Ubuntu Alliance of the United Nations University. More recently, I have focused on African Higher Education through a program of UNEP in Nairobi, Kenya, Mainstreaming Higher Education and Sustainability in African Universities. Currently, I am working to revitalize University Leaders for a Sustainable Future (ULSF) and to establish a home for it at Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang, Malaysia. Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands 2001-2002 Visiting Professor in the Communication and Innovation Studies Group of the Department of Social Sciences. I engaged in research on sustainability in higher education – editing a book and writing. I taught occasional classes and seminars. I am still actively involved in Dutch and European networks in higher education and environmental education. In 2007, I began a new editing project with Dutch colleagues which is leading to a book series to mark the UNESCO Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2005-2014. Four volumes have been published by the Wageningen Academic Press as of 2012. Bates College, Lewiston, Maine 1992-1997 Chair of Education Department and Associate Professor of Education. I taught a range of philosophical, pedagogical, and methodological courses. I was responsible for the management of a small academic department and coordinated its work with the rest of the College, the Maine Department of Education, and the public schools. I was responsible for the academic program and its curricular revision, and Maine State Board of Education approval. Extensive college committee service, including the Committee on Environmental Studies, which established the academic major. Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 1995 Visiting Academic, Faculty of Environmental Sciences. I consulted with faculty and graduate students and participated in several writing projects and classes. My projects included work on UNESCO’S Learning for a Sustainable Environment Project, as well as 3 work with the UNESCO Principal Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific Region in Bangkok. I was invited to serve as an external examiner for masters and doctoral theses. Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania 1989-1992 Assistant Professor of Education. I taught courses in the foundations of education, senior seminars in pedagogy, and supervised student teachers in schools throughout the Philadelphia area. I instituted Swarthmore’s first academic offerings in environmental