Anthropocene U: Academic Responses and Responsibilities at Lakehead University
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Lakehead University Knowledge Commons,http://knowledgecommons.lakeheadu.ca Electronic Theses and Dissertations Electronic Theses and Dissertations from 2009 2015-06-15 Anthropocene U: Academic responses and responsibilities at Lakehead University Gerum, Natalie http://knowledgecommons.lakeheadu.ca/handle/2453/625 Downloaded from Lakehead University, KnowledgeCommons ANTHROPOCENE U ANTHROPOCENE U: ACADEMIC RESPONSES AND RESPONSIBILITIES AT LAKEHEAD UNIVERSITY By Natalie Gerum A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education FACULTY OF EDUCATION LAKEHEAD UNIVERSITY THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO August, 2014 ii ANTHROPOCENE U Abstract This thesis explores the stories of six faculty members and administrators at Lakehead University who are responding to the Anthropocene through their academic work. Their stories suggest that there are barriers facing academic engagement with the Anthropocene and the associated possibilities for action are uniquely empowered by the particular position and privileges of higher education; rich tensions arise in exploring the response-ability of the academy to the Anthropocene. I consider the planetary and pedagogical contexts from which this research develops. Then, turning to participant stories, I look to appreciative inquiry, narrative inquiry, and place inquiry to guide my interactions with their experiences in ways that intend to grow the community of scholars responding to the Anthropocene at one Canadian university, Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. I next introduce the participants and the site of research through a series of vignettes, and explore the experiences of participants as they work to respond to the current moment on the planet. Their stories begin to illustrate the parallels between how neoliberalism has helped usher in the Anthropocene and has shaped the university in ways that minimize its ability to respond. The final chapter speaks to possibility and presents participants’ visions for a University more responsive to the Anthropocene, illustrated by photographs of places that reflect participants’ understandings of what is possible and that integrate place-voice into the research. This thesis concludes by summarizing key themes, and by daring readers to consider their own response-abilities in the Anthropocene. iii ANTHROPOCENE U Table of Contents Abstract ii Table of Contents iii Acknowledgements vi Epigram vii Chapter I: Introduction: Intentions, In-Tension and Inquiry 1 Research Questions and Inquiry Framework 2 Research Stories 4 The Unfolding Story: An Outline of The Thesis 5 We Know What We Know From Where We Stand: 7 My Story of Sustainability in Higher Education Finding My Place: Discovering Place-Based Education 9 Leaving and Returning to University 10 The Problem, the People, and the Centre for Place and 12 Sustainability Studies In-Tension: The Individuals and The Institution 13 Chapter II: Issues and Context 16 The Planetary Context: From Planet Earth to Planet Emergency 16 The Anthropocene 18 The Pedagogical Context: Universities in the Anthropocene 21 What Is Sustainability? 22 Sustainability in Higher Education 25 Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Place 27 The Explicit, Implicit, and Null Curricula in 30 Sustainability in Higher Education Civic Learning and Engagement 32 Neoliberal (yo)U: Neoliberalism, Higher Education, and the Anthropocene 34 Summary 38 Chapter III: Methodology and Methods 40 Introduction 40 Qualitative Research Approaches 41 Asking Meaningful Questions: Three Strategies of Inquiry 42 Appreciative Inquiry: Critical Appreciation and Appreciative Critique 43 Narrative Inquiry: Meeting the People 47 Place Inquiry: I am NOWHERE, I am NOW HERE 48 Methods 50 Interviews: Participant Narratives 50 Photographs: Place Narratives 52 Documents: Institutional Narratives 53 iv ANTHROPOCENE U Who’s Who: Anonymity in Research 54 Summary 55 Pause 57 Chapter IV: Stories of Response-Abilities in the Anthropocene 60 Introduction 60 Resistance and Reflection: My Researcher Role Revisited 61 Resistance and Neoliberal Numbing 61 Reflection and Neoliberal Norming 62 Introducing Participants 64 Connie Russell 66 Rod Hanley 67 Paul Berger 68 Todd Randall 69 David Greenwood 70 Mirella Stroink 71 Introducing Place 72 Lakehead University 74 Harvesting The Learning: Introduction 75 Environmental Connection and Ethics of Care: Connecting to Place 75 Personal Connection and Expressions of Mentorship: Making a Place 79 Radical Relationships 83 Critical Pedagogy: The Importance of Teaching and Curricular Freedom 86 Neoliberal (yo)U II: Lakehead University as a Research-Intensive Institution 93 Participant Narratives on Research and Teaching 95 Institutional Narratives on Research and Teaching 98 Summary 104 In-Tension: Academic Freedom and Consent in the Anthropocene 105 The Neoliberal Nature of Limits 109 Summary 112 Chapter V: Anthropocene (yo)U 114 Privilege and Possibilities 115 Who’s Responsible For This? Lakehead University 118 Changing the Climate of Lakehead University 121 With Great Freedom Comes Great Response-Ability 123 With Great Response-Ability Comes Great Freedom 125 We Imagine What We Imagine From Where We Stand 126 Connie Russell 129 Rod Hanley 131 Paul Berger 133 Todd Randall 135 David Greenwood 137 Mirella Stroink 139 Practicing Possibilities 141 v ANTHROPOCENE U Summary 144 Natalie Gerum 146 References 152 Appendix: Interview Guide 164 vi ANTHROPOCENE U Acknowledgements To the many teachers along the way: thank you for making universities, for me, places to belong, to experiment, to be courageous, to learn, to be thoughtful, and to be heart-full. To the participants in this research: thank you for the stories you are writing and for the honour of the opportunity to co-author with you a challenging and beautiful story of response-ability at Lakehead University. To David Greenwood: thank you for the long walks, through words and through woods, thank you for the tenacity to keep walking and to keep writing, thank you for the opportunity to share deep grief and deep joy, and thank you for making Lakehead University a place where we can all grow the world we imagine. To: Jill Greenwood, Eli Greenwood, Ivy Greenwood, and Kate Greenwood: thank you for becoming our Boreal Forest family, and for the knowledge that there would always be a warm fire, a warm meal, and warm smiles to be shared. To Connie Russell: thank you for your unwavering support, for your commitment to creating educational experiences that matter to this moment on the planet, for teaching us all to spend our privilege, and for teaching me all that is possible as an activist academic. To Paul Berger: thank you for the opportunity to live out my learning, for your belief in my ability to teach, for your determination in bringing climate change to the classroom, and for the many ways you create communities of action and of change. To the wonderful women of the work dates: thank you for always being up for another early morning or late night of writing, for the many cups of coffee, for sharing frustrations and triumphs with such vulnerability, and for all of your encouragement. To friends: thank you for understanding, for celebrating every small step of progress, for keeping me nourished through potlucks and hugs, and for always being there with laughter, kind words, and open hearts. To family: thank you for believing in me, for being my champions, for loving me on the grumpy days, and for all of the reminders that school doesn’t define my value as a human on this planet. Thank you for teaching me what it is to be so loved To Raphael: thank you for every time you said, “Courage, mon amour” as I walked out the door for another day of writing, thank you for teaching me what it is to be wild with joy, thank you for teaching me what it is to say yes, and thank you for loving me exactly as you do. I am the luckiest human on the planet to be gifted this life to walk around the world with you. Je t’aime. vii ANTHROPOCENE U Water’s rising, knee-deep and climbing, politicians go rowing by Photo albums float by me broken, dreams leaking out, all their memories die Would we feel the ending, if it all started again? This time with new faces, our lives trading places In a sad and beautiful world In these times, these dangerous times, a world held down by backwards minds There’s a baby born on a cold winter’s morn In a sad and beautiful world, in a sad and beautiful world I could sing this same song over, I could sing it again and again I won’t be the first and I won’t be the last - The Clash poured the gas in me when I was a kid Young minds, a new generation, revolution is in your hands Take the reins back, step on our canes, Jack Don’t look back, just take a stand ~ Danny Michel and the Garifuna Collective (2013), Sad and Beautiful World All I want is to be a little part of the things that I love All I want is to make a little start on the things that I love Seems there’s lots of things that I could love ~ Old Man Ludecke (2008), Proof of Love 1 ANTHROPOCENE U Chapter I: Introduction Intentions, In-Tension, and Inquiry When asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same: if you look at the science about what is happening on earth and aren't pessimistic, you don't understand the data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren't optimistic, you haven't got a pulse. (Hawken, 2009, para. 5) The purpose of this research is to explore how one university currently engages with the Anthropocene, and how this engagement might be amplified. The need for universities to act as responsive institutional citizens to issues of social and ecological justice is well established in the literature (Evans, 2012; Greenwood, 2012; Orr, 1994, 2010; Rees, 2003).