Sustainability: Higher Education's New Fundamentalism

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Sustainability: Higher Education's New Fundamentalism SUSTAINABILITY HIGHER EDUCATION’S NEW FUNDAMENTALISM March 2015 NAS A report by the National Association of Scholars SUSTAINABILITY HIGHER EDUCATION’S NEW FUNDAMENTALISM March 2015 NAS NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SCHOLARS RACHELLE PETERSON PETER W. WOOD © 2015 National Association of Scholars © Cover Image: Andrew Burton/Getty Images ABOUT THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SCHOLARS Mission The National Association of Scholars is an independent membership association of academics and others working to sustain the tradition of reasoned scholarship and civil debate in America’s colleges and universities. We uphold the standards of a liberal arts education that fosters intellectual freedom, searches for the truth, and promotes virtuous citizenship. What We Do We publish a quarterly journal, Academic Questions, which examines the intellectual controversies and the institutional challenges of contemporary higher education. We publish studies of current higher education policy and practice with the aim of drawing attention to weaknesses and stimulating improvements. Our website presents a daily stream of educated opinion and commentary on higher education and archives our research reports for public access. NAS engages in public advocacy to pass legislation to advance the cause of higher education reform. We file friend-of-the-court briefs in legal cases, defending freedom of speech and conscience, and the civil rights of educators and students. We give testimony before congressional and legislative committees and engage public support for worthy reforms. NAS holds national and regional meetings that focus on important issues and public policy debates in higher education today. Membership NAS membership is open to all who share a commitment to its core principles of fostering intellectual freedom and academic excellence in American higher education. A large majority of our members are current and former faculty members. We also welcome graduate and undergraduate students, teachers, college administrators, and independent scholars, as well as non-academic citizens who care about the future of higher education. NAS members receive a subscription to our journal Academic Questions and access to a network of people who share a commitment to academic freedom and excellence. We offer opportunities to influence key aspects of contemporary higher education. Visit our website, www.nas.org, to learn more about NAS and to become a member. “The protection of planet earth, the survival of all species and sustainability of our ecosystems is more than a mission. It is my religion and my dharma.” - Rajendra Pachauri, former head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change TABLE OF CONTENTS Sustainability: Higher Education’s New Fundamentalism...............................................................................1 About the National Association of Scholars.............................................................................................................2 Table of Contents.....................................................................................................................................................................4 Tables and Key Illustrations...............................................................................................................................................8 Acknowledgements..............................................................................................................................................................10 Executive Summary..............................................................................................................................................................11 Introduction..............................................................................................................................................................................14 What Is Sustainability?................................................................................................................................................15 The New What?.................................................................................................................................................................18 Sustainatopians...............................................................................................................................................................19 Why College?.....................................................................................................................................................................24 Hurdles.................................................................................................................................................................................25 Ideology...............................................................................................................................................................................30 Catastrophe........................................................................................................................................................................31 Where Did Sustainability Come From?..............................................................................................................32 The Report...........................................................................................................................................................................33 Chapter 1: The Greening of the Curriculum...........................................................................................................35 Degrees of Sustainability...........................................................................................................................................37 Integrated............................................................................................................................................................................41 Bonanza................................................................................................................................................................................42 The Piedmont Project...................................................................................................................................................44 Environmental Humanities.......................................................................................................................................45 Living Laboratory............................................................................................................................................................49 Enchanted...........................................................................................................................................................................51 The Back Story..................................................................................................................................................................52 Prepositions and Sustainability..............................................................................................................................55 Chapter 2: The Anatomy of CSM..................................................................................................................................59 Launching the CSM........................................................................................................................................................62 Dissecting the Movement..........................................................................................................................................66 Diversifying the Movement.......................................................................................................................................71 Gender and Sustainability.........................................................................................................................................76 The Brundtland Report................................................................................................................................................79 Social Ecology...................................................................................................................................................................83 Power Shift.........................................................................................................................................................................85 Conservatives and Sustainability..........................................................................................................................87 Chronology.........................................................................................................................................................................91 Who’s Who in Sustainability....................................................................................................................................94 Chapter 3: The Global Warming Debate...................................................................................................................98 History...................................................................................................................................................................................99 Global Warming: Yes..................................................................................................................................................102 Global Warming: No...................................................................................................................................................106
Recommended publications
  • Jobs, Service, and Equal Opportunity in America's Clean Energy
    CORPS Jobs, Service, and Equal Opportunity in America’s Clean Energy Economy 2008 Green for All • Center on WisConsin strAteGy • Center for eConomiC And PoliCy reseArCh • Center for American ProGress ACtion fund ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND AUTHORSHIP The Clean Energy Corps is a proposal of the Clean Energy Corps Working Group, first convened in January 2007, which includes representatives of the Apollo Alliance, the Center for American Progress Action Fund, the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, Energy Action Coalition, Green For All, Innovations in Civic Participation, 1sky, and The Corps Network. For more information, contact Billy Parish ([email protected]). This paper was written by Jason Walsh with Lisbeth Shepherd, Dean Baker, Joel Rogers, Benjamin Goldstein and Bracken Hendricks. We would like to thank the following people who helped us improve this paper and the concepts behind it through their thoughtful comments: Mary Ellen Ardouny, David Bank, Elissa Berger, Eva Blake, Andrea Buffa, Kelly Causey, Amy Cohen, Maurice Emsellem, Kate Gordon, Tricia Griffin, Jeremy Hays, Van Jones, Joanna Lee, Philip Lovell, Billy Parish, Kevin Pranis, Sally Prouty, Debra Rowe, Louis Soares, Gene Sofer, Dorothy Stoneman, Eric Sundquist, Susan Stroud, Susan Tucker, Sarah White, Stockton Williams, and Senator Harris Wofford. CORPS Jobs, Service, and Equal Opportunity in America’s Clean Energy Economy 01 eXeCutiVe summAry 23 Green-CollAr job trAininG 03 introduCtion 28 ConClusion 07 hoW Would the CeC Work? 29 APPendiX A: Green-CollAr jobs in the ConstruCtion seCtor 15 enerGy effiCienCy retrofits 30 APPendiX b: other finAnCinG 19 Green nAtionAl serViCe meChAnisms for the CeC The CEC can capture the imagination of America, unite key constituencies, and motivate millions to act.
    [Show full text]
  • MS and Grad Certificate in Human Rights
    NEW ACADEMIC PROGRAM – IMPLEMENTATION REQUEST I. PROGRAM NAME, DESCRIPTION AND CIP CODE A. PROPOSED PROGRAM NAME AND DEGREE(S) TO BE OFFERED – for PhD programs indicate whether a terminal Master’s degree will also be offered. MA in Human Rights Practice (Online only) B. CIP CODE – go to the National Statistics for Education web site (http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cipcode/browse.aspx?y=55) to select an appropriate CIP Code or contact Pam Coonan (621-0950) [email protected] for assistance. 30.9999 Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other. C. DEPARTMENT/UNIT AND COLLEGE – indicate the managing dept/unit and college for multi- interdisciplinary programs with multiple participating units/colleges. College of Social & Behavioral Sciences D. Campus and Location Offering – indicate on which campus(es) and at which location(s) this program will be offered (check all that apply). Degree is wholly online II. PURPOSE AND NATURE OF PROGRAM–Please describe the purpose and nature of your program and explain the ways in which it is similar to and different from similar programs at two public peer institutions. Please use the attached comparison chart to assist you. The MA in Human Rights Practice provides online graduate-level education for human rights workers, government personnel, and professionals from around the globe seeking to further their education in the area of human rights. It will also appeal to recent undergraduate students from the US and abroad with strong interests in studying social justice and human rights. The hallmarks of the proposed
    [Show full text]
  • Academic Catalog 2015-‐‑2016
    1 ACADEMIC CATALOG 2015-2016 ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION TABLE OF CONTENTS • OFFICERS & TRUSTEES ................................................................................................. 4 • ACADEMIC CALENDAR ............................................................................................... 8 • ADMISSIONS ................................................................................................................ 14 • FINANCIAL AID ........................................................................................................... 21 • HOUSING AT TEACHERS COLLEGE ............................................................................. 22 • ACADEMIC RESOURCES AND SERVICES ..................................................................... 28 • STUDENT LIFE AND STUDENT SERVICES ..................................................................... 56 • REGISTRATION ............................................................................................................ 64 • GENERAL REQUIREMENTS .......................................................................................... 69 • POLICIES & PROCEDURES ............................................................................................ 75 • ACCESS TO SERVICES • ACCREDITATION • ATTENDANCE • CREDIT AND NONCREDIT COURSES • DEFINITION OF POINT CREDIT • FERPA • GRADES • GRADUATE CREDIT IN ADVANCED COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY UNDERGRADUATE COURSES • HEGIS CODES • INTER-UNIVERSITY DOCTORAL CONSORTIUM • NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY • OFFICIAL COLLEGE
    [Show full text]
  • FINAL Senate Letter on Stimulus Bill.Wps
    Beyond Nuclear ♦ Center for American Progress Action Fund Center for Auto Safety Clean Water Action Earthjustice ENVIRONMENT AMERICA ♦ Environmental and Energy Institute Friends of the Earth Greenpeace Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Natural Resources Defense Council Nuclear Information and Resource Service 1Sky Physicians For Social Responsibility Public Citizen Sierra Club Southern Alliance for Clean Energy SUN DAY Campaign 2020 Vision Western Organization of Resource Councils February 2, 2009 Dear Senator: The Senate Appropriations Committee has added an additional $50 billion in loan guarantees to the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009 to support energy technologies authorized under Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The vast majority of this authorization would likely go to technologies such as nuclear power and liquid coal. The nuclear industry has demanded $122 billion in loan guarantees to construct 21 new nuclear reactors, according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). There are numerous reasons why nuclear and liquid coal loan guarantees do not belong in an economic stimulus bill and we urge you to oppose this provision. First, these industries will not provide significant stimulus. The nuclear industry is not ready to build new reactors in the near-term. Even under the best-case scenarios for the industry, no new reactors will even be licensed for at least three years and they will take another six or more years to build. Similarly, there are very few liquid coal facilities that can go forward today. This provision would essentially allow developers to pocket stimulus funding for later at the expense of more immediate opportunities.
    [Show full text]
  • Aliens of Marvel Universe
    Index DEM's Foreword: 2 GUNA 42 RIGELLIANS 26 AJM’s Foreword: 2 HERMS 42 R'MALK'I 26 TO THE STARS: 4 HIBERS 16 ROCLITES 26 Building a Starship: 5 HORUSIANS 17 R'ZAHNIANS 27 The Milky Way Galaxy: 8 HUJAH 17 SAGITTARIANS 27 The Races of the Milky Way: 9 INTERDITES 17 SARKS 27 The Andromeda Galaxy: 35 JUDANS 17 Saurids 47 Races of the Skrull Empire: 36 KALLUSIANS 39 sidri 47 Races Opposing the Skrulls: 39 KAMADO 18 SIRIANS 27 Neutral/Noncombatant Races: 41 KAWA 42 SIRIS 28 Races from Other Galaxies 45 KLKLX 18 SIRUSITES 28 Reference points on the net 50 KODABAKS 18 SKRULLS 36 AAKON 9 Korbinites 45 SLIGS 28 A'ASKAVARII 9 KOSMOSIANS 18 S'MGGANI 28 ACHERNONIANS 9 KRONANS 19 SNEEPERS 29 A-CHILTARIANS 9 KRYLORIANS 43 SOLONS 29 ALPHA CENTAURIANS 10 KT'KN 19 SSSTH 29 ARCTURANS 10 KYMELLIANS 19 stenth 29 ASTRANS 10 LANDLAKS 20 STONIANS 30 AUTOCRONS 11 LAXIDAZIANS 20 TAURIANS 30 axi-tun 45 LEM 20 technarchy 30 BA-BANI 11 LEVIANS 20 TEKTONS 38 BADOON 11 LUMINA 21 THUVRIANS 31 BETANS 11 MAKLUANS 21 TRIBBITES 31 CENTAURIANS 12 MANDOS 43 tribunals 48 CENTURII 12 MEGANS 21 TSILN 31 CIEGRIMITES 41 MEKKANS 21 tsyrani 48 CHR’YLITES 45 mephitisoids 46 UL'LULA'NS 32 CLAVIANS 12 m'ndavians 22 VEGANS 32 CONTRAXIANS 12 MOBIANS 43 vorms 49 COURGA 13 MORANI 36 VRELLNEXIANS 32 DAKKAMITES 13 MYNDAI 22 WILAMEANIS 40 DEONISTS 13 nanda 22 WOBBS 44 DIRE WRAITHS 39 NYMENIANS 44 XANDARIANS 40 DRUFFS 41 OVOIDS 23 XANTAREANS 33 ELAN 13 PEGASUSIANS 23 XANTHA 33 ENTEMEN 14 PHANTOMS 23 Xartans 49 ERGONS 14 PHERAGOTS 44 XERONIANS 33 FLB'DBI 14 plodex 46 XIXIX 33 FOMALHAUTI 14 POPPUPIANS 24 YIRBEK 38 FONABI 15 PROCYONITES 24 YRDS 49 FORTESQUIANS 15 QUEEGA 36 ZENN-LAVIANS 34 FROMA 15 QUISTS 24 Z'NOX 38 GEGKU 39 QUONS 25 ZN'RX (Snarks) 34 GLX 16 rajaks 47 ZUNDAMITES 34 GRAMOSIANS 16 REPTOIDS 25 Races Reference Table 51 GRUNDS 16 Rhunians 25 Blank Alien Race Sheet 54 1 The Universe of Marvel: Spacecraft and Aliens for the Marvel Super Heroes Game By David Edward Martin & Andrew James McFayden With help by TY_STATES , Aunt P and the crowd from www.classicmarvel.com .
    [Show full text]
  • Polygyny: a Study of Religious Fundamentalism Margaret L
    Polygyny: A Study of Religious Fundamentalism Margaret L. Granath Submitted under the supervision of Professor Kathleen Collins to the University Honors Program at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, in political science. April 24, 2021 2 Acknowledgements: I would like to give thanks: To Prof. Kathleen Collins, for her guidance throughout the writing process of this work. She took a chance on me when I was a freshman, allowing me to work with her as a research assistant for three years of college until I wrote this thesis under her supervision. I am a better writer, a better researcher, and a better thinker due to her mentorship. To my parents, Al and Teresa. They never restricted what I read as a child (which turned out to be a good thing, because I read Under the Banner of Heaven in 7th grade, which turned into the inspiration for this thesis). Thank you for fostering my curiosity, then and now. To my siblings, Ellica and Kyle, thank you for allowing me to bore you with conversations about religion at dinner. All of my love. To Scott Romano, for delivering various fast foods to me during the writing process—I owe you many. Thank you for always reminding me of my worth (and to take a break). To Morgan McElroy, for his friendship. Editing your papers was a much-needed reprieve. Thank you for being there. To the women of Gamma Phi Beta, for listening each week as I shared the struggles and successes of this writing process.
    [Show full text]
  • Grants Awarded
    Z. SMITH REYNOLDS FOUNDATION, INC. ENVIRONMENT GRANTS APPROVED 2008 1Sky Education Fund, Takoma Park, MD $100,000 for the 1Sky North Carolina project. American Rivers, Washington, DC $35,000 for its Rehabilitating River Ecosystems of North Carolina project. Appalachian Voices, Boone, NC $55,000 to support the launch and program work of a new Upper Watauga Riverkeeper, including participation in Muddy Water Watch. Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, Glendale Springs, NC $75,000 for general operating support for work in rural NC to safeguard the environment and protect public health. Blue Ridge Rural Land Trust, West Jefferson, NC $25,000 to assist in the hiring of a farmland outreach specialist. Cape Fear River Watch, Inc., Wilmington, NC $30,000 for general operating support. Carolinas Clean Air Coalition, Charlotte, NC $30,000 for school bus riders, their parents and others will be trained to raise the necessary funds to retrofit diesel buses. Center for Health, Environment and Justice, Falls Church, VA $25,000 to support NC groups in advancing precautionary solutions for solid waste and toxic sewage sludge. Clean Water for NC, Asheville, NC $25,000 for general operating support. Community Foundation of Western NC, Asheville, NC $50,000 to create a Next Steps Fund to advance implementation of land use planning in towns and cities pressured by growth. Conservation Council of North Carolina Foundation, Raleigh, NC $25,000 for general operating support for programs that ensure the collective capacity of the environmental community to affect sound environmental legislation. Page 1 of 4 Conservation Trust for NC, Raleigh, NC $450,000 to ensure the quality and permanence of land conservation and an expanded constituency for land trusts in NC.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 3: the Rise of the Antinuclear Power Movement: 1957 to 1989
    Chapter 3 THE RISE OF THE ANTINUCLEAR POWER MOVEMENT 1957 TO 1989 In this chapter I trace the development and circulation of antinuclear struggles of the last 40 years. What we will see is a pattern of new sectors of the class (e.g., women, native Americans, and Labor) joining the movement over the course of that long cycle of struggles. Those new sectors would remain autonomous, which would clearly place the movement within the autonomist Marxist model. Furthermore, it is precisely the widening of the class composition that has made the antinuclear movement the most successful social movement of the 1970s and 1980s. Although that widening has been impressive, as we will see in chapter 5, it did not go far enough, leaving out certain sectors of the class. Since its beginnings in the 1950s, opposition to the civilian nuclear power program has gone through three distinct phases of one cycle of struggles.(1) Phase 1 —1957 to 1967— was a period marked by sporadic opposition to specific nuclear plants. Phase 2 —1968 to 1975— was a period marked by a concern for the environmental impact of nuclear power plants, which led to a critique of all aspects of nuclear power. Moreover, the legal and the political systems were widely used to achieve demands. And Phase 3 —1977 to the present— has been a period marked by the use of direct action and civil disobedience by protesters whose goals have been to shut down all nuclear power plants. 3.1 The First Phase of the Struggles: 1957 to 1967 Opposition to nuclear energy first emerged shortly after the atomic bomb was built.
    [Show full text]
  • The Psychology Externship
    The Psychology Externship INTRODUCTION The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) Student Counseling Center Externship provides an opportunity to experience and learn about the growing discipline of university mental health while providing psychotherapy to students in a supportive training environment. The externship is exclusively focused on the outpatient assessment and treatment of college and graduate students. Other weekly activities will include: individual supervision with licensed psychologists, a case conference and didactic seminar, and mental health outreach and prevention workshops. CLINICAL RESPONSIBILITIES Through the externship, externs develop skills in diagnosing and treating the mental health issues of a diverse college-based population. The extern will spend most of their time engaged in direct clinical work. This will include conducting initial diagnostic evaluations and ongoing weekly psychotherapy sessions. Externs are responsible for a caseload of 6-8 students per week and will receive on-site supervision. Externs wishing to see more than 6-8 students are usually easily accommodated. Externs also participate in student walk-in hours where they are trained in conducting brief evaluations and crisis intervention. PSYCHODYNAMIC FOCUS The JTS Counseling Center Psychology Externship provides an opportunity to develop and hone skills in contemporary supportive psychodynamic psychotherapy in the college setting. Weekly psychodynamic supervision, case conference, and readings discussed in the didactic seminar will enhance this learning. OUR STUDENTS The opportunity to work with students engaged in a religious and spiritual journey provides unique learning possibilities to our externs. Many of our students are enrolled in joint programs with either Columbia University or Barnard College. Of equal importance, their learning takes place at the Jewish Theological Seminary where students are training for careers in Jewish education and/or religious leadership positions.
    [Show full text]
  • From Wilderness to the Toxic Environment: Health in American Environmental Politics, 1945-Present
    From Wilderness to the Toxic Environment: Health in American Environmental Politics, 1945-Present The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Thomson, Jennifer Christine. 2013. From Wilderness to the Toxic Environment: Health in American Environmental Politics, 1945- Present. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University. Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:11125030 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA From Wilderness to the Toxic Environment: Health in American Environmental Politics, 1945-Present A dissertation presented by Jennifer Christine Thomson to The Department of the History of Science In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of History of Science Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts May 2013 @ 2013 Jennifer Christine Thomson All rights reserved. Dissertation Advisor: Charles Rosenberg Jennifer Christine Thomson From Wilderness to the Toxic Environment: Health in American Environmental Politics, 1945-Present Abstract This dissertation joins the history of science and medicine with environmental history to explore the language of health in environmental politics. Today, in government policy briefs and mission statements of environmental non-profits, newspaper editorials and activist journals, claims about the health of the planet and its human and non-human inhabitants abound. Yet despite this rhetorical ubiquity, modern environmental politics are ideologically and organizationally fractured along the themes of whose health is at stake and how that health should be protected.
    [Show full text]
  • Barnard College Bulletin 2017-18 3
    English .................................................................................... 201 TABLE OF CONTENTS Environmental Biology ........................................................... 221 Barnard College ........................................................................................ 2 Environmental Science .......................................................... 226 Message from the President ............................................................ 2 European Studies ................................................................... 234 The College ........................................................................................ 2 Film Studies ........................................................................... 238 Admissions ........................................................................................ 4 First-Year Writing ................................................................... 242 Financial Information ........................................................................ 6 First-Year Seminar ................................................................. 244 Financial Aid ...................................................................................... 6 French ..................................................................................... 253 Academic Policies & Procedures ..................................................... 6 German ................................................................................... 259 Enrollment Confirmation ...........................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Liah Greenfeld
    curriculum vitae1Liah Greenfeld LIAH GREENFELD Curriculum Vitae January 2013 Current Address Boston University Tel.: 617-358-1772 The University Professors Fax: 617-353-5084 745 Commonwealth Avenue [email protected] Boston, MA 02215 Current Appointment University Professor, Professor of Sociology, Political Science, and Anthropology, Boston University; Distinguished Adjunct Professor, Lingnan University, Hong Kong. Personal Born August 22, 1954, in Vladivostok, USSR; educated through high-school in Sochi (Krasnodar region); emigrated to Israel in 1972; moved to the United States in 1982; married; one child. Appointments in Academic Institutions 2011-2016 Distinguished Adjunct Professor, Lingnan University, Hong Kong. February 2009 Visiting Professor, St. George University, Grenada. 12/ 2005-1/2006 Guest Member, Institute for Advanced Studies, Jerusalem, Israel. Summers 2004- Visiting Professor, Institute of Federalism, Law School, University of Fribourg, 2005 Switzerland – Summer University Spring 1998 Fellow, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C. Spring 1997 Visiting Professor (Directeur d'Etudes), Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris curriculum vitae2Liah Greenfeld 1989-1992 John L. Loeb Associate Professor of Social Sciences, Harvard University Fall 1992 Visiting Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, MIT 1985-97 Fellow, Russian Research Center, Harvard University 1989-90 Member, Institute for Advanced Study, School of Social Science, Princeton 1985-94 Assistant, then Associate Professor
    [Show full text]