Teaching Sustainability through Activism: The Greening University Projects

• In Event: 367 - Section on Teaching and Learning in Sociology Paper Session. Connection, Transfer, and Reflection: How Community Engagement Enhances the Sociological Imagination

Abstract

Students in sociology courses – particularly those with an environmental or sustainability orientation – often understand there are big problems facing our world today and want to do something about them. How do we as instructors encourage that activism while channeling it in effective ways? The Greening University Project is a way to harness that interest around issues of environmental sustainability while teaching students to harness sociological insight while working for positive change in the world. In this project, students work in small groups to "green" some aspect of the university or college. Students collectively research and write a proposal and then have the opportunity to put their proposals into action. This is followed by a report describing the implementation of their plan and a presentation to other class members so students can learn from each other's experiences. In this paper I outline the details of the project, highlight a few case studies to show lessons students were able to draw from their successes and failures, and discuss an alternate application of the project.

Author

• Shawn Alan Trivette, Louisiana Tech University