Engaging Environmental Justice in Geoscience Courses

In conjunction with the 2018 AGU Annual Meeting in Washington, DC

Monday, December 10th, 4:00-6:00pm, Georgetown Room, Marriott Marquis, Georgetown Room

Register as you pay conference registration or contact: aguregistration@spargoinc.com or call: 866-470-7778 to add.

Leaders: Sarah K. Fortner (sfortner@wittenberg.edu), Richard Gragg (richard.gragg@famu.edu), Rob Rohrbaugh (rrohrba1@epcc.edu), Cathy Manduca (cmanduca@carleton.edu)

Many of the topics we teach in undergraduate geoscience courses address issues where environmental justice is an important challenge. Engaging the relationship between geoscience and environmental justice can strengthen students' interest in geoscience and build their ability to work on complex societal issues in their geoscience careers. This workshop will focus on two strategies for incorporating environmental justice in undergraduate courses: case studies and service learning, as well as provide a discussion of the challenges of incorporating social issues in our courses.

Goals

1. Develop framework for bringing together EJ and geoscience learning
2. Share examples, strategies, and tools
3. Build confidence in including EJ
4. Support individual design

Workshop Program

4:00 - 4:40pm - Welcome and Opening Discussion: Bringing together Environmental Justice and geoscience learning - Richard Gragg

The Call for Environmental Justice (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 2.2MB Dec10 18)

• What is EJ? - Small group discussion (10 minutes)
  • Consider the EPA definition of EJ
    • Does this definition resonate with you?
    • Why do you think it is important to bring EJ into geoscience teaching?
• Importance of EJ - Whole group discussion (10 minutes)
  • Small groups report out one reason it is important to bring EJ into geoscience teaching
  • Whole group conversation reporting workspace
• Essential elements (what are the core concepts, habits and skills we hope will be integrated into geoscience) and teaching opportunities (where do you integrate in the key concepts, habits, and skills) (20 minutes) - Rob Rohbaugh
  • Think and share in small groups. Produce short list of essential elements.
  • Round robin reporting of essential elements

4:40 - 5:20pm - Strategies and Tools - Cathy Manduca

• Water & Energy - Service learning and engagement activities with Kahoot (10 minutes) - Rob Rohbaugh
• Community participatory projects including easy, short engagement strategies to build interest and competence in class (10 minutes) - Sarah Fortner, see: Fortner Environmental Justice Activities (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 10.5MB Dec10 18)
• Case studies and InTeGrate resources (10 minutes) - Richard Gragg
  • Food as the Foundation for Healthy Communities Teaching Module
  • Lead in the Environment Teaching Module
  • See all the InTeGrate teaching modules
• Examples from the audience (10 minutes)

5:20 - 5:45pm - Supported activity design for use in your classroom - Sarah Fortner

• Form small groups by topic or course of interest
• As a group move forward the design of instruction that you would like to use in your own teaching
  • What are your learning goals?
  • What are your local community's priorities or needs?
  • What activities align with these goals, priorities, and needs?

5:45 - 6:00pm - Moving forward to implementation - Sarah Fortner

• What will be the challenges? How can they be mitigated?
• Discussion notes workspace page
• End of Workshop Evaluation

References and Resources

• AGU Thriving Earth Exchange, Our Approach, a design guide for community-based participatory research that might inform projects.
• Cash, DW, Adger, WN, Berkes, F, Garden, P, Lebell, L, Olsson, P, Pritchard, L, Young, O, 2006, Scale and Cross-Scale Dynamics: Governance and Information in a Multilevel World (Acrobat (PDF) 173kB Oct23 18), Ecology and Society, 11(2): 8.
• D'Arcangelis, G., & Sarathy, B. (2015). Enacting Environmental Justice Through the Undergraduate Classroom: The Transformative Potential of Community Engaged Partnerships. Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship.
• R. Schulterbrandt Gragg, Warford, J., Hewitt, C., and Davis, F., (2018) Food as the Foundation for Healthy Communities Teaching Module. NSF-STEP: Interdisciplinary Teaching about Earth for a Sustainable Future.
• C. Wagget, Korfmacher, C., Richmond, and Schulterbrandt Gragg, R., (2017) Lead in the Environment Teaching Module. NSF-STEP: Interdisciplinary Teaching about Earth for a Sustainable Future.
• EPA, EPA's Collaborative Problem Solving Model, helps with thinking on ideas central to environmental justice.
• EPA, EJScreen Tool, for mapping and decision-making
• InTeGrate, What does InTeGrate Mean by Environmental Justice?, includes links to adaptable curriculum.
• InTeGrate, Designing courses around central geoscience and environmental issues in your community, see the planning worksheet for ideas on how to design local projects that engage communities and support equitable and just solutions.
• National Education Association, Environmental Justice Lesson Plans, curriculum and ideas for the K-12 level.
• National League of Cities, State of the Cities Report, learn more about community priorities
• Teaching Tolerance, Social Justice Standards, explore social justice standards while creating geoscience curriculum. Finding the intersection aligns with teaching environmental justice.