Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 66.70
Liaison David Gibson
Submission Date March 30, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Hampshire College
AC-7: Incentives for Developing Courses

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Steven Roof
Dean of the School of Natural Science
Natural Science
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have an ongoing program or programs that offer incentives for faculty in multiple disciplines or departments to develop new sustainability courses and/or incorporate sustainability into existing courses?:
Yes

A brief description of the program(s), including positive outcomes during the previous three years (e.g. descriptions of new courses or course content resulting from the program):

Grants from the Roddenberry Foundation support development and implementation of new team-taught interdisciplinary courses that focus on integrative sustainability. Course proposals are sought from faculty groups that:
• bridge at least three of the five schools at Hampshire College;
• extend to two semesters (not just a one-and-done course);
• focus on the connections between social justice, cultural challenges, and
environmental sustainability issues; and,
• engage students in summer experiences directly related to solving current
world problems at the intersection of sustainability, resilience and social
justice

So far two year-long courses have been funded:
1. Innovations for Change: Problem Solving for the Future: Worried about climate change and how we will live sustainability in the future? Join us to brainstorm and assess solutions together. This will be a course for first and second year students interested in learning how to evaluate potential solutions to current local and global environmental and social problems. The course will be co-taught by faculty across the curriculum at Hampshire and will include both large lectures and breakout working groups. The course will be divided into modules focused on specific problems and potential solutions, such as how the arts can help educate and engage the public in making positive changes for sustainable living; why humans are so resistant to changing our habits; whether excess greenhouse gases can be safely stored via carbon sequestration; and how we might ameliorate losses to biodiversity due to climate change. In addition to engagement in readings, lectures, discussion and activities, small teams of students will be expected to explore a problem in greater depth and present their ideas to the class at the end of the term.

2. Designing for Life: Sustainable Agriculture, Ecology, and Design in Northern Thailand: This two-semester course, with an integrated Jan-term field component in Thailand, investigates the intersections of design (building and land use), anthropology/social justice, and ecology, with a focus on a case study in Northern Thailand. The fall semester will build background and theoretical knowledge in these areas generally and our case study in Thailand specifically. Students will critically examine ways in which design is influenced by cultural, historical, and ecological factors. They will learn about social justice issues in Southeast Asia that are impacted by structural forms of agriculture, climate change, economics, and social structure. How can architectural and land use design empower rural peoples? What does resilience look like for rural farmers who face significant economic, social, and ecological change? Over January, selected students will accompany the faculty to our field site in Northern Thailand for primary research. Second semester will be project based with students working in interdisciplinary teams of anthropology/ecology/architecture students.


A brief description of the incentives that faculty members who participate in the program(s) receive:

Financial support includes:
Stipends to support time spent developing sustainability courses
Grants for equipment, materials, and supplies
Financial support for faculty workshops and planning sessions
Travel grants for faculty and students


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
---

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.