Serendip is an independent site partnering with faculty at multiple colleges and universities around the world. Happy exploring!

Ecological Intelligence

By bothsidesnow
December 6, 2015 - 15:45
bothsidesnow's picture

“When a word is deprived of its dimension of action, reflection automatically suffers as well, and the word is changed into idle chatter, into verbalism, into an alienated and alienating "blah."  It becomes an empty word, one which cannot denounce the world, for denunciation if impossible without a commitment to transform, and there is no transformation without action.”- Paulo Friere

Wild

By Tralfamadorian
December 6, 2015 - 13:46
Tralfamadorian's picture

This is the second time that I have read Wild. Since my first time reading it I have listened to Cheryl Strayed's podcast "Dear Sugar," and read another book of hers called "Tiny Beautiful Things." It is hard to remember my initial reactions to this book because I know so much more about Cheryl Strayed and can see her even more presently in this novel. When I first read this book I was about to leave for college and embark on a journey of my own. My therapist had recommended the book and I trusted her for good recommendations. I bought the book that night and finished it only two days later it was a quick read. And for me at that point the part that stood out most to me is page 28 when her mom died.

Ecological Intelligence

By Tralfamadorian
December 6, 2015 - 13:28
Tralfamadorian's picture
When we are babies we learn language by mimicking the sounds we hear our parents say. As children we are caricatures of the environment that we are growing up in. If as humans, we learn and grow by mimicking our environment it can be argued that by learning about and experiencing other cultures we are able to diversify our understanding of the world.   Ecological Intelligence is about the world not just the environment, we must foster relationships between different cultures and environments in order to grow and diversify as a world community.

Ecological Intelligence

By Alexandra
December 6, 2015 - 12:30
Alexandra's picture

     In the anthropogenic age, it has become vital for mankind to protect the environment. C.E. Bowers who wrote "Steps to the Recovery of Ecological Intelligence", Bruno Latour who wrote "Agency at the Time of the Anthropocene", Van Jones, the thinker behind "Greening the Ghetto", Jenny Cameron, Stephen Healy, and J.K.

Do We Own Our Thoughts?

By awkwardturtle
December 6, 2015 - 11:04
awkwardturtle's picture

Do We Own Our Thoughts?

Both Stacy Alaimo and Paulo Freire do not mention “ecological intelligence” explicitly, but they both support ecological intelligence as an awareness of and resulting from the porous bodies and permeable membranes that prevent the complete separation of humans from all other bodies. I will look at the permeable membranes of the different classroom locations, the students (me included) and Anne themselves, and the words we use and lack thereof. Also, I will explore the role that the power dynamics described by Alaimo and the  classroom hegemony in our class and described by Freire plays into ecological intelligence.