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Okay, sometime soon I'll stop having conversations with y'all.
Or maybe not.
The piece I saw today, which I wanted to share, is spoken by a little boy who makes the case for vegetarianism--in a much more convincing way than Elizabeth Costello did in The Lives of Animals. Watch the video @ www.brainpickings.org/2015/05/29/luiz-eating-animals-octopus/?mc_cid=c8461486ba&mc_eid=9fca1eed27
A student who did the Eco-Literacy 360° with me a year ago just shared this NPR story about taking kindergarden class into the woods once/week. I thought you might all enjoy it--and perhaps recognize some of your own experiences this past semester, esp. that, "first thing, the kids go to their 'sit spots.' These are designated places — under a tree, on a log — where each kid sits quietly, alone, for 10 minutes.
Grounding ourselves in the domains of identity matters and ecological studies, we ask how different dimensions of human identity (such as race, class, gender, sexuality and religion) affect our ability to act and interact in the social and natural worlds. We look simultaneously at how these spaces shape and re-shape our identities and actions, individually and collectively. Our cross-disciplinary approach re-examines personal experiences through the differing orientations of the humanities, social sciences and sciences. Seeking fresh understandings, we consider the novel All Over Creation by Ruth Ozeki; short stories by Ursula LeGuin and Octavia Butler; Oreskes and Conway's science fiction tale, The Collapse of Western Civilization; and essays by community activists, educators, and journalists Teju Cole, Paulo Freire, Van Jones and Elizabeth Kolbert.
 | "The pursuit of knowing was freedom to me, the right to declare your own curiosities and follow them through all manner of books. I was made for the library, not the classroom. The classroom was a jail of other people's interests. The library was open, unending, free" (Ta-Nahisi Coates, Between the World and Me). |
Nkechi Ampah
Ecological Imaginings
Spring 2015
Self Evaluation
Welcome to the on-line conversation for "Changing Our Story," sections 25 and 26
of the Emily Balch Seminars being offered @ Bryn Mawr College in Fall 2015.
Education class x science class
As a student majoring in a hard science (geology) and as a the daughter of two educators, I have seen first hand the necessity of interdisciplinary work for students as they transition from high school into college. The transition is also a shift from a structured classroom into one with a fluid dynamic that needs a shape but can flow from topic to topic and even benifit from the interweaving of subjects across the disciplines.
I chose the classroom for my location because it was convenient for everyone's teach in. Students needed to use the chalk board, tables, pens, and pencils, so choosing a location inside with these resources was important. English House was also in front of Morris Woods. Other students also wanted to explore Morris Woods for their teach-ins, so it was convenient for them as well. Other students also needed space for their teach-ins (improvisation workshop), so the classroom was perfect for that. Everyone was pretty much satisfied with this location. The teach-ins took place in a classroom, but it was not in a traditional classroom setting. The students got a chance to become the teachers, so it was very interesting to see how they were utilizing the classroom and the space in it.
Ecological Imaginations is probably one of the best classes I have ever taken at Bryn Mawr College. I have never taken a class so ecological before. I loved the weekly site-sits because that became my solace. I have definitely learned to think more ecologically not just in the holistic approaches to nature, being connected by systems and communities – but also in the varied ways in which I can express my ecological thoughts. I have written papers, drew pictures, made videos, and taken photos to express my ecological concerns about what we have been talking and reading about in class. I will definitely be challenging myself in how I want to represent my thoughts and ideas as oppose to writing in future classes.
