Emory University
AC-7: Incentives for Developing Courses

In 2001, Emory faculty launched a summer faculty development program to infuse sustainability and environmental issues across the curriculum. Called the Piedmont Project, it was modeled after the Ponderosa Project at Northern Arizona University. It later expanded to include a parallel program for graduate students. Each summer, up to 20 faculty applicants from all units and departments of the university are accepted for a four-part program that offers multi-disciplinary brainstorming around sustainability issues, experiential learning about place, and pedagogical exercises designed to help faculty develop new courses or new course modules for existing courses. Participants attend a two-day workshop, develop a syllabus for a new course or a course module that incorporates sustainability or environmental issues appropriate to their field, and participate in a field trip and discussion session at the end of the summer to share their experiences. Participants receive a modest stipend upon the review of their syllabi. Additional meetings, lectures, and lunch discussions allow faculty to report on their experiences and intellectual processes. Over more than 20 years, the Piedmont Project has served nearly 300 faculty members and 200 teaching graduate students.

Each program participant receives a $1,000 summer stipend for the development of a new course or course materials, a two-day interdisciplinary workshop introducing the fundamentals of sustainability and ideas for incorporating sustainability into their classes, and consultations and networking needed to fully develop their new course or new course module related to sustainability. Participants also build community and a sense of place throughout the summer and attend a follow-up local field trip and lunch where they share results of their summer work, and other networking events/dinners throughout the year to discuss their continued growth in understanding sustainability.