Hampshire College
AC-7: Incentives for Developing Courses

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.

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