Funded Proposals 2006-7
Valorie Rockney, EcoVillage at Ithaca.
Proposal: Sustainable Clothing: Re-Use and Re-Fashion.
Outcomes: To develop a semester-long project to develop an understanding of the life-cycle of clothing, and to learn to organize simple techniques of clothing re-use that students can develop and implement. Students will begin with some background study of the clothing lifecycle, with particular emphasis on what happens to discarded clothing at IC. Students will organize and host two clothing exchanges, one at EcoVillage and one on campus. After analyzing these events, they will then host two re-sewing circles, at EcoVillage and on campus. Students will develop a final product that synthesizes their project work, either a group presentation or individual paper.
Marty Hiller, EcoVillage at Ithaca.
Proposal: Forest Farming as a Tool for Sustainability
Outcomes: Students will learn about the agricultural challenges of topsoil and water management, and about organic and permaculture approaches to solving those problems, They will analyze a site on EVI land and create a sustainable agricultural design for it. IC faculty contact and course: John Hopple and Susan Swensen, as “sustainability project” for Principles of Biology II (Spring 2007).
Monty Berman, EcoVillage at Ithaca.
Proposal: The Sustainable Human
Outcomes: Students will address three important components of sustainable “be-ing” in the world: self-awareness (what this entails, as distinguished from ordinary consciousness and perception); self-responsibility (who’s in charge; who runs “the show,” who has these feelings/these thoughts, makes these responses); and contactfulness (how do we make rich, rewarding, and productive connections to others and to our environment).
Stephanie Greenwood, EcoVillage at Ithaca.
Proposal: Feasibility Study of Willow as an Agronomic Crop for EcoVillage at Ithaca
Outcomes: to engage students in the business school at Ithaca College in carrying out a feasibility study as to the viability of willow production as a sustainable enterprise for Ecovillage. This would provide the opportunity to look at a potential sustainable enterprise from all aspects: assess sustainability potential and demand, learn production requirements and techniques, examine sales potential, and propose a marketing strategy. There would be field trips to see willow in production, willow being utilized in various ways that may be applicable to EVI. IC faculty contact and course: Granger Macy, “Entrepreneurship”
Tina Nilsen-Hodges, EcoVillage at Ithaca.
Proposal: Developing Curriculum for Ecological Literacy; Local Ecosystems
Outcomes: Using the Cayuga Basin Bioregion map, biology or ecology students will develop sustainability curriculum modules for elementary and/or high school students that focus on ecological relationships within our bioregion. Students will develop hands-on materials and curriculum to teach understanding of the concept of an ecosystem, research and develop materials to teach about key constituents of our local ecosystems, develop ways of teach understanding relationships between these constituencies and in context to one another, develop ways to convey the life cycle of local ecosystems throughout the seasons, and develop outdoor experiences that support curricular goals. As the project culmination, IC students will work with students at Elizabeth Ann Clune Montessori School and/or Lehman Alternative Community School using the developed materials.
Lauren M. O’Connell, Department of Art History, Ithaca College
Proposal: To develop a two-week course unit on “green” design for “Architecture Across Cultures”
Outcome: Students will explore current practices in green design around the world, in the context of traditional building practices addressed throughout the course in other contexts. The course will offer students a global perspective - through the lens of architecture -on a global problem: the degradation of our environment through human impacts.
Cory Brown, Department of Writing, Ithaca College
Proposal: To integrate sustainability and environmental content into the philosophy unit of “Poetics”
Outcomes: Students will read selected material from thought-leaders in the sustainability and environmental vanguard, and be guided to write about sustainability as an issue in which to contextualize their efforts to define themselves as writers.
Cheryl Kramer, Department of Art History, Ithaca College
Proposal: To revise “Art Since 1960” to include issues of sustainability in the existing theme of Contemporary Art and the Environment.
Outcomes: The discussion of Land/Earth art will incorporate investigations of the impact of works on the natural environment, the historical and social precedents of the use of recycled and recyclable materials, and the sustainability of contemporary art - especially new media such as installation art and environmental sculpture - and the ethical obligations of artists to consider such issues.
Astrid Jirka, Office of International Programs, Ithaca College
Proposal: “Going Global: Incorporating Sustainability in Study Abroad Programs”
Outcomes: Develop orientation materials to be used by both faculty preparing short-term programs as well as by students attending either short-term, semester, or year-long study abroad programs. Using case studies, materials would make faculty and students aware of the current impacts that world travelers have on the global tourist industry and on local communities, and would suggest areas in which travelers should pay attention to the choices they make so as to encourage a positive experience for people and cultures with whom they come into contact, as well as natural environments.
Srijana Bajracharya, Department of Health Promotion and Physical Education, Ithaca College
Proposal: Emphasizing Sustainable Health and Wellness
Outcomes: To modify an existing course, “Wellness: A multicultural Perspective on Health and Healing” to incorporate new material about different kinds of modalities with special reference to nutrition and herbal products and the importance of environment in their daily lives. Plans will be developed for a sustainable health fair.
Michael Rogers, Department of Physics, Ithaca College
Proposal: Creating a sustainability assessment plan across disciplines
Outcomes: To research existing valid and reliable assessment instruments in a range of disciplines related to sustainability issues, and to design assessment implementation plans to address the range of participants in sustainability education. This will result in the creation of a website containing downloadable assessment plans, instruments - including both formative and summative instruments recognized by national funding sources, and instructions for their use.
Thomas Pfaff, Department of Mathematics, Ithaca College
Proposal: The Oil Problem
Outcomes: To further refine an earlier project which teaches Excel-based curve fitting techniques in calculus courses through exploration of the issue of oil – supply and consumption of oil, its impact on global warming, and what can be done to affect these issues. Additional challenge will be offered through more sophisticated analyses that arise from “what if” sustainability scenarios.
Judith Kennison, Department of Therapeutic Recreation and Leisure Services, Ithaca College
Proposal: Incorporating Sustainability into Foundations of Outdoor Adventure Pursuits
Outcomes: Students in this course already obtain an understanding of the impacts of legislation on recreation resources areas, overuse of areas, controversies over types of recreational use, how technology has changed the nature of the outdoor experience, and the concept of a “land ethic.” Current course content would be strengthened to provide students with connections to issues of sustainability and how these impact any type of use in the outdoors, including outdoor recreation. A coordinated unit on sustainability would be developed that would include sustainability of recreational places (resources) and sustainability of people (human spirit, quality of life, sense of adventure, sense of place).
Vera Whisman, Women’s Studies, Ithaca College
Proposal: Women and Sustainability
Outcomes: To develop a new course on women and sustainability, incorporating literature, theories, and methodologies from a wide range of disciplines. Women’s work provides a model for the fundamental reordering of culture, economic and political priorities. Women are disproportionately affected by many of the issues that are at the center of the efforts to build a sustainable world, including poverty and access to safe and clean water. The course will include a global perspective, focusing on the different needs and problems of the developed and developing worlds, and the relation between the two.
Kathryn Caldwell, Department of Psychology, Ithaca College
Proposal: Psychology of Sustainability
Outcomes: To develop a course component for the First Year seminar course, “Sustaining Our Worlds.” Drawing from ecopsychology, development psychology, and social marketing approaches to promoting sustainability, students will be guided to ask and answer: what is sustainability? What is sustainable community? What is ecological consciousness? What is the relationship between sustainable behavior and psychological well-being? How can we foster attitude and behavior change to create more sustainable communities? How can we foster this sensibility in future generations?
Total proposals funded: 15
Total IC faculty proposals: 10
EcoVillage resident proposals: 5