Power, Politics, and Ethics: The Intersection of Study Abroad and Nature Conservation
Start Date
10-8-2010 1:30 PM
End Date
10-8-2010 3:00 PM
Description
Conservation encompasses both a belief system and a set of practices. As a belief system it is heavily influenced by our culture, epistemology, and place. As a practice, nature conservation can manifest in a diversity of forms, from formal protected areas (i.e. parks and reserves) to personal lifestyle choices (i.e. consumption patterns of food and air travel). Conservation outcomes, particularly at the international level, are driven by a complex web of power, politics, and ethics. Within the broad framework of conservation, many study abroad program have a strong focus on the role of ‘sustainability’ and ‘environmental justice’; students are hungry for critical self-analysis of their own ‘nature ethics’ and the role they can/do play in the larger social and environmental justice movement. As educators and practitioners, how do our own conservation ethics influence program design, teaching strategies, student outcomes, and more? What role should critical self-examination play in experiential pedagogy? Do we, as teachers, leaders, and community members, ‘walk the talk’? What can and should we do to better incorporate ethical analysis into our programs and lives? This workshop will offer us the opportunity to share strategies many of us are already using, as well as brainstorm new ideas and pathways for incorporating a focus on ‘nature ethics’ within a framework of ‘teaching sustainability’.
Power, Politics, and Ethics: The Intersection of Study Abroad and Nature Conservation
Conservation encompasses both a belief system and a set of practices. As a belief system it is heavily influenced by our culture, epistemology, and place. As a practice, nature conservation can manifest in a diversity of forms, from formal protected areas (i.e. parks and reserves) to personal lifestyle choices (i.e. consumption patterns of food and air travel). Conservation outcomes, particularly at the international level, are driven by a complex web of power, politics, and ethics. Within the broad framework of conservation, many study abroad program have a strong focus on the role of ‘sustainability’ and ‘environmental justice’; students are hungry for critical self-analysis of their own ‘nature ethics’ and the role they can/do play in the larger social and environmental justice movement. As educators and practitioners, how do our own conservation ethics influence program design, teaching strategies, student outcomes, and more? What role should critical self-examination play in experiential pedagogy? Do we, as teachers, leaders, and community members, ‘walk the talk’? What can and should we do to better incorporate ethical analysis into our programs and lives? This workshop will offer us the opportunity to share strategies many of us are already using, as well as brainstorm new ideas and pathways for incorporating a focus on ‘nature ethics’ within a framework of ‘teaching sustainability’.