Participation Type
Panel
Session Title
Session 7.04 (Education) Teaching in a Time of Climate Crisis: A Collaborative Summer Immersion Experience in Earth Literacy for Appalachian Colleges and Universities
Session Abstract or Summary
Preface: A panel of faculty and community allies who describe an interdisciplinary summer immersion program in Earth Literacy that combines academic and experiential learning and can be shared by other colleges and universities across Appalachia who want to partner with Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center to teach in a time of climate crisis
Abstract:
This is a time of climate crisis with existential implications for all of us—the future of our individual lives and the wider world is at stake. Yet for most university students, their academic experience is fragmented into discreet classes, disciplines, departments, and requirements, as well as by the “hidden curriculum” of how campus life is ordered, in ways that make confronting the crisis in any holistic and effective way difficult if not impossible. In east Tennessee, Carson Newman University is building a teaching/learning collaboration with Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center to engage students in the “Great Work” of living sustainably while nurturing an understanding of the deep connections between individual and community well-being, environmentalism, and social justice in the Southern Appalachian bioregion and the world. The format centers on a summer immersion experience at Narrow Ridge with its cornerstone values of sustainability, community, and (nonsectarian) spirituality. Students learn through living off the grid, practicing skills of nonviolent community living, growing their own food, and caring for the land during an intensive one-week experience. Additional, flexible classroom and/or online and distance learning components address affordability and time constraint issues that may otherwise serve as obstacles to recruiting students who must work or tend to family responsibilities over the summer. Music is an important part of the pedagogy and content of our curricula. Learn about our program and join us in building a collaborative summer course you can offer through your institution of higher learning. [244 words]
Presentation #1 Title
“Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center and the University Immersion Experience” (Mitzi Wood von Mizener, Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center)
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Preface: An introduction to Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center in east Tennessee and its partnerships in experiential learning with colleges and universities Abstract: In this presentation we will: Introduce panel attenders to the mission, history, and work of Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center in east Tennessee through an overview of its history, programs, and a “virtual tour” of its facilities (www.narrowridge.org); Describe common components of our university immersion program developed by Narrow Ridge in collaboration with Carson-Newman and other institutions of higher learning that provides students opportunities to gain and reflect on their first-hand experiences in-- sustainable living (e.g., solar power, locally sourced building materials such as straw bale construction, closed systems for dealing with “waste” such as composting toilets, “reskilling”); organic gardening, “locavore” meal planning and preparation, community-based agriculture, and other “heritage skills” related to food security; practicing skills of collaborative problem-solving, decision-making, and community-building derived from traditions of nonviolence and participatory democracy; immersing themselves in the natural world through guided activities in which they experience themselves as part of the community of Earth rather than as outside observers; practicing “low-tech” forms of entertainment and social interaction; and, analyzing bioregional environmental issues and connecting them with the wider realities of poverty, militarism, and global capitalism. [188 words]
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Panelist bios:
Mitzi Wood von Mizener, a clinical psychologist who closed her private practice to live and work at Narrow Ridge since 2007 and now serves as its executive director; often sings and leads music at Narrow Ridge functions and performs around the region with The Emancipators
Presentation #2 Title
“The Narrow Ridge/Carson-Newman Partnership” (Beth Vanlandingham, Carson-Newman University)
Presentation #2 Abstract or Summary
Preface: A progress report on the university summer immersion experience developed by Carson-Newman and Narrow Ridge
Abstract:
Our second panelist will discuss the partnership between Narrow Ridge and Carson-Newman including our efforts to date to integrate academic and experiential learning in a course that is sustainable in terms of student enrollment, university requirements, and financial support. We believe our experience will be of interest to faculty and students from other colleges and universities looking to collaborate with a bioregional partner to offer an effective program that provides an affordable immersion experience to help students learn to live responsibly and well in the face of our looming climate crisis.
This presentation will focus on the summer university immersion program offered by Carson-Newman and Narrow Ridge and on the possibility of organizing a consortium of interested educational institutions that collaborate in such a way as to keep costs and other logistical requirements to a minimum. The course we have developed is one that we believe can be readily implemented or adapted by schools, colleges, and universities from around Appalachia.
The presentation will conclude by providing sample syllabi from our current Honors course in Ecological Psychology (also known as Humanity and the Biosphere) which shows how we prepare and guide students through their Narrow Ridge experience and integrate it with the academic content of our disciplines. [206 words]
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Beth Vanlandingham, a professor of history at Carson-Newman and Narrow Ridge board member who coordinates Women’s Studies at the university and co-teaches the Honors course, Ecological Psychology (Humanity and Biosphere)
Presentation #3 Title
“Walking the Narrow Ridge: Foundational Ideas and Implications of Earth Literacy” (Bill Nickle, Narrow Rdge Earth Literacy Center)
Presentation #3 Abstract or Summary
Preface: Where did the ideas of Earth Literacy come from and how are they related to the regional and wider world issues of our climate crisis?
Abstract:
Our third panelist will elaborate on the foundational ideas of Narrow Ridge upon which the university immersion programs are based and discuss their relevance to living, teaching, and learning in a time of climate crisis. The presentation is appropriate for faculty and students from state (secular) institutions as well as those from religiously-affiliated colleges and universities. We will seek to explore and critically reflect on:
- Key ideas of Earth Literacy derived from deep ecology, ecopsychology, and climate science including writings by Martin Buber, Thomas Berry, Joanna Macy, Naomi Klein, Rob Hopkins, Theodore Roszak, Wendell Berry, Wangari Maathai, Bill McKibben, and others;
- Key ideas derived from bioregional voices for Earth Literacy and environmental justice including John Nolt, Mac Smith, Marie Cirrillo, the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, United Mountain Defense, and others; and,
- A variety of nonsectarian spiritual paths as they relate to Earth Literacy and the interconnections of the natural world with individual and community well-being, social and environmental justice, and a variety of religious experiences and traditions, as expressed by Tennessee Power and Light, the Catholic Committee of Appalachia, the Linquist Environmental Appalachian Fellowship, and others. [187 words]
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #3
Bill Nickle, former United Methodist minister with seminary training at Duke who has served as a church camp director, board member of the Earth Ethics Institute at Miami Dade College, and founding director of Narrow Ridge
Presentation #4 Title
“Singing in the Hills: Music and Earth Literacy” (Guy Larry Osborne, Carson-Newman University)
Presentation #4 Abstract or Summary
Preface: An interactive presentation on the role of music in Earth Literacy and the university summer immersion experience
Abstract:
Music is an integral part of the collaborative work we do and the program we will be describing. Music in the form of singing together for community-building, song-writing (as well as other forms of artistic expression), and learning about the historic and on-going role of music in Appalachian social movements is present as part of the pedagogy and content of Earth Literacy at Narrow Ridge.
Music is also an integral part of the broader work of Narrow Ridge and includes regular community music jams, singing at the four seasonal celebrations, and an annual cultural festival celebrating the human and natural history of the local region with lots of local musicians and community sing-a-longs included.
Narrow Ridge has a band, The Emancipators (www.facebook.com/theemanciators), whose members reside at Narrow Ridge, serve on the staff or board, or have other personal connections with the place and organization. The band plays at Narrow Ridge functions and also at events around the region sponsored by nonprofit organizations working for peace and justice.
This presentation will include singing and reflecting together on several original and traditional songs from the Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Songbook.
After this the presentation we will conclude the session by inviting the previous panelists to brainstorm with panel attenders about how their college or university could collaborate with us and in partnership with Narrow Ridge to create a strong interdisciplinary summer immersion experience with leadership shared across several schools. [237 words]
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #4
Guy Larry Osborne, a psychology professor at Carson-Newman (ret.), co-teaches Ecological Psychology, Narrow Ridge board member, and songwriter who plays and sings at musical functions at Narrow Ridge and with The Emancipators
“Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center and the University Immersion Experience” (Mitzi Wood von Mizener, Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center)
Preface: An introduction to Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center in east Tennessee and its partnerships in experiential learning with colleges and universities Abstract: In this presentation we will: Introduce panel attenders to the mission, history, and work of Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center in east Tennessee through an overview of its history, programs, and a “virtual tour” of its facilities (www.narrowridge.org); Describe common components of our university immersion program developed by Narrow Ridge in collaboration with Carson-Newman and other institutions of higher learning that provides students opportunities to gain and reflect on their first-hand experiences in-- sustainable living (e.g., solar power, locally sourced building materials such as straw bale construction, closed systems for dealing with “waste” such as composting toilets, “reskilling”); organic gardening, “locavore” meal planning and preparation, community-based agriculture, and other “heritage skills” related to food security; practicing skills of collaborative problem-solving, decision-making, and community-building derived from traditions of nonviolence and participatory democracy; immersing themselves in the natural world through guided activities in which they experience themselves as part of the community of Earth rather than as outside observers; practicing “low-tech” forms of entertainment and social interaction; and, analyzing bioregional environmental issues and connecting them with the wider realities of poverty, militarism, and global capitalism. [188 words]
