Discourse on the Environment Continues to Flourish at The Outdoor Academy
By Mark Meyer-Braun
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| New residents on the Eagle’s Nest lake |
Anyone familiar with The Outdoor Academy’s curriculum knows well that Environmental Studies has always been the bedrock of the program. This makes excellent sense given the Foundation’s eighty year mission: to promote the natural world and the betterment of human character in young people. In 1995, when The Outdoor Academy opened its doors, the school was on the leading edge of the environmental education movement. Our students and teachers were listening to the calls of activists of the day, messages that are now being embraced by the mainstream with increasing attention.
As a young teacher at that time, I recall discovering Al Gore’s 1993 text, Earth in Balance, in the school’s newly established library loft in Sikwayi. I picked over the book for the better part of my first semester of teaching, and imagined our nation embracing his challenge with our full energy. Today, his message is approaching the critical mass needed to spur a transformation in how we care for our planet and, by extension, ourselves.
At The Outdoor Academy, we recognize that Environmental Studies is inherently an interdisciplinary pursuit; as such, it has flourished within our holistic program. The history of our Environmental Seminar course illustrates this point well. Consider this excerpt, taken from the Environmental Seminar course description, as it appeared in our first published Curriculum Guide in 1994: “This discussion course looks at the environmental movement and related issues from historic, socio-political, and ecological perspectives. Our relationship with the land is examined through the essays of Descartes, the stewardship ethic of Leopold, the Gaia theory of interpretation of Margulis and the deep ecological writings of Devall.” Indeed, philosophy, literature, ecology, and socio-cultural theory have all played a role in the Environmental Seminar course during our thirteen-year history.
Over the years, five different faculty members have taught the Environmental Seminar class, and each has brought forth different disciplinary emphasis. During the early years, Lilace Mellin used primarily materials from the humanities—especially literature, philosophy, and ethics. With these, Lilace made poignant connections between environmental issues and social justice concerns. Following Lilace, Susan Tinsley Daily taught the course; she implemented a number of experiential elements, including visiting clear-cut sites in nearby national forest lands and investigating the environmental records of various North Carolina politicians.
When I took over the class in 1999, I drew upon my background in the social sciences, especially anthropology. Among other things, we explored how culturally imbedded values, spiritual beliefs, and social constructs give definition to a people’s relationship with the natural world, and hence their attitudes about natural resources. Some readers will certainly remember Mike Abbas’s course, which drew heavily upon his background in ecology and sustainable agriculture. Mike brought his students into the garden and nearby forest to see how ecological and chemical processes function in maintaining, or disrupting, homeostasis within an ecosystem. Most recently, Brook Waldman brought to his students an issues-driven curriculum: population, climate change, agriculture, energy, and waste management were among his primary subjects. His expert knowledge of bio-fuel and his biodiesel-powered 1987 Volkswagen Jetta also played a role. Simultaneously, Brook led his math class in the construction of a solar oven, made possible by a grant from Duke Energy.
During some semesters, we have not offered the Environmental Seminar course, but have opted instead to highlight the environmental history of the Southern Appalachians by way of Ted Wesemann’s rigorous and experiential Appalachian History course. Among other things, Ted’s course deals with the history of environmental impact in the southern mountains as a function of economic development.
In recent semesters, we have complemented Ted’s course with a range of environmentally-themed projects, field trips, and forums. The highlight of our spring Environmental Summit, held last April, was a visit by alumni guest speaker Luke Falk, who now works in urban development in New York City. For insight into Luke’s work, check out his feature article in this edition of The Eagle. Other activities in recent semesters have included: viewing of a film on the peak oil crisis in Cuba; undertaking trail and site maintenance at DuPont State Forest and Pisgah National Forest; participation in the Cradle of Forestry Environmental Conference at Brevard College and the Sierra Club Forum, which featured nationally known experts in the field of water conservation; and making fieldtrips to nearby organic farms, including Seven Springs Orchard, Hickory Nut Gap Farm, and our local berry farm operated by Dee Queen.
The most recent event in our ongoing environmental education program was a field trip to The Energy Exchange, located outside of Burnsville, North Carolina. The project consists of a capped landfill that has been engineered to harness the methane gas released from the decomposition of waste. The Energy Exchange fuels artists' studios (pottery and glass-blowing) and heats greenhouses and tilapia cultivation ponds; the products of these are used to raise revenue to support the artists collective and to fund research into other forms of alternative energy.
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| Students transplanting herbs at The Energy Exchange during a work-trade visit to this remarkable facility |
As I reflect upon the environmental education activities The Outdoor Academy has offered, I am pleased and proud to part of the school. Our many programs are a testament to the highly committed and ethically motivated members of our faculty. Only through these engaged and capable staff members is a robust environmental program of this kind possible. I would like to dedicate this article to our faculty, and to our Alumni who have taken up environmental advocacy work. Let each of us be motivated to environmental action by the good work of these people.
