Part Six: Environmental Justice Ethnography in the Classroom: Teaching Activism (Higher Ed TIG)

Environmental Justice Ethnography in the Classroom: Teaching Activism (Higher Ed TIG) 

 

CHAIR: ALEXANDER, William (UNC Wilmington) SHERWOOD, Yvonne (UCSC) When We Follow: Social Movement Camps as Learning Places 

DAVIS, Brittany (Regis U) Critical Self-Reflection and Personal Transformation in the EJ Classroom 

WELLS, E. Christian (USF) Cultivating a Critical Environmental Justice Perspective among Students through University-Community Engaged Research in Tampa Bay, Florida 

LINCOLN, Martha (SFSU) Teaching Environmental Justice in the Field 

ALEXANDER, William (UNCW) The Classroom After the Disaster: Hurricane Florence and Environmental Justice Ethnography in Coastal North Carolina 

 

DISCUSSANT: LITTLE, Peter C. (RIC)

ABSTRACT: ALEXANDER, William (UNC Wilmington) Environmental Justice Ethnography in the Classroom: Teaching Activism, Inspiring Involvement. Ethnographic research on ways people organize and take action to protect their families and communities from exposure to toxins while demanding accountability is a significant topic in applied anthropology. When students encounter this through curriculum they come to understand policies and factors that place communities at risk and appreciate the role of activist ethnography in documenting inequities and promoting change. In this session, anthropologists share experiences teaching ethnography courses on environmental justice issues. Panelists discuss course design, ethnographic literature, pedagogy, and class projects in which students apply what they learn to participation in environmental justice movements in their own communities. 

 

Session took place in Portland, OR at the 79th Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology in March 2019.