The idea of nature will not survive the new global pollution...We have changed the atmosphere, and thus we are changing the weather. By changing the weather, we make every spot on earth man made and artificial...If the sun feels sweet on the back of your neck, that's fine but it isn't nature. A child born now will never know a natural summer, a natural autumn, winter, or spring. Summer is going extinct, replaced by something else that will be called "summer." This new summer will retain some of its relative characteristics--it will be hotter than the rest of the year, for instance, and the time of year when crops grow--but it will not be summer, just as even the best prosthesis in not a leg (McKibben, The End of Nature 50-51).
From this, it was apparent that McKibben was an engaged forward thinker (The End of Nature was published twenty-one years ago) and excellent writer. What I didn't know was that McKibben had taken a lead role in GW activism. To keep the dialogue going that An Inconvenient Truth had sparked, McKibben and some students began Step It Up in 2007 an movement that "organized over 2,000 rallies at iconic places in all 50 of the United States"... and used "creative actions--from skiers descending a melting glacier to divers hosting an underwater action" to "convince many political leaders, including then Senator Barack Obama, to adopt our common call to action: cutting carbon 80% by 2050 (350.org)." The latest and by far most ambitious of McKibben's undertakings takes everything he and his organizers learned from Step It Up and applies it to a world-wide GW consciousness raising effort called 350.org.
350.org mission and focus
The goal of 350.org is to lower the planet's concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide from its current code-red level of 392 parts per million to a more sane and livable 350 ppm. 350.org knows this cannot happen without motivating people around the world, particularly those in political power, through a bottom-up effort "to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis [and] to create a new sense of urgency and of possibility for our planet." 350 even has an explicit and revolutionary "theory of change" that an international grass-roots movement "working hard--everywhere at once" can pull off the improbable and turn the planet's thermostat down. The best and easiest way to understand 350 is through their excellent multimedia offerings, particularly the slide show found here. Two of the most valuable slides there spell out (a) exactly who 350 is and (b) what their strategy is.
(a) 350 is...
What are some of the ways 350 is leveraging the Web? Everything it does starts with its own site as the hub, the place people can come to find out all about 350 (as I've done), stay updated, correspond, read blogs, make donations, connect the cause to others through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, and take action. The site also makes specific calls to different constituencies, from faith-based groups to youth organizations to island dwellers and offers a trove of resources for activists and the media.
For the purposes of peering into the guiding rhetorical ideas of 350, the FAQs section of the site is illuminating. For example, 350 reveals that they "branded" themselves with a number rather than a name to avoid getting caught up in the polyglot snarls that could choke an international organization. The name is also shrewd because, upon hearing it, your natural response is to say, "Hmm...350. What's that?" Furthermore, the name 350 smartly focuses debate in the realm of numbers and science rather than emotions, which is the same idea that apparently motivated these demonstrators...
This photo is a natural segue to discussing more of what makes 350 remarkable. As befits a global organization, 350 relies heavily on plain graphics and self-explanatory logos (almost like traffic or public warning signs), and it recognizes the power of animation and video to make a point. I also believe the public action photos are very effective ways of motivating people to come together.
Action and community events are central to 350, and nowhere is this more evident in the huge event they are staging this fall, called the 10/10/10 Global Work Party, a day of "1040 actions" in "116 countries." This hearkens back to McKibben's Step It Up days and puts me in mind of the great communal events of the 60s. In sum, 350 is a tremendously organized, technically savvy, and rhetorically gifted organization that, as much as any group I've ever learned about, has a chance to beat back entrenched opposition and stubborn obstacles, more about which below.
Meet the opposition: power, money, inertia, culture
While I'm not an energy wonk, political pundit, geopolitical guru, or cultural critic, I will sketch out some of the actors and forces that may oppose 350's aims outright or be resistant to its rhetoric.
1. If some is good, more is better
While Bill McKibben pleads his case (in his new book Eaarth and on 350.org) about scaling back and simplifying for the sake of the planet, everywhere else society bombards us with messages to keep up with everyone else's bigger, newer, faster, better house/PC/TV/phone/car. Businesses and governments, too, see constant economic growth not as a luxury but as their guiding mission. I don't mention these facts to be judgmental, but only to point out that the culture and agendas of developed nations make the 350 goal fraught and unlikely.
2. Carbon-based extractive industries
The rich and powerful companies extracting coal in West Virginia, rushing to partake in the natural gas boom, and working off our coasts won't be drawing attention to themselves with any big rallies. Rather, they will continue working the back channels of D.C. using lobbyists, massive campaign contributions, and lawyers to keep drilling, refining, and burning the sorts of fuels that threaten to move 350 forever out of reach.
3. OPEC states
OPEC states, in particular those classed here as "factional democracies, paternalistic autocracies, and predatory autocracies," such as Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and Nigeria, have a poor record of managing their oil wealth. But given that for many of these nations, oil is the sole driver of their economies, it's logical to assume OPEC will be working to scuttle green initiatives that would wean the world from their black gold.
4. Invisibility
One of 350.org's stated objectives is to make an invisible issue visible. Why is it invisible? For one thing, changes to the climate are planetary and incremental in scale, and so don't seem immediately threatening to us on a neighborhood or household level. Second, unlike obvious pollution from the era preceding the Clean Air and Clean Water acts, global warming happens through a thousand everday activities: having a cookout, taking a flight, driving our cars, doing a load of laundry, etc.
5. Pain and apathy
Making globally conscious decisions part of our normal routines requires discipline. After all, it is easier to drive than to bike, easier to toss out than recycle, more comfortable to crank the A/C, and more fun to drive a Viper than a Prius. Can 350.org convince people to look past the easy, convenient, and sexy choices? Not everyone, quite frankly, can afford to be green; nor does everyone care or find the earnestness of the McKibbens of the world galvanizing (Indeed, this may constitute a Nixonian silent majority.). Although everywhere in its messaging 350.org tries to be upbeat and emphasize fun, the hard truth is that remaking the planet's atmosphere will take sacrifice. And that's not a message of mass appeal.
6. It's our turn
Can we in good conscience tell the emerging middle-class in India and China that they need to live frugal, eco-conscious lives before many of them ever had the chance to enjoy their prosperity? More to the point, are the wishes of a geographically and culturally removed "other" going to be heard in the malls of Mumbai and car showrooms of Shanghai? As the economies of the two most populous countries in the world grow, it is likely that vast amounts of carbon will be added to the atmosphere as a result. Convincing these, and other newly wealthy countries, to slow down and tone down is the definition of a rhetorical challenge.
What I admire most about McKibben and 350.org is that they openly acknowledges all of these hindrances and refuse to be demoralized by them.
Planning with and writing about 350.org and GW
In the reading we have done thus far about service-learning, I have not run across anything about international activism, the role of new media in activism, and the question of student choice in selecting what to write about. I believe having students plan with 350.org and write about it and GW would be a new and worthwhile rhetorical experiment in service-learning.
Undoubtedly, there are advantages, disadvantages, and paradoxes to working with/writing about 350 as opposed to more traditional local projects. Here are a few to consider.
Advantage: This kind of "social work" is issue oriented and more about raising awareness than working with local agencies. Thus, the usual dilemmas of service-learning (e.g., paternalism, "using" a disadvantaged group for the purposes of furthering an academic career, "survivor" guilt at abandoning community after term ends) are largely avoided.
Disadvantage: Is working on a global issue ignoring the local community?
Paradox: Global climate concerns demand local changes.
I believe that over the course of planning an issue oriented service-learning project, like the following, some useful contrasts and similarities might develop to service-learning as currently practiced.
Three 350/GW writing projects for high-school English
(1) Using the resources provided on the 350.org site and relying on your own initiative and writing skills:
(2) To grasp the science and social issues behind GW, first read Bill McKibben's book Eaarth and/or The End of Nature. Then create a Web page or a blog that you can share electronically (aim to get it to 350 people) that will persuade them to change their behaviors to curtail GW and speak up about the issue to friends, family, and powerful interests. Take advantage of the multimedia materials on 350.org but include your own narrative with personal insights and anecdotes that will make the issue and your site truly yours. Consider some of the reasons people will stay set in their ways and how your site or blog's message can motivate them to change.
(3) Using resources on 350.org and Bill McKibben's writings, research and write a brief paper in which you uncover the history of how humanity committed "its biggest mistake ever" (McKibben). Once you find out how we got into this mess, look into your crystal ball to the year 2060. What do you think life will be like then? Do you believe it will be much the same because we acted in time to prevent the worst of GW from happening? Or some darker scenario? What scientific or social reasons made you select a hopeful or dour outcome? Contact 350.org and see if they might post your work on the group's site.
(4) Write Your Resistance!
(a) Do you think global warming is a sham concocted by the left or treehugging hippies or some other cabal? OK, in a scrupulously referenced and original work of around five pages, support why you don't believe it is a real threat and who stands to benefit from having us believe it is.
(b) Is the 350.org global Web activist approach going about the GW problem the wrong way? Are the staged photos and international day-long events not going to amount to anything but a brief blip on the cultural/political/environmental radar? Is it all "sound and fury signifying nothing"? Write a paper that takes 350.org to task and propose your own better idea for dealing with GW. Remember that what you propose must be something can be done ASAP (the best science says we are on our way to radically changed lives); that engages the world (the problem is global) and communities (the problem is also local); that gets political powerbrokers to act; and that is something that really is doable even if ambitious.
Regardless of which option you choose, reach out to 350.org and see how they react. Document their reaction in an appendix to your paper.
Some pedagogical justifications for projects (1), (2), (3) and (4)(a)+(b)*
Although I have never taught a class, the justifications I have for the projects above aren't completely arbitrary. Mostly, they are informed by what I remember liking and hating about school, how I think kids relate to reading and writing now, and the importance of critically engaging with a supremely complex issue. The danger for me is that my politics or ideology will intrude upon them. My hope is that they absorb some of the best thinking out there on GW and GW activism and draw their own conclusions. If they wind up hating my generation for fouling up the planet, I can deal with it, particularly if it motivates them to take action.
*Fun: This applies primarily to project (1). There are many possibilities for drawing attention to the 350 cause in a splashy way. For instance, students could (well in advance) block out a 350-shaped block of seats at a baseball stadium and dress all in a like color to spell out 350 and get publicity. Or, they could stage interventions, handing people at their big box store who are shopping for lightbulbs a one-sheet that tells how much better choosing the latest, planet-friendly ones are for the planet and their wallets. Or, they could have their parents and their parents' friends and coworkers pledge to "leave 350 cars parked" on 10/10/10.
*Choice: Not everyone is cut out for activism or likes to be corraled into one option. That was why I developed a few different ideas. I've also seen this modeled in ENWR 600 and appreciated it on a personal level.
*Using technology and writing for real publics: All of the writing projects require students to, at minimum, interact with the 350.org site, which allows them to see how YouTube, Powerpoint, e-mail lists, and social networking can be repurposed for a cause. Project (2) steps things up technologically by asking students to construct a blog or Web page.
Also, these four projects, I believe, fall in line neatly with the Technology Standards New Jersey is implementing...
"In grades 9-12, students demonstrate advanced computer operation and application skills by publishing products related to real-world situations (e.g., digital portfolios, digital learning games and simulations), and they understand the impact of unethical use of digital tools. They collaborate adeptly in virtual environments and incorporate global perspectives into problem solving at home, at school, and in structured learning experiences, with the growing realization that people in the 21st century are interconnected economically, socially, and environmentally and have a shared future. " (NJCCS Tech. standards)
Because I believe students may take their writing more seriously if it is being exposed to the outside world, all four projects challenge them to make their work public.
*Rubbing up against the real world: All three projects encourage engagement with the real world. Number (2) asks students to hone their persuasive writing skills, whereas (3) takes a more historical and speculative bent. This "futurology" aspect is interesting to me since it challenges kids to stake out a position about our most likely future and back it up with evidence from the past and present.
*Interdisciplinary studies: I've tried to create projects that make students read, digest, and assimilate the science of GW into their own words and into persuasive appeals to others to act. I think these interdisciplinary skills will serve them well in college and the workplace.
Overall, a 350.org service-learning project seems to have merit socially and pedagogically. It may not be as riven by postmodern problems as acting on a community level and--who can say--it may not be effective at all. But I do think this organization has harnessed the power of the Web to model how organizations in the future might go about taking "action everywhere at once." We'll see how this all plays out in a couple of months. I for one will be circling 10/10/10 on my calendar.
McKibben, Bill. The End of Nature. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2006.
"stepitup.org". August 2010.
"350.org". August 2010.
If no citation is given, please accept the hotlink as equivalent documentation.
From this, it was apparent that McKibben was an engaged forward thinker (The End of Nature was published twenty-one years ago) and excellent writer. What I didn't know was that McKibben had taken a lead role in GW activism. To keep the dialogue going that An Inconvenient Truth had sparked, McKibben and some students began Step It Up in 2007 an movement that "organized over 2,000 rallies at iconic places in all 50 of the United States"... and used "creative actions--from skiers descending a melting glacier to divers hosting an underwater action" to "convince many political leaders, including then Senator Barack Obama, to adopt our common call to action: cutting carbon 80% by 2050 (350.org)." The latest and by far most ambitious of McKibben's undertakings takes everything he and his organizers learned from Step It Up and applies it to a world-wide GW consciousness raising effort called 350.org.
350.org mission and focus
The goal of 350.org is to lower the planet's concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide from its current code-red level of 392 parts per million to a more sane and livable 350 ppm. 350.org knows this cannot happen without motivating people around the world, particularly those in political power, through a bottom-up effort "to rise to the challenge of the climate crisis [and] to create a new sense of urgency and of possibility for our planet." 350 even has an explicit and revolutionary "theory of change" that an international grass-roots movement "working hard--everywhere at once" can pull off the improbable and turn the planet's thermostat down. The best and easiest way to understand 350 is through their excellent multimedia offerings, particularly the slide show found here. Two of the most valuable slides there spell out (a) exactly who 350 is and (b) what their strategy is.
(a) 350 is...
- A global movement of concerned citizens
- A network of partner organizations
- Messengers
- A coordinating team of young people from around the world
- All of us who seek a just and equitable solution to the climate crisis
(b) 350 strategy:
Creative action + targeted and specific message = real change in the policy discussion
350.org's rhetorical principles and discursive tools
Clearly, the main weapon in 350's rhetorical arsenal is the Web. 350 plans to use the pervasiveness (and persuasiveness) of the Internet to galvanize a willing audience ("global public opinion polls have found 9 in 10 people want action on climate change and 7 in 10 want to see dramatic action ‘very soon.'"). The statistics 350 cites are staggering and do seem favorable to its goals:
- Billions on e-mail lists
- 100+ million blogs
- 50 million Facebook users
- 55 million users per month on YouTube
- Roughly 25% of the world’s population is online
What are some of the ways 350 is leveraging the Web? Everything it does starts with its own site as the hub, the place people can come to find out all about 350 (as I've done), stay updated, correspond, read blogs, make donations, connect the cause to others through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, and take action. The site also makes specific calls to different constituencies, from faith-based groups to youth organizations to island dwellers and offers a trove of resources for activists and the media.
For the purposes of peering into the guiding rhetorical ideas of 350, the FAQs section of the site is illuminating. For example, 350 reveals that they "branded" themselves with a number rather than a name to avoid getting caught up in the polyglot snarls that could choke an international organization. The name is also shrewd because, upon hearing it, your natural response is to say, "Hmm...350. What's that?" Furthermore, the name 350 smartly focuses debate in the realm of numbers and science rather than emotions, which is the same idea that apparently motivated these demonstrators...
This photo is a natural segue to discussing more of what makes 350 remarkable. As befits a global organization, 350 relies heavily on plain graphics and self-explanatory logos (almost like traffic or public warning signs), and it recognizes the power of animation and video to make a point. I also believe the public action photos are very effective ways of motivating people to come together.
Action and community events are central to 350, and nowhere is this more evident in the huge event they are staging this fall, called the 10/10/10 Global Work Party, a day of "1040 actions" in "116 countries." This hearkens back to McKibben's Step It Up days and puts me in mind of the great communal events of the 60s. In sum, 350 is a tremendously organized, technically savvy, and rhetorically gifted organization that, as much as any group I've ever learned about, has a chance to beat back entrenched opposition and stubborn obstacles, more about which below.
Meet the opposition: power, money, inertia, culture
While I'm not an energy wonk, political pundit, geopolitical guru, or cultural critic, I will sketch out some of the actors and forces that may oppose 350's aims outright or be resistant to its rhetoric.
1. If some is good, more is better
While Bill McKibben pleads his case (in his new book Eaarth and on 350.org) about scaling back and simplifying for the sake of the planet, everywhere else society bombards us with messages to keep up with everyone else's bigger, newer, faster, better house/PC/TV/phone/car. Businesses and governments, too, see constant economic growth not as a luxury but as their guiding mission. I don't mention these facts to be judgmental, but only to point out that the culture and agendas of developed nations make the 350 goal fraught and unlikely.
2. Carbon-based extractive industries
The rich and powerful companies extracting coal in West Virginia, rushing to partake in the natural gas boom, and working off our coasts won't be drawing attention to themselves with any big rallies. Rather, they will continue working the back channels of D.C. using lobbyists, massive campaign contributions, and lawyers to keep drilling, refining, and burning the sorts of fuels that threaten to move 350 forever out of reach.
3. OPEC states
OPEC states, in particular those classed here as "factional democracies, paternalistic autocracies, and predatory autocracies," such as Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and Nigeria, have a poor record of managing their oil wealth. But given that for many of these nations, oil is the sole driver of their economies, it's logical to assume OPEC will be working to scuttle green initiatives that would wean the world from their black gold.
4. Invisibility
One of 350.org's stated objectives is to make an invisible issue visible. Why is it invisible? For one thing, changes to the climate are planetary and incremental in scale, and so don't seem immediately threatening to us on a neighborhood or household level. Second, unlike obvious pollution from the era preceding the Clean Air and Clean Water acts, global warming happens through a thousand everday activities: having a cookout, taking a flight, driving our cars, doing a load of laundry, etc.
5. Pain and apathy
Making globally conscious decisions part of our normal routines requires discipline. After all, it is easier to drive than to bike, easier to toss out than recycle, more comfortable to crank the A/C, and more fun to drive a Viper than a Prius. Can 350.org convince people to look past the easy, convenient, and sexy choices? Not everyone, quite frankly, can afford to be green; nor does everyone care or find the earnestness of the McKibbens of the world galvanizing (Indeed, this may constitute a Nixonian silent majority.). Although everywhere in its messaging 350.org tries to be upbeat and emphasize fun, the hard truth is that remaking the planet's atmosphere will take sacrifice. And that's not a message of mass appeal.
6. It's our turn
Can we in good conscience tell the emerging middle-class in India and China that they need to live frugal, eco-conscious lives before many of them ever had the chance to enjoy their prosperity? More to the point, are the wishes of a geographically and culturally removed "other" going to be heard in the malls of Mumbai and car showrooms of Shanghai? As the economies of the two most populous countries in the world grow, it is likely that vast amounts of carbon will be added to the atmosphere as a result. Convincing these, and other newly wealthy countries, to slow down and tone down is the definition of a rhetorical challenge.
What I admire most about McKibben and 350.org is that they openly acknowledges all of these hindrances and refuse to be demoralized by them.
Planning with and writing about 350.org and GW
In the reading we have done thus far about service-learning, I have not run across anything about international activism, the role of new media in activism, and the question of student choice in selecting what to write about. I believe having students plan with 350.org and write about it and GW would be a new and worthwhile rhetorical experiment in service-learning.
Undoubtedly, there are advantages, disadvantages, and paradoxes to working with/writing about 350 as opposed to more traditional local projects. Here are a few to consider.
Advantage: This kind of "social work" is issue oriented and more about raising awareness than working with local agencies. Thus, the usual dilemmas of service-learning (e.g., paternalism, "using" a disadvantaged group for the purposes of furthering an academic career, "survivor" guilt at abandoning community after term ends) are largely avoided.
Disadvantage: Is working on a global issue ignoring the local community?
Paradox: Global climate concerns demand local changes.
I believe that over the course of planning an issue oriented service-learning project, like the following, some useful contrasts and similarities might develop to service-learning as currently practiced.
Three 350/GW writing projects for high-school English
(1) Using the resources provided on the 350.org site and relying on your own initiative and writing skills:
- plan
- hold
- document
- reflect upon
- share with 350.org
(2) To grasp the science and social issues behind GW, first read Bill McKibben's book Eaarth and/or The End of Nature. Then create a Web page or a blog that you can share electronically (aim to get it to 350 people) that will persuade them to change their behaviors to curtail GW and speak up about the issue to friends, family, and powerful interests. Take advantage of the multimedia materials on 350.org but include your own narrative with personal insights and anecdotes that will make the issue and your site truly yours. Consider some of the reasons people will stay set in their ways and how your site or blog's message can motivate them to change.
(3) Using resources on 350.org and Bill McKibben's writings, research and write a brief paper in which you uncover the history of how humanity committed "its biggest mistake ever" (McKibben). Once you find out how we got into this mess, look into your crystal ball to the year 2060. What do you think life will be like then? Do you believe it will be much the same because we acted in time to prevent the worst of GW from happening? Or some darker scenario? What scientific or social reasons made you select a hopeful or dour outcome? Contact 350.org and see if they might post your work on the group's site.
(4) Write Your Resistance!
(a) Do you think global warming is a sham concocted by the left or treehugging hippies or some other cabal? OK, in a scrupulously referenced and original work of around five pages, support why you don't believe it is a real threat and who stands to benefit from having us believe it is.
(b) Is the 350.org global Web activist approach going about the GW problem the wrong way? Are the staged photos and international day-long events not going to amount to anything but a brief blip on the cultural/political/environmental radar? Is it all "sound and fury signifying nothing"? Write a paper that takes 350.org to task and propose your own better idea for dealing with GW. Remember that what you propose must be something can be done ASAP (the best science says we are on our way to radically changed lives); that engages the world (the problem is global) and communities (the problem is also local); that gets political powerbrokers to act; and that is something that really is doable even if ambitious.
Regardless of which option you choose, reach out to 350.org and see how they react. Document their reaction in an appendix to your paper.
Some pedagogical justifications for projects (1), (2), (3) and (4)(a)+(b)*
Although I have never taught a class, the justifications I have for the projects above aren't completely arbitrary. Mostly, they are informed by what I remember liking and hating about school, how I think kids relate to reading and writing now, and the importance of critically engaging with a supremely complex issue. The danger for me is that my politics or ideology will intrude upon them. My hope is that they absorb some of the best thinking out there on GW and GW activism and draw their own conclusions. If they wind up hating my generation for fouling up the planet, I can deal with it, particularly if it motivates them to take action.
*Fun: This applies primarily to project (1). There are many possibilities for drawing attention to the 350 cause in a splashy way. For instance, students could (well in advance) block out a 350-shaped block of seats at a baseball stadium and dress all in a like color to spell out 350 and get publicity. Or, they could stage interventions, handing people at their big box store who are shopping for lightbulbs a one-sheet that tells how much better choosing the latest, planet-friendly ones are for the planet and their wallets. Or, they could have their parents and their parents' friends and coworkers pledge to "leave 350 cars parked" on 10/10/10.
*Choice: Not everyone is cut out for activism or likes to be corraled into one option. That was why I developed a few different ideas. I've also seen this modeled in ENWR 600 and appreciated it on a personal level.
*Using technology and writing for real publics: All of the writing projects require students to, at minimum, interact with the 350.org site, which allows them to see how YouTube, Powerpoint, e-mail lists, and social networking can be repurposed for a cause. Project (2) steps things up technologically by asking students to construct a blog or Web page.
Also, these four projects, I believe, fall in line neatly with the Technology Standards New Jersey is implementing...
"In grades 9-12, students demonstrate advanced computer operation and application skills by publishing products related to real-world situations (e.g., digital portfolios, digital learning games and simulations), and they understand the impact of unethical use of digital tools. They collaborate adeptly in virtual environments and incorporate global perspectives into problem solving at home, at school, and in structured learning experiences, with the growing realization that people in the 21st century are interconnected economically, socially, and environmentally and have a shared future. " (NJCCS Tech. standards)
Because I believe students may take their writing more seriously if it is being exposed to the outside world, all four projects challenge them to make their work public.
*Rubbing up against the real world: All three projects encourage engagement with the real world. Number (2) asks students to hone their persuasive writing skills, whereas (3) takes a more historical and speculative bent. This "futurology" aspect is interesting to me since it challenges kids to stake out a position about our most likely future and back it up with evidence from the past and present.
*Interdisciplinary studies: I've tried to create projects that make students read, digest, and assimilate the science of GW into their own words and into persuasive appeals to others to act. I think these interdisciplinary skills will serve them well in college and the workplace.
Overall, a 350.org service-learning project seems to have merit socially and pedagogically. It may not be as riven by postmodern problems as acting on a community level and--who can say--it may not be effective at all. But I do think this organization has harnessed the power of the Web to model how organizations in the future might go about taking "action everywhere at once." We'll see how this all plays out in a couple of months. I for one will be circling 10/10/10 on my calendar.
Works Cited
McKibben, Bill. The End of Nature. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2006.
"stepitup.org". August 2010
"350.org". August 2010
If no citation is given, please accept the hotlink as equivalent documentation.
Lots of exciting potential here--thanks for sharing your blog with me! I think your point about student-generated interest is a very important one...and I agree that it is not talked about enough. While I applaud the response to this problem in the form of student choice in project options here, I would be interested in seeing you consider how writing, itself, might also be used as a space in which students can explore/work out their own confusion and even ambivalence towards the issue at hand (or even the organization)...what might a writing assignment look like that invites such exploration?
ReplyDeleteGreat work here!! JR
Prof. Restaino, please see assigments 4 a + b I added. I think these might speak to your concerns.
ReplyDeleteThx. FG