ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

conservation, sustainable development, environmental health, animal welfare and species preservation . . . And all their economic, political, and even spiritual implications . . . Do not “belong” to any one department!

Arguably, great cultures rise and fall as their relationship with their environments waxes and wanes, is more or less “harmonious.”

Great Universities provide world-class

• Education

• Research

• Outreach

AND have a responsibility to deploy their resources to address major social issues for the common good

INTERDISCIPLINARITY

Creates an ideal environment for . . .

“. . . the expression of unprecedented or novel perceptions, thoughts, or actions . . .”

Exposes disciplinarians to new “ways of seeing, ways of thinking, ways of acting” that can be applied to real problems, and thereby . . .

builds bridges between previously unrelated domains of knowledge

It is virtually a formula for creativity

University Studies Projects

Attitudes about our relationship to nature profoundly affect public policy . . . And are forged in part by spontaneous behavioral responses and in part by our cultural environment and development.

Perceptions of NaturePerceptions of Nature

Wu-Wei, “effortless action”

In this regard, historians of art, culture, religion, ecologists, sociologists and economists have much to learn from each other.

Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est”

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville has designated Spring semester of 2005, the ENVIRONMENTAL SEMESTER.

From January through May the University will celebrate the teaching, research, and outreach activities of the University in which concern with the environment, conservation, or sustainable development is a central or significant component.

Campus-wide events featuring lectures, presentations, shows, and performances by distinguished visiting scholars, artists, and performers will provide our 27,000 graduate and undergraduate students and the community many opportunities to experience and learn about the diverse ways in which we affect and are affected by our relationship to the environment.

Campus-Wide Lectures

• Robert F. Kennedy Jr.• Michael Klare and David Hill• Jonathan Weiner• E.O. Wilson• Holmes Rolston III• Lisa Newton• Sy Montgomery• Bruce Coull

Almost 200 courses in over 40 departments

• Anthropology• Economics• English• History• Sociology• University Honors

• University Studies• Interior design• Journalism• Philosophy• Planning• Political Science

In addition to the usual suspects, there are innovative courses in :

Campus-Wide Exhibits

• Agnes Denes: Projects for Public Spaces

• Gregg Schlanger: Holston River Diaries

• Lost Worlds: Discovering Past Environments

• Solar and Wind Power Demonstration Project

• University Center Concourse Gallery Nature Photo shows – Senator Baker and PhotoContest winners

Campus-Wide Performances

• Paul Winter Consort

Campus-Wide Conferences

• SE Regional Student Clean Energy Conference

• Howard Baker Center Clean Air Conference

Campus-Wide Lecture Series

• Architecture: Mondays at 5:30

• Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries: Thursdays at 3:30

• “Documentaries in the Library” series

• Dedicated environmental topics in many other seminar programs identified in the website calendar

Centripetals

• February: Joe Clark – “Ecology of Black Bears in the Okefenokee Swamp”

• March: Tom Galligan – “ Toxic Torts”

• April: Scott Frey – “ The Globalization of Hazardous Wastes”

Celebrations

• “Make Orange Green” Dorm Competition

• Earth Day

• Earth Fest

Key Sponsors

• Office of the Chancellor• College of Arts and Sciences• College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural

Resources• College of Architecture and Design• College of Business Administration• Student Central Program Council• Howard Baker Center for Public Policy• Energy, Environment and Resources Center

DEEP DEEP ECOLOGYECOLOGY

BEHIND BEHIND APPEARANCESAPPEARANCES

Sir Francis Sir Francis BaconBacon

Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est. [For knowledge itself is power. Meditations Sacrae]

Naturam non vinces nisi parendo [You will not master [conquer] nature unless you obey it. Novum Organum, 1620]

Responsible citizenship requires broad understanding – education of the heart as well as the mind.

"The personal participation of the knower in the knowledge he believes himself to possess takes place within a flow of passion.” (Polanyi 1958:300).

Decisions, decisions

Perceptions of Perceptions of NatureNature

How the sciences, arts, and humanities inform perceptions of

nature and guide public policy

The Biologist’s Bias

Meeting NEEDS is the basic business of life. When real (or perceived) needs are not met, stress is created.

Organisms have ancient and powerful mechanisms for relieving stress; more recent evolutionary innovations include education – the university!

Needs exist in a hierarch of urgency. When the most urgent need is met, all the organism’s energy is focused on the next need.

The university can give us tools and (hopefully) the judgment to use them wisely.

The Hierarchy of NEEDS

• Physiology (food, drink, exercise, homeostasis)

• Safety (security, order, protection)

• Belonging ( sociability, acceptance, love)

• Esteem (status, prestige, acknowledgment)

• Self-Actualization (personal fulfillment)

--Abraham Maslow

NEEDS

“Biological fitness” is an expression of self-actualization and it is the same for as for a sea-slug:

“Be all you can be . . .” (US Army recruiting slogan)

NEEDS

"The aim of life is self-development. To realize one's nature perfectly - that is what each of us is here for. . . .” (Oscar Wilde)

“The aim of the University is a true enlargement of mind which is the power of viewing many things at once. .” (John

Henry Newman, 1873)

"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift." --Einstein

Educating the heart as well as the mind