EcoCiety: Discourse on Sustainable Future
Student blog explores perspectives on the environment
Students are writing more than term papers this semester in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences class Current Issues in International Environmental Affairs.
The course, taught by Adil Najam, BU’s Frederick S. Pardee Professor of Global Public Policy and director of the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, motivated students to publish their work on the Web. Najam is also a College of Arts & Sciences professor of international relations and of geography and environment.
The students’ new blog, Ecociety: Discourse on a Sustainable Future is an intellectual forum that explores scholarly and popular perspectives on the environment, human development, and the implications of international policy.
“The idea of coming up with a blog was conceived randomly,” says blog contributor Supriya Francis (GRS’10), a student in the class. “We thought it would be cool to have blog posts on the different academic books that students read over the semester.”
“Initially the idea was putting up book reviews, but was later transformed to a forum where we would share scholarly ideas and exchange thoughts on all issues pertinent to the environment, climate change, and sustainable development,” he says.
Francis isn’t the only blogger. About 10 students in Najam’s class contribute to the Web site, writing book reviews, articles about current issues in environmental affairs, and comments to other posts.
“Our goal is to advance a more just and ethical future, balancing human activities within the limits of ecology,” Francis says. “It is this passion for creating a more habitable planet that brought us together.”
Brendan Gauthier can be reached at btgauth@gmail.com.
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