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Another FaCTS Mellon Project

SUSTAINABILITY, ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SPEAKING

by Dr. Ross M. Louis

This project places sustainability into conversation with environmental justice through the restructuring of an existing course, CMST 1011H: Fundamentals of Public Speaking (Honors), to include new interdisciplinary content, new speaking assignments, and a service-learning project. To achieve this objective, I will develop case studies that examine urban sustainability in New Orleans, the struggle for environmental justice along the Mississippi River, and the relationship between the environment and race. The project includes an interdisciplinary partnership with two Xavier colleagues who are infusing sustainability into their courses in Fall 2015 by guest lecturing in each other's classrooms. The course will be designed around a service-learning partnership with the environmental non-profit Louisiana Bucket Brigade (LABB) that creates an event for college and high school students to learn and discuss the relevance of environmental justice in the greater New Orleans area. A restructured CMST 1011H will thus challenge students to apply public speaking beyond the university context to interrogate sustainability in relation to issues of race, class, and environmental justice.

Start date: Monday, March 30, 2015
Finish date: Sunday, May 1, 2016