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In The Classroom

Bringing the discussion and search for solutions into the classroom is an integral part of Focus the Nation at Clemson. See what some of our campus is doing below!

Are you a faculty member taking part in our Focus the Nation Teach-In? If so, check out these valuable resources.

Jeffrey Appling (Science and Technology in Society)
Jan. 17, Closed to Public

Approximately one-half of the content of undergraduate STS class Ideas, Machinery and Society focuses on resource sustainability, with an emphasis on energy sustainability.  Through a series of readings during the semester, which appeared in Scientific American, the class will explore current and future approaches to obtaining a sustainable energy system.  Jeffrey Appling will lead his class in a discussion surrounding the reading A Climate Repair Manual, and stimulate the class to think about the current reliance on carbon-based energy sources and how students can engage in the process of change.

 

Scott Brame (Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences)
Jan. 28, 10:10am, Brackett 220, Earth Resources, Open to students
Jan. 28, 1:25pm, Brackett 113, Survey of Science and Technology in Society, Open
Jan. 29, 9:30am, Brackett 220, Intro to Environmental Science, Open to students

Scott Brame incorporates climate change into his Environmental Engineering and Earth Science classes throughout the semester.  He will require his students to attend the keynote address and student round-table discussion on Jan. 25 at 7:30pm in Tillman Hall.  He is also asking they attend the Green Expo, film festival and other teach-in activities as much as possible.  He is opening his classes on Jan. 28 and 29 on a first come first served basis to talk more in depth about global warming and eliciting feedback from students about their views and attitudes relating to the climate change debate.

 

Deborah Cadorette (Secondary Education)
Jan. 24, 9:30-10am & 11-11:30am, Tillman 108

Ms. Cadorette is a Coordinator of the Athletic Leadership Faculty.  She will help students develop community service ideas related to global warming solutions related to sports.  One idea she has is to build on Clemson’s football recycling efforts and have high school students set up a recycling center at the football stadium.

 

Pernille Christensen (Planning and Landscape Architecture)
Various times
Jan. 25, 7:30pm, Tillman Hall, Open to Public

Visiting assistant professor, Dr. Pernille Christensen, will ask her Landscape Architecture Theory students to participate in all of the events going on at Clemson University on January 25th.  They will attend the Green Business Expo during class and make a journal entry about their observations and they role they can play to make a difference in the future.  The journal entries will serve as the basis for discussion during each following class period and will tie into the reading assignment on Feb. 1st.   She will also take time during studio for students to vote on “Choose Your Future” policies addressing global warming.  She will offer extra credit to those who attend the Kick-Off event at 7:30pm on January 25th and write a short essay about what they learned and how it applies to them as future architects. 

Dr. Caye Drapcho (Biosystems Engineering)
Open to students and public

Thursday 1/24/08 2:00 – 2:30 pm, 143 McAdams Hall. Overview of biofuels production and potential in the US.

Wednesday 1/30/08 Biological Hydrogen Production. 1:30 – 2:00 Overview; 2:15 – 4:30 In-depth analysis and reactor design. 232 McAdams Hall. Hydrogen gas can be produced from sugars contained in agricultural sources by specialized bacteria. Learn about one fermentation pathway that leads to hydrogen production, the reactor design issues, and potential in SC.

Alan Elzerman (School of the Environment)
Jan. 24, 4-5pm, 132 Fluor Daniel, open to the public

Guest speaker Dr. Eckard Helmers will give a lecture entitled "Diesel Technology: A Solution for Environmental Problems?". Professor Helmers is from the Environmental Campus of the University of Applied Sciences – Trier, Germany

Bill Fisk (Teacher Education)

Dr. Fisk is using the Focus the Nation teach-in to develop science applications for elementary classrooms that address global warming solutions.  He will offer this opportunity later in the semester.  Contact bill252@clemson.edu for further information.

 

Linda Gambrell (Teacher Education)
Jan. 25, 7:30pm, Tillman Hall, open to the public

Dr. Gambrell is a professor of reading education.  She is encouraging her Creative Inquiry students to attend the Kick-Off conversation Friday evening at 7:30pm in Tillman Hall.  Her group will share their impressions when they meet the following week. 

 

Mary Haque (Horticulture)
Jan. 22, 12:30pm, Lee 111, Open to Public

Dr. Mary Haque, a horticulturist in the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences will host teach-in events in her classroom on January 22nd and 24th.  On Tuesday, Jan. 22nd in Lee Hall 111 at 12:30, she will show the video “Kilowatt Ours” by Jeff Barrie.  Students outside the department are welcome to attend, as it holds 200.  Discussion will follow the movie and then the group will break into teams with cameras to tour the campus and propose ways to transform Clemson into a more energy efficient campus through landscape design.  On Thursday, Jan. 24th, landscape design for energy efficiency will be discussed in more detail.  The Teach-In event ties into the larger service learning project for the semester, which is the Frugoli/Kurtz Residence, the first registered LEED residence in South Carolina.  She plans to make landscape design for energy conservation a focus throughout the entire semester. 

 

Hal Harrison (Career and Technology Education)
Jan. 22, 1pm, Godfrey Hall, Closed

Dr. Harrison teaches secondary industrial technologies education.  As part of the Focus the Nation Teach-In, he will discuss renewable energy resources and help students design and build magnetic levitation transportation systems with his students.

 

Lance Howard (History and Geography)
Jan. 24, Hardin 100, Closed

On January 24, Lance Howard, a History and Geography professor from the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities will be engaging his World Geography class on the carbon contribution of conventional agriculture, its dependence on fossil fuels, and the promise of sustainable alternatives through a multimedia presentation (lecture, PowerPoint, websites and DVD)  He will promote discussion of the alternative agriculture focusing on smaller-scale, more labor-intensive production, fewer synthetic inputs, diversification of diet and permaculture.  He will also teach students the value of substituting raw, fermented and dehydrated foods for cooked and frozen.

 

Beth Kunkel (Food Science)
Jan. 25, 12:20-1:10pm, Poole A103, Nutrition and Metabolism, Open to students

Dr. Beth Kunkel in Food Science will address solutions to global warming in her Nutrition and Metabolism class. Students will model the lifecycle analysis of a cheeseburger and discuss the impact of foods on carbon dioxide emissions.  Her Creative Inquiry group, an undergraduate research class, is focusing on sustainable food systems and will create a booklet on locally available foods for the upstate area. 

 

Cindy Lee (Environmental Engineering and Earth Science)
Jan. 23, 9am, Rich Lab 150, Open to students and the public
Jan. 31, 9:30am, Freeman 202, Open to students and the public

Dr. Cindy Lee is helping to put together a new online Sustainability digest at Clemson University.  For the Teach-In, she will show the video on YouTube, “How it All Ends”, created by a high school teacher addressing many aspects of global warming http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF_anaVcCXg  
She will show this film in two of her classes Environmental Organic Chemistry and Chemistry of Aqueous Systems.  A class discussion will follow the video.  Additionally, the Environmental Engineering and Earth Science department will be discussing the ten policy positions outlined by Focus the Nation’s Choose Your Future to prepare student for this initiatives online voting taking place at Clemson from Jan. 21-25.

 

Jim London (City and Regional Planning)
Jan. 23 and Jan. 24, 7pm, Lee 100, Open to the public

Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, Dr. Jim London, will show the film ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ on Wednesday Jan. 23 and Thursday Jan. 24 at 7pm.  A discussion will follow.

 

Shelie Miller (Environmental Engineering and Earth Science)
Jan. 18, 2-3pm, Brackett Hall, Closed

Dr. Shelie Miller leads the Sustainable Systems focus area within her department, Environmental Engineering and Earth Science.  She is coordinating small group discussions with students on Jan. 18 from 2-3pm in Brackett Hall.  They will talk about potential policy options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and discuss pros and cons of each of ten policies laid out by the national Focus the Nation team.  Further, she will encourage the department to participate in the “Choose Your Future” voting process, whereby students vote on their top five policy choices to help inform politicians as they develop a comprehensive energy policy for America. 

Dr. Tom Oberdan (Science and Technology in a Society)
Jan. 25th, Kinard 001 at 9:05 am. Open to the Public

Dr. Oberdan will lead a discussion of Choose Your Future options in STS 101: Survey of Science and Technology in Society, culminating a week of looking at the causes and cures of global warming.

Mindy Spearman (Teacher Education)
Jan. 28th, 11am-2:30pm, Closed

Dr. Spearman is an assistant professor of elementary social studies education.  She will have her students in Teaching Social Studies in Elementary School consider sustainability in terms of a healthy environment, economy and culture and brainstorm ideas of how to teach this with a global perspective. 

 

Allen Thompson (Philosophy and Religion)
January 25, 1:30-3:30pm, Hardin 100, Open to Public

Dr. Allen Thompson is an environmental philosopher and teaches Philosophy and Religion in the College of Architecture, Arts & Humanities.  He and his colleague, Andrew Light, a nationally known expert in environmental ethics from the University of Washington in Seattle will present “Policy Options and a Report from the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Bali”.  In this presentation, they will outline ten goals for national policy priorities in response to global warming, drawing from Focus the Nation’s Choose Your Future initiative.  Mr. Light will provide a report and field questions about the dramatic events and last-minute compromises reached at the recent U.N. Climate Change Convergence in Bali, Indonesia, where delegates from nearly 190 countries began negotiations toward the development of an international treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol. 

 

Lisa Wagner (SC Botanical Gardens)
Jan. 25, 9-10:30am, Hayden Conference Center, Open to Public

Director of Education at the SC Botanical Gardens, Lisa Wagner, invites students and interested community members to an open discussion on January 25th, from 9 until 10:30am at the Nature Learning Center.  The Learning Center is at the Botanical Gardens in the lower level of the Hayden Conference Center.  The event is first come first served with a capacity of twenty.  Her conversation is titled Growing Green: Reducing Your Ecological Footprint.  Join Ms. Wagner for a lively discussion of how to reduce your carbon emissions and minimize your ecological footprint.  She will share methods of analyzing your contributions (personal and collectively), what kinds of carbon offsets make sense, and how to move towards a carbon neutral lifestyle.

 

Elaine Worzala (Center for Real Estate Development)
Jan. 25, 1:30-2:30pm, Lee 111, open to the public

Dr. Worzala is a professor and the director of the Center for Real Estate Development at Clemson University.  She is coordinating a discussion to take place at the Center which will address how the development community can do their part to reduce global warming both in new construction through LEED certification as well as retrofitting older buildings. 

 

STS 102 - Dr. Bea Bailey - Fall 2007

Science and Technology in Society 102 is a freshman seminar that enables students to explore non-fiction humanities texts as they also consider STS themes and issues. Students were asked to develop multimedia position statements about food production and consumption as it relates to sustainability. After reading Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma and Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, they were ready to prepare oral presentations that they could use in public arenas to affect policy change.

-How Hydrogen Fuel Will Help Food Production And Consumption? - Matthew Jennings
-The Hydrogen Economy - David S Myers

 

Seen something you think should be listed here? Let us know! Please include the course name and number, professor name, and any relevant information about the couse and assignmtn.