Education for a New Humanity Edison State College Hosts a Thought-Provoking Colloquium
by Linda Sechrist
“The plain fact is that the planet does not need more ‘successful’ people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of every shape and form. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage, willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane. And these needs have little to do with success as our culture has defined it.” ~ David Orr
D
uring its first decade, the 21st century presented society with a remarkable number of challeng- es, emerging from such disparate fields as technology, politics, popular culture and the business sector. In response to the new issues and ideas that charac- terize contemporary life, Edison State College is hosting a colloquium, Educa- tion for a New Humanity, on February 16 and 17. Guest speakers and panelists will explore the broad concept of Educa- tion for a New Humanity through topics that are most vital to fostering the criti-
cal learning skills we need to become global citizens. The public is invited to attend and interact with speakers and panelists exploring diverse topics such as Sustainability: Changing the Paradigm of Science Education; A Religion for the Future; and How to Educate for Sustain- able Democracy in a World that Privi- leges Education for Economic Growth. A fine art performance, Contemporary Composition and Its Place in the New Century, will add a cultural component to the unique perspectives and topics for debate and discussion.
David Orr, the Paul Sears distin- guished professor of environmental studies and politics at Oberlin College, is the keynote speaker for the collo- quium, which goes beyond teaching approaches to explore the challenges and aims of individuals striving to provide education that addresses global concerns. A scholar, teacher, author and entrepreneur, Orr is a member of the board of directors for the Center for Ecoliteracy, a leader in the green schooling movement and the author of Ecological Literacy: Educating Our Children for a Sustainable World. “Much of the current debate about educational standards and reforms is driven by the belief that we must pre- pare the young only to compete effec- tively in the global economy,” says Orr, who believes that the rapid decline in Earth’s habitability is a better reason to reform education. He also believes that the modern curriculum has fragmented the world into bits and pieces we call disciplines. For example, he says, “We routinely produce economists that lack the most rudimentary understanding of ecology or thermodynamics, and this explains why our national ac- counting systems do not subtract the costs of biotic impoverishment, soil erosion, poisons in our air and water and resource depletion from the gross national product.”
According to Edison humanities 30 Collier/Lee Counties
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