Teaching Paradoxes: A History of Environmental Studies as Moral Education and Economic Enterprise

While grassroots and student activism surrounding the first Earth Day in 1970 played a role in fostering environmental studies programs around the country, this dissertation narrates the untold story of other forces that served as crucial catalysts. Established conservation education models, the dynamics of college and university funding, and the political economy of outdoor recreation all played essential roles. The downplaying of these forces in historical narratives has contributed to a paradox facing environmental educators: how to pursue the profound transformation of American society while simultaneously working within established political economies to keep institutions financially solvent. When this paradox is ignored or misunderstood, it can lead to superficial solutions and ideological polarization that reflects broader American environmental politics. It can also lead to students who feel a deep sense of frustration, confusion, or desolation about their moral or spiritual lives and their role in addressing environmental problems. A fundamental set of forces intensifying these problems are the norms and structures of higher education that privilege not only the specialization of academic disciplines but the segregation of intellectual learning from social, moral, and spiritual education. Sophisticated environmental education will require the navigation of another paradox: maintaining the strengths of specialized expertise while avoiding a fractured educational experience for students. To achieve this, colleges must foster a culture of mutual learning and healthy vulnerability between teachers and students, integrate learning inside and outside the classroom, and engage in honest assessments of institutional history and political economy. These findings are based on research at a series of college and university campuses, with a focus on three primary case studies: the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a large public research university with a long and rich tradition of conservation education dating back to the early 20th century; Northland College, a small liberal arts college in northern Wisconsin, which put environmental education at the center of its mission and identity beginning in 1970; and Hope College, a small liberal arts college in Michigan with the curious mix of a longstanding and vibrant evangelical Christian culture and environmental education and sustainability programs. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]