Mohammad Naraghi, Ph.D., professor of mechanical engineering and chair of the department, instructs students on the solar photovoltaic panel on the roof of the Research and Learning Center (RLC). Clara Alcaraz ’13, a mechanical engineering major, analyzes the newly installed solar panel, which can provide hot water for the entire building.
Harr explains. “Members took the lead on the initiative from attending fair trade conferences, by giving away free samples, asking the bookstore about fair trade options, and holding fair trade events, such as desserts, tastings and a Jeopardy game.” Members of JustPeace worked closely with the Fair Trade Steering Committee this October to plan various activities in honor of Fair Trade month. The different events included weekly fair trade banana desserts in Locke’s Loft and giving out chocolate samples at Halloween with Lasallian Collegians. They also held a video screening of Sun Come Up, an awareness film about the first environmental refugees that focuses on the effect of global warming on the Carteret Islands, with Campus Ministry and Social Action, the Sustainability Committee and a few other groups on campus. “Another educational awareness campaign we will be working on this semester is with water,” says Kathleen White ’14, current president of JustPeace and a double major in history and peace studies. “Although we have many events on the human rights side of it, we will also focus on the environmental side and lack of water in the world.”
STUDYING SUSTAINABILITY
Manhattan College offers a vast assortment of courses across all of its disciplines in arts, business, education and health, engineering, health and science that pertain to the environment, sustainability, environmental policy and justice. The following is a peek at a few of these courses, majors and minors. All undergraduate students at Manhattan have the opportunity to minor in interdisciplinary environmental studies, as a way to strengthen environmental education for students in-
terested in future careers in the fields of environmental policy or education. In addition, the minor offers science or engineering majors a crucial background for understanding the social context in which their future work will take place. One particular course, Environmental Politics, is a requirement within the environmental studies minor, taught by Pamela Chasek, Ph.D., professor of government and director of the international studies program (see sidebar on page 29 to read more about her participation in Rio+20). The course examines environmental politics at the local, national and international levels to expose students to the role of government and politics in the formulation of these policies. An exciting part of the class is the chance for students to work on a group project that will benefit the College’s movement toward sustainability. The fall class worked on a rainwater-harvesting project proposal to submit to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as part of a national competition, and an examination of the possibilities of using renewable energy on campus. Another course in the School of Arts, Environmental Ethics, taught by Eoin O’Connell, Ph.D., assistant professor of philosophy, analyzes the major schools of environmental ethics and also explores the social, political and economic dimensions of environmental problems, such as climate change, sustainable business, energy and food. O’Connell was also instrumental in helping to guide the Sustainability Committee and Green Club on starting a rooftop garden. In the School of Engineering, any engineering undergraduate can minor in environmental engineering. In addition, the graduate program has both Master of Environmental EngiMANHATTAN.EDU N 27