Critical Campus Environmentalisms (2023)

Institutions of higher education tend to privilege mainstream approaches to environmentalism that reinforce race, class and gender hierarchies around who and what constitutes an environmentalist or environmentalism. As a result, students of color and students from other marginalized backgrounds–who often experience environmental degradation and catastrophe firsthand–may not see their experiences reflected in universities’ environmental programming, curricula, or research. Meanwhile, faculty and staff who center issues of race, equity, power and justice in environmental topics often work in isolation from one another.

This research project, funded by UCSC’s Building Belonging program, aimed to map and strengthen epistemically inclusive and equity-centered environmental networks at the University of California, Santa Cruz by identifying faculty with critical environmental interests, relevant courses and syllabi, and current/ongoing student-led and faculty initiatives. In a series of surveys and interviews in 2021-2022, we found that faculty and staff across departments and divisions want to engage in more social justice-oriented environmental work, but feel they lack support and resources (e.g., knowledge, funding, time, incentives) to do so. We identified key mechanisms to support such efforts on campus, such as institutional support for cross-campus collaboration; networking and learning opportunities for staff, faculty, and students; and opportunities to team-teach, receive research funds or course releases, or forms of compensation for time devoted to such efforts. 

Partners: faculty members Flora Lu and Emily Murai, and undergraduate researchers Serena Campbell.