The Depths of Latina/o Environmentalisms: A Pedagogy Workshop
Leaders: Sarah Ray, Humboldt State University, Sarah Wald, University of Oregon, and Priscilla Ybarra, University of North Texas
Meets on the afternoon of Friday, June 26
On September 21st, 2014, 400,000 participants in the People’s Climate March snaked through Manhattan. The march offered a different view of the communities concerned about climate justice than the media often portrays including a migrant rights block that marched under puppet birds and a parachute butterfly, posters that said “decolonize the climate” and the National Domestic Workers Alliance carrying signs like, “Migrant Women Workers Are a Force of Nature” and “Clean Up the Climate Mess.” Latina/os were highly visible throughout the march, from the legions of students to organized labor and global justice organizations.
How are the philosophical, cultural, and organizational contributions of Latina/o communities to environmentalisms being taught at our colleges and universities? Where and how are students being exposed to the variety of Latina/o environmental philosophies and cultural productions as well as the histories and roots of Latina/o environmental knowledge and expression?
This workshop aims to help teachers, scholars, administrators, and cultural workers in the Environmental Humanities better incorporate Latina/o cultural works and perspectives into courses, curriculum, and service-learning opportunities. We will explore texts, contexts, critical pedagogies, and institutional strategies for teaching Latina/o environmentalisms. We’ll be sharing, compiling, and generating a set of pedagogical resources that we envision posting on the Diversity Caucus section of the ASLE website after the conference for public distribution. This seminar will also consider some of the ways that Latin American environmentalisms and/or global Latina/o histories and cultures may influence U.S. Latina/o environmental representations.
Some of the questions we’ll be addressing include:
Preparation
All participants will be asked to bring an object, text, or community connection that they think might be useful for teaching Latina/o Environmentalisms. We also encourage those participants who already teach in this area to bring a syllabus for discussion. There will be some assigned reading for this workshop.
Tentative Workshop Structure
1st Hour: Survey of existing programs and resources; discussion of existing barriers (institutional and otherwise) faced in teaching Latina/o Environmentalisms.
2nd Hour: Sharing of resources and brainstorming of additional resources
3rd Hour: Workshop syllabi, assignments, and curriculum
4th Hour: Compile resources; plan distribution; establish next steps
Facilitators
The three workshop leaders currently research and teach at the intersection of Latina/o Studies and the Environmental Humanities. Sarah J. Ray is the author of The Ecological Other which examines the way the disabled body is raced, gendered, and excluded from the American environment. Priscilla Solis Ybarra is in the process of publishing the first long-range environmental literary history of Chicana/o writing. Sarah D. Wald is also in the process of publishing her first book which brings a comparative approach to Latina/o and Asian American racial formation into the Environmental Humanities. All three have published articles engaging Latina/o Environmentalisms. In their institutions and professional lives, they have a demonstrated commitment to issues of equity and inclusion. Wald is the current ASLE Diversity Officer. Ybarra is a former ASLE Diversity Officer. Ray is a member of the executive committee and an active member of the ASLE Diversity Caucus.
Meets on the afternoon of Friday, June 26
On September 21st, 2014, 400,000 participants in the People’s Climate March snaked through Manhattan. The march offered a different view of the communities concerned about climate justice than the media often portrays including a migrant rights block that marched under puppet birds and a parachute butterfly, posters that said “decolonize the climate” and the National Domestic Workers Alliance carrying signs like, “Migrant Women Workers Are a Force of Nature” and “Clean Up the Climate Mess.” Latina/os were highly visible throughout the march, from the legions of students to organized labor and global justice organizations.
How are the philosophical, cultural, and organizational contributions of Latina/o communities to environmentalisms being taught at our colleges and universities? Where and how are students being exposed to the variety of Latina/o environmental philosophies and cultural productions as well as the histories and roots of Latina/o environmental knowledge and expression?
This workshop aims to help teachers, scholars, administrators, and cultural workers in the Environmental Humanities better incorporate Latina/o cultural works and perspectives into courses, curriculum, and service-learning opportunities. We will explore texts, contexts, critical pedagogies, and institutional strategies for teaching Latina/o environmentalisms. We’ll be sharing, compiling, and generating a set of pedagogical resources that we envision posting on the Diversity Caucus section of the ASLE website after the conference for public distribution. This seminar will also consider some of the ways that Latin American environmentalisms and/or global Latina/o histories and cultures may influence U.S. Latina/o environmental representations.
Some of the questions we’ll be addressing include:
- How have environmental studies programs and environmental humanities curriculum incorporated Latina/o environmental issues? How might they further this engagement?
- What curriculum do environmental studies programs offer at Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs)? What should they offer?
- How have programs in Latina/o Studies and Chicana/o Studies taken up environmental issues, including environmental justice, colonialism, and climate justice?
- What are the various institutional locations and courses from which Latina/o environmentalisms have been taught or might be taught?
- How might such courses engage with local communities?
Preparation
All participants will be asked to bring an object, text, or community connection that they think might be useful for teaching Latina/o Environmentalisms. We also encourage those participants who already teach in this area to bring a syllabus for discussion. There will be some assigned reading for this workshop.
Tentative Workshop Structure
1st Hour: Survey of existing programs and resources; discussion of existing barriers (institutional and otherwise) faced in teaching Latina/o Environmentalisms.
2nd Hour: Sharing of resources and brainstorming of additional resources
3rd Hour: Workshop syllabi, assignments, and curriculum
4th Hour: Compile resources; plan distribution; establish next steps
Facilitators
The three workshop leaders currently research and teach at the intersection of Latina/o Studies and the Environmental Humanities. Sarah J. Ray is the author of The Ecological Other which examines the way the disabled body is raced, gendered, and excluded from the American environment. Priscilla Solis Ybarra is in the process of publishing the first long-range environmental literary history of Chicana/o writing. Sarah D. Wald is also in the process of publishing her first book which brings a comparative approach to Latina/o and Asian American racial formation into the Environmental Humanities. All three have published articles engaging Latina/o Environmentalisms. In their institutions and professional lives, they have a demonstrated commitment to issues of equity and inclusion. Wald is the current ASLE Diversity Officer. Ybarra is a former ASLE Diversity Officer. Ray is a member of the executive committee and an active member of the ASLE Diversity Caucus.
