Invent the Sustainable Future: Dreamers and Storytellers

Sometimes I feel like a dreamer in a world of dream killers; in this world a “half century of unbelievable prosperity and ease” has resulted in the “end of nature,” or so argues Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature and Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet. These feelings and observations provide the contextual foundation for the College of Natural Resources and Environment’s Pathways to Success program I direct for the College’s first-year students. Taught for the first time during Fall 2011, the course within this program serves as a student’s introduction to the College, so we discuss the realities of the global human and environmental condition – poverty, ecosystem decline, population growth, economic disparity, and climate change. We also discuss the fact that we live in unprecedented times in the midst of a sustainability revolution. The realities are often depressing, whether you are 18 or even much older. How do I teach first-year students at a critical transformational period in their development without killing their dreams? My dream is to make a difference in the life of each first-year student by nurturing his/her dreams. I believe in the power of personal narrative to motivate and create a sense of belonging, and that belief is among the influences of my pedagogical approach with this course. What follows are the theoretical underpinnings and the practical strategies I use as I teach first-year students.