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Sustainability Project Events: Overview

Speakers | Symposia | Road Trips | SEMO/SustainVU | Film Series | The Commons | Collaborations

Faculty

Graduate Students

  • AMER 300: Interdisciplinary Graduate Workshop, Topic: "The Commons: History, Sustainability, Activism" (John Ayers and Dana Nelson, Spring 2012)
  • EES 390: Water and Social Justice in Bangladesh (Jonathan Gilligan, Steven Goodbred, Brooke Ackerly)

Undergraduate Students

A wide range of curricular offerings through AMER and other departments.  See our Course List for more details.

‌‌Road Trips

The American Studies Program sponsors a series of road trips every year. These trips introduce Vanderbilt students to the rich cultural resources and pressing issues of our city and region. Each journey is led by a faculty expert and includes a discussion component, usually over a meal. Travel and meal expenses are covered by the program. We welcome all students and faculty.  Visit our Road Trips page for more details.

  • Nashville Environmental Justice: Saturday, February 4, 2012. Email americanstudies@vanderbilt.edu to signup.
  • Metro Nashville Wastewater Treatment Plant at Whites Creek:  Wednesday, October 5, from 4-7 p.m.  Email americanstudies@vanderbilt.edu to signup.
  • OACS ECO Rolling Seminar 2011:  A Look at the Environment through the Lens of Mountain Top Removal (in collaboration with the Office of Active Citizenship and Service):  Fall Break 2011 (October 6-8).  Applications due: Friday, September 30, by 5pm.  For more information and to apply, visit:  http://www.vanderbilt.edu/oacs/exp_learning/eco_rolling_seminar.html.  Follow the ecoVanderbilt blog, a followup to the 2011 ECO Rolling Seminar.

‌‌Speakers

The Sustainability Project, in collaboration with other programs at Vanderbilt University, will host several sustainability-themed talks throughout the year, beginning in September with Bill McKibben, author of Eaarth.  Visit our Speakers page for speaker biographies.

Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature and Eaarth
Global and Local: Reports from the Fight for a Working Planet 
September 22, 2011, 5:00 p.m.
Ingram Hall, Blair School of Music (Map)

Parking:   Please do not park in the Blair School of Music lots.  Parking is available at the South Garage (for a nominal fee), located across from the venue, on Children's Way and 24th Ave S. Free street parking is available across Blakemore Avenue, next to Fannie Mae Dees ("Dragon") Park on 24th and 26th Avenues. Metered parking is available on 24th Avenue near Veterans Administration Medical Center. After 5:00 p.m. weekdays and anytime on weekends, free parking is available in the West Garage. The garage entrance on Children's Way, directly across the street from the Blair School, must be used.

Laura Dassow Walls, William P. and Hazel B. White Professor of English at the University of Notre Dame
Alexander von Humboldt’s American Horizons
September 29, 2011, 4:00 p.m., Buttrick 306

Gabriel Warren, Landscape Sculptor
Polar Probings: Sculpture by Gabriel Warren
Opening Reception:  October 13, 2011, 5:00 p.m. Vanderbilt Fine Arts Gallery, Cohen Memorial Hall

Van Jones, author of The Green Collar Economy
Rebuild The American Dream: Green Jobs & Beyond
October 19, 2011, 4:10 p.m. Sarratt Cinema, Sarratt Student Center
2011/2012 Harry C. Howard, Jr. Lecture, Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities

Joe Bozich, CEO and Chariman, Knights Apparel
A Sustainable Corporate Model: Changing Lives One Shirt at a Time
October 27, 2011, 4:10 p.m. Buttrick 102
Organized by Vanderbilt Students of Nonviolence

Lewis Hyde, Richard L. Thomas Professor of Creative Writing at Kenyon College and author of Common as Air
Defending the Cultural Commons
January 19, 2012, 4:10 p.m., 
Pre-lecture Reception and Booksigning, 3:10 p.m.
Black Cultural Center Auditorium
Cosponsors:  Department of English, The Martha Ingram Rivers Commons, and Department of Philosophy

Peter Gleick, Co-founder and President of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security in Oakland, CA
Conflicting Visions for Water: Common Property or Private Good?
February 9, 2012, 4:10 p.m., Black Cultural Center Auditorium
Cosponsors:  Vanderbilt Institute for Energy and the Environment, the Climate Change Research Network, and the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences
For video of this talk, please visit: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/americanstudies/sustainability/Video_Peter_Gleick.php.

Elinor Ostrom, Nobel Laureate in Economics and Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Political Science at Indiana University
Updating the Theory of Collective Action and the Commons
March 1, 2012, 4:10 p.m., Black Cultural Center Auditorium 
Cosponsors:  Department of Political Science, Medicine Health and Society, and the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions
For video of this talk, please visit: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/americanstudies/sustainability/video_Elinor_Ostrom.php.

David Bollier, Senior Fellow at the Norman Lear Center at the USC Annenberg School for Communication
The Commons as a Counterpoint to the Market/State Duopoly
March 29, 2012, 4:10 p.m., Black Cultural Center Auditorium

Jim Wescoat, Aga Khan Professor of Architecture at MIT
April 5, 2012, 4:00 p.m., Cohen Building Lecture Hall

‌Series and Symposia

Vanderbilt Law Review and Climate Change Research Network Symposium: "Barriers to Renewable Energy" (Friday, February 24, 2012)

Robert Penn Warren Center Symposium:  "Respresentation and Social Change" (Thursday, February 23 - Friday, February 24, 2012)

Creative Writing Spring Literary Symposium:  "Sustainability and Creative Writing" (Thursday, February 23 - Friday, February 24, 2012)

Alison Hawthorne Deming, author of Rope and editor of THE COLORS OF NATURE: Culture, Identity and the Natural World

John Lane, Associate Professor of English and Environmental Studies and Director of the Glendale Shoals Environmental Studies Center, Wofford College

 

‌ ‌Sustainability and Environmental Management Office (SEMO)

Green Bag Luncheon Series

Starting in September, the Sustainability and Environmental Management Office (SEMO) and the American Studies Sustainability Project are sponsoring a Green Bag luncheon series that focuses on the environment and sustainability, both at work and at home. This educational series features informal lunchtime discussions and/or workshops – from sustainable food and dining choices to backyard composting to utility savings at home and work and much more. So bring your lunch and join us to learn interesting ways to incorporate sustainability into your life!

At each single session, attendees will be entered into a drawing to receive one small giveaway relevant to that session’s topic. At the end of the series, individuals who have attended three or more sessions throughout the year will be entered in a drawing to receive one of two larger giveaways!

All lectures/workshops are free and open to Vanderbilt community members and will be hosted from noon to 1 pm in Sarratt 189. A list of upcoming presentations and video recordings of past presentations will be updated regularly here.

Cooking with Sustainable and Local Foods from the VU Farmers’ Market

Wednesday, September 21

Presenters: Stacey Kendrick, health educator at Health Plus; Jeff Themm, Nashville Farmers’ Market director

Backyard Composting

Wednesday, October 26

Presenters: Jeffrey Ezell, Metro Beautification & Environment Commission; Emily Thompson, All Seasons Gardening & Brewing Supply Company

Celebrating the Holidays Sustainably

Wednesday, November 16

Presenters: Sustainability and Environmental Management Office (SEMO) staff

Utilities Savings at Home and at Work

Wednesday, December 7

Presenter: Dave Parker, LEED AP

Sustainable Food Choices Offered by VU Dining/Cooking with Herbs

Wednesday, January 25

Presenters: Suzanne Herron, VU Dining; Stacey Kendrick, Health Plus; Jacquie Sullivan, Dietetic Internship Program at Vanderbilt

Green Spring Cleaning

Wednesday, February 20

Sustainable Landscaping and Gardening

Wednesday, March 28

Presenters: Julie Berbiglia, Metro Water Services; Mark Kerske, Gardens of Babylon

Northwest Earth Institute Course Intro

Wednesday, April 18

Presenters: Rebecca Selove and John Patrick, Northwest Earth Institute Ambassadors

‌The Martha Ingram Rivers Commons

Fall for the Arts :  Friday, September 16

In support of the campus-wide, year-long conversation around sustainability issues, The Commons is bringing an environmental artist to Fall for the Arts, an outdoor festival celebrating the visual arts, music, dance and literature. This artist will lead an activity using recycled or found objects in an effort to show our commitment to reducing waste, the economy of repurposing objects, and that beautiful art can be created from materials that would otherwise find their way into the landfill.

The Good Life  Discussion Guide

Discussion Questions on Dimensions of Sustainability in Peter Gomes’s The Good Life: Truths that Last in Times of Need, 2011-2012 Commons Reading. Developed by Joe Bandy, Assistant Director of the Center for Teaching and Affiliated Faculty in Sociology

‌‌Film Series

International Lens Film Series (All Screenings at 7:00 p.m. in Sarratt Cinema)

    How I Ended This Summer (2010): Wednesday, September 21, 2011 (Discussion led by Kostya Kustanovich) 

Sergei and Pavel are the only scientists stationed on a desolate outpost in the Arctic Circle. They are conditioned to the isolation and harsh surroundings of their meteorological station but when Pavel receives important radio message, he can’t find the right time to tell Sergei. Madness sets in as fear, lies, and suspicions start poisoning their delicate atmosphere in this stunning existential drama of survival. Russian with English Subtitles. Not Rated. 124 mins. 35mm.

      O’er the Land (2009): Thursday, November 3, 2011 (Discussion led by Jonathan Rattner)

Through a meditative stream of sounds and imagery, this avant-garde documentary imposes a philosophical touch on various symbols of American identity. Guns, planes, flamethrowers, football games, border patrol officers, and the landscape of the U.S. Southwest are among the heroic and iconic symbols presented as subjective reminders of the way Americans have come to understand freedom, progress, and strength and that these same technologies can come at a high cost to the nation’s social and environmental landscapes. English. Not Rated. 51 mins. DVD. Held in conjunction with the American Studies year-long program on sustainability. Funding provided by the American Studies and Film Studies Departments.

**All Screenings are free and open to the public.

Green Screen Film Series Presented by  The Vanderbilt Alternative Energy Club  
(All Screenings at 2:00 p.m. in Sarratt Cinema, unless otherwise noted)

   The Last Mountain  (2011):  Wednesday, September 21, 7:00 p.m., **Commons Multipurpose Room**

The Last Mountain is a movie depicting the effects and controversy over mountain-top removal mining, a practice which involves destroying mountain faces to access coal deposits, causing environmental, health and ethical dilemmas. While focusing on the issue of coal mining, the movie also questions the larger problem of human energy consumption and creation. 



    Gasland (2010):  Sunday, October 16

Gasland is an Oscar-nominated film about the dangerous and increasingly popular practice of removing natural gas from shale deposits (fracking). Spreading all across the United States with its epicenter in Pennsylvania, fracking is endangering small towns and individuals through its under-regulated practices.



    Crude (2010):  Sunday, October 23

Crude is a movie documenting an ongoing legal battle between a small village in Ecuador with the gas giant Chevron. A legal drama, the film acts as a David and Goliath story, in which individuals across the world wrangle with a corporate behemoth.

   Waste Land  (2010):  Sunday, November 13

Waste Land is an Oscar-nominated film about a Brazilian artist who creates masterpieces out of scavenged garbage. The film focuses mainly on the art itself and the lifestyles of those living in the area of Rio that the film analyzes, with the message of conservation and sustainability a strong heartbeat beneath the surface of the action.


    Queen of the Sun (2011):  Saturday, December 3

Queen of the Sun is a documentary highlighting the significance of bees and the international hive collapse syndrome epidemic . This film discusses not only migratory bee farming, a practice in which bee farmers travel all over the country visiting mono-culture farms, but also the historical and spiritual connection between human society and the pollinators that produce our food.

   **All screenings are free and open to the public.

   Sponsors:  The American Studies Sustainability Project
, East House, 
The Film Studies Program
, The Ingram
   Commons, 
The Office of Active Citizenship and Service (OACS), and 
SPEAR


Campus Events

Vanderbilt Dining:  Annual Farm to Fork:  Tuesday, September 27, 5:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m., Peabody Esplanade

Vanderbilt Dining's unique FARM to FORK dinner is designed to reconnect Vanderbilt students, faculty and staff to the source of their food, and to honor and celebrate the relationships with the talented farmers, food artisans, bakers, and chefs that contribute to teh local food community. FARM to FORK is a Meal Plan event for all students who participate in the Meal Plan.  Seating is limited.  Link for reservations coming soon!

‌‌Collaborations

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