Martin Scholars 2015
The impact of political ideology on the environment in post-WWII Germany. Whether Fair Trade is a viable model to improve working conditions in the cut flower industry. How environmental perceptions contribute to waste management policies in landfills. The way community perspectives on the Colorado River translate to water polices and usage.
This year’s class of Martin Scholars is studying seemingly discordant topics, but all hinge on one key idea: that people in different communities imagine, and thus experience, their environments in different ways, and that this dissonance can lead to startling real-world effects.
The four seniors — Alysha Van Zante, Emily Greene, Karlee Kirking and Celina Hernandez — have been working with instructor and English faculty member Erin James since fall semester to prepare major research papers on a topic of their choosing examining “environments across communities.”
To explore the idea, the scholars queried the ways in which various communities 鈥� ranging from indigenous residents to tourists, corporate stakeholders to environmental activists 鈥� perceive and understand the environment in which they live and work. The students also looked into what complications such differing perceptions of place stand to pose for cross-community communication and policy formation.
James said the students met as a group to grapple with case studies of differing environmental imaginations and what role they play in cultural and/or cross-community conflict. Each week they examined a different type of dissonance, including those stemming from colonialism, tourism, religion, national governance and science.
The Martin Schola