Teaching Modules – Philosophers for Sustainability

The Philosophers for Sustainability Teaching Modules initiative presents resources on philosophy related to sustainability, the environment, and/or climate change packaged together so that they can be easily slotted into existing philosophy courses or used to create new ones. Think “plug and play” philosophy. These resources are also suitable for use by philosophy clubs and interest groups.

To ask questions or offer feedback (or to volunteer for or request additional modules), feel free to contact Nora at nboyd@siena.edu.

Moral Courage, Environmental Style

This module features Rachel Fredericks’ article “Courage as an Environmental Virtue.” It contains:

a short video, produced by Rachel, introducing the central arguments of the article (15 minutes, 33 seconds)
a longer video of a conversation between Rachel and Nora Mills Boyd expanding on the issues raised in the article (58 minutes, 58 seconds)
a list of further relevant resources
a document containing discussion questions and activity prompts
Rachel’s slides
transcripts for both the short and longer video

This material may be particularly useful in courses that discuss virtue ethics, activism, political movements, sex and gender norms, and/or courage in a military context. It would also be suitable for use by philosophy clubs, public philosophy events, and interest groups related to philosophy and/or climate change.

Rachel can be reached with any questions or comments at rachel.l.fredericks@gmail.com.

Download the full module here: “Moral Courage, Environmental Style.”

This module has been compressed to decrease the download size. To access .zip files after downloading using Windows, right-click the zipped folder named “Moral-Courage” in your Downloads folder and select “Extract All…” If you are using a Mac, double-click the file in your Downloads folder and the unzipped version will appear.

The Land Is Our Community

This module features chapters from Roberta Millstein’s book The Land Is Our Community: Aldo Leopold’s Environmental Ethic for the New Millennium. It contains:

a short introductory video, produced by Professor Millstein, which should be viewed as background for everything else (12 minutes, 51 seconds), the associated slides, and a transcript
short videos, produced by Professor Millstein, for each of the final three chapters of the book:
- Chapter 4: Land Health (16 minutes, 12 seconds), the associated slides, and a transcript
- Chapter 5: Arguing for the Land Ethic (12 minutes, 46 seconds), the associated slides, and a transcript
- Chapter 6: Policy Implications (13 minutes), the associated slides, and a transcript
a longer video of a conversation between Professor Millstein and Nora Mills Boyd further exploring ideas from the book (1 hour, 4 minutes, 23 seconds), and a transcript for the video
a list of further relevant resources
a document containing discussion questions and activity prompts

We hope this material will be used in courses on environmental ethics and environmental philosophy, but also courses that deal with environmental policy and law, land management, and conservation. It would also be useful for non-profit organizations or community groups that deal with multifaceted environmental issues.

Contact information for Professor Millstein for questions or comments can be found at www.RLM.net.

Download the full module here: “The Land Is Our Community.“

This module has been compressed to decrease the download size. To access .zip files after downloading using Windows, right-click the zipped folder named “The-Land-Is-Our-Community” in your Downloads folder and select “Extract All…” If you are using a Mac, double-click the file in your Downloads folder and the unzipped version will appear.