Abstract
Service learning is an educational approach connects the course curriculum to service activities that address community needs. Environmental Justice, formerly known as environmental racism, is concerned with the disproportionate burden of environmental hazards seen in low income and nonwhite communities. Several years ago, we integrated a service-learning component into a junior-level undergraduate course entitled Environmental Health (HED 337). This course is required of Public Health majors and can be selected from the “Integrated Studies, Global Studies, and Emergent Fields” pillar of the Liberal Studies program requirements. The program integrates academic coursework, research, service learning and experiential education opportunities to enhance student understanding of sustainable development, the importance of the urban forest, and ways to address environmental justice. Our service-learning program uses the “Preparation, Action, Reflection, Celebration” model. The service-learning component in HED 337 involves a campus partnership with our Center for Renewable Energy and Sustainability (CRES), and community partnerships with TreesCharlotte and Clean A.I.R.E NC. JCSU’s CRES is an innovative living-learning prototype that includes raised-bed gardens, greenhouses, and aquaponics gardens. TreesCharlotte is a public/private nonprofit collaboration established in 2012 to grow, diversify, and steward Charlotte’s urban forest. Clean A.I.R.E. NC (Action and Innovation to Restore the Environment) advocates for the health of all North Carolinians by pursuing equitable and collaborative solutions that address climate change and air pollution. The purpose of this session is to describe how we integrate campus and community partnerships and service-learning into the Public Health curriculum in order to address environmental justice.
Presenters
Karen ButlerFull Professor of Health Education, Health & Human Performance Department, Johnson C. Smith University, North Carolina, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Health Promotion and Education
KEYWORDS
Service Learning, Environmental Health, Environmental Justice
