Teaching Ethics through Environmental Justice

Abstract

Student and faculty taught courses on environmental justice are analyzed in terms of ethical learning, drawing on a liberation theology model developed by Gerard Fourez. Experiential exercises working with stereotypes, racism, and mechanisms of domination helped to decode the internalization of social values. In-depth case study research provided students with intellectual tools for structural analysis. A culminating toxic tour of local environmental injustice sites served as an avenue for conscientization and development of calling ethics. Student writing revealed ethical insights gained from this liberation-oriented approach to teaching environmental justice.