“We cannot hope to create a
sustainable culture with any but sustainable souls.”
Derek
Jensen
On a glorious afternoon that felt like spring had finally come to Maine, over one hundred Unity College students received their diplomas, officially marking an important milestone in their lives. Unity, a small liberal arts college nestled in the heart of the Pine Tree State, focuses on educating the next generation of sustainability leaders through a science-based curriculum.
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| Newly Minted 2013 Unity Graduates |
In a time when many young people are unsure of their direction, especially in this uncertain economy, the graduates I spoke with proudly shared their future plans; cheetah habitat management in Africa, forestry research at the Smithsonian Institute in Panama, educational programs at the Haifa Zoo in Israel and even doctoral research on Guinea fowl as a natural solution to the management of the Lyme tick! As I congratulated these students along with my fellow Trustees, I was impressed by their desire to bring ideas and solutions to organic agriculture, wildlife management, marine biology, climatology and other careers in the new economy.
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| Unity's Laboratory, The State of Maine! |
Although Unity’s focus is science-based, it differentiates itself by recognizing that the future of sustainability depends on a clearer understanding of sustainability's dimensionality and the broader world view each one of us must embrace. To experience this wider perspective, students learn not only the science of sustainability but how to express it through art and communication.
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| Sustainable Agriculture Major and Photographer, Quinn Boyle |
An example of this is Art Professor Ben Potter's popular class titled, ”Re-Use,” exploring both the conceptual and practical aspects of re-purposing existing objects and
materials. One recent assignment challenged the
students to make new artwork derived from a collection of 19th
century photographic glass plates donated to the college. The students were asked to provide “some
element of intervention, invention, collage, handwork, and/or
interpretation... Consider the
possibilities inherent in the contrast and similarities to contemporary life
that the images present.”
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| Original 19th Century Glass Plates |
Quinn Boyle,
a Sustainable Agriculture major at Unity, scanned a glass plate image as a base
layer, adding his own photographs of moss, cement and rain marks on glass,
and then, included one of his own photographic portraits as the final layer. The result provides a mysterious depth, as if found in a dream or memory.
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| Quinn Boyle "Kendra" 40"x30" |
Jen Lemieux, created a hand-drawn pattern of dots to surround the couple in the original image, referencing traditional quilt patterns and the demarcation of time.
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| Jen Lemieux "Untitled" 7"x10" |
Ethan LaPlante, juxtaposed images of a modern vehicle alongside the horse drawn carriage in the original plate, creating an interesting anachronism.
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| Ethan LaPlante "Untitled" 30"x40" |
Through this diverse, liberal arts education, the Unity graduates seemed prepared to not only find tangible solutions to the environmental challenges we face, but to change the way society sees and thinks about environmental issues. And isn't that the greatest challenge of all?
As I left the campus that day, the quote by anthropologist Margaret Mead came to mind and filled my heart with hope;
“A small group of thoughtful people could change the world.
Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
