Valley & Ridge
A Faculty Study Group in Sustainability
The Valley & Ridge Study Group brings together faculty members from all academic divisions to work collaboratively in introducing and enhancing sustainability content in their teaching. Participants attend a 2-1/2 day workshop in May, work on their course(s) over the summer, reconvene for a day in August, and participate in other activities over the year. The program emphasizes connecting the subject areas of the participants with sustainability using active learning pedagogies such as place-based & experiential education.
VALLEY & RIDGE 2013 TO BE HELD MAY 20-22, 2013.
Learn more about the faculty projects that have been developed through the Valley & Ridge Workshops.
The Valley and Ridge Project at Dickinson College takes its name from
the physiographic region within which the College lies, which is marked
by the Allegheny Plateau to the north and west, South Mountain to the
south and east, and Cumberland Valley in-between. The project got its
impetus from Dickinson’s participation in the Shared Futures and
Sustainability Initiatives of the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), coordinated by the Community Studies Center.
The Valley and Ridge Project is modeled after the Piedmont Project of
Emory University and the Ponderosa Project of Northern Arizona
University.
The workshop engages Dickinson faculty in working with each other to:
• Examine the concept of sustainability, its varied interpretations, and connections with different fields of study;
• Create new or modify existing courses to integrate sustainability across the curriculum;
• Use the local environment and community to teach a sense of place;
• Share in Dickinson's service learning, community-based research & living laboratory programs;
• Learn how to use the campus and its sustainability programs as teaching resources;
• Explore transdisciplinary connections to other faculty and programs; and
• Share resources for developing and enhancing sustainability content in courses.
The Center for Sustainability Education (CSE) is planning to host Valley & Ridge 2014 in China as part of the $400,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation Luce Initiative on Asian Studies and the Environment (LIASE) at Dickinson College.
To learn more about the Valley & Ridge Study Group, follow these links: