2015-2016 Campus Theme: College and Change
The Cultural and Intellectual Community Program Council (CICPC) selects the annual intellectual theme and funds related programming during the academic year. College and Change is the theme for CICPC sponsored programs in 2015-2016.
College is a place of personal transformation for students, and college prepares students for success in their future lives. But immersion in a campus culture also shapes a student’s place in the world, socially and ecologically. What can students learn in college that will help them become responsible agents of change in society and in society’s relationship to the nature world? In The Nature of College, James Farrell writes, “College education isn’t just classes, papers, and GPAs. It’s also an open invitation to engage designing minds, first in understanding the designs of nature, second in understanding the culture of nature, and finally in designing a culture that enriches nature’s health and our own deep fulfillment.” To fully appreciate the possibilities of the college experience, we might look to environmentalist David Orr’s words and envision our college as a place where students gain the capacity to design the future.
CICPC is interested in co-sponsoring programs that address this theme. We invite individual community members, campus departments and student organizations to develop programs related to this theme.
Faculty, staff, and students will explore the theme by reading and discussing The Nature of College by James Farrell as part of the summer reading program. David Orr will be on campus for Community Learning Day, on Wednesday, October 7, 2015.