Humans have reshaped Earth. The problems that are associated with human activities and how they impact the environment and our communities are becoming more and more evident. As society we are often trying to address these environmental problems using technological solutions. What is frequently lacking in this undertaking, however, is a critical discussion about why the problems exists in the first place.
Thinking outside our professional ‘boxes’ also requires us to develop alternative ways of discussing and visualizing environmental issues and associated aspects. This photo essay blog that we started in Spring 2021 represents our approaches to engaging students with this topic in a format that is totally different from their typical experiences in the classroom. The task for participating students is to take a single picture or a series of pictures that highlight an environmental issues that is of concern to them. The pictures are accompanied with a short text paragraph that allows the students to share their personal story about the pictures and how they relate to environmental issues they are uncovering.
This project is a collaboration between Kevin Mick from the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) and Carsten Prasse from Johns Hopkins University.