Environmental Health (EH) and Environmental Justice (EJ) are rarely taught in post-secondary institutions; this OER may be one of the first efforts to provide an Environmental Humanities approach to the topics. I point this out because I want to underscore that you are pioneering ways to teach these subjects. For this module in particular, being grounded in critical race theory, anti-racism, and social justice are helpful backgrounds. If you are working through a post-secondary institution with a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office, you might contact them for additional support. Otherwise, you know your students best, and so it is my hope that you will take the elements presented here and grow the knowledge even more.
As mentioned in the Course Guide, students learn best from peers, when the topic brings relevance to them personally, and when the knowledge helps them to feel empowered. As I write this, advancements in. the realm of EJ in the United States are growing by leaps and bounds. In Canada, since the federal government and the province from whence I am writing this, British Columbia, have pledged to support the United Nations Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), EJ efforts spearheaded by Indigenous leaders are bringing the harsh unsustainability of a fossil fuel economy into focus.
Some of the ideas below will work well for group projects as well as for individuals. Have students share their work with the rest of the class.
- If your students are interested in public health, occupational health, or epidemiology, have them identify a location. If they are in the U.S., they can go to the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) database and look at reported emissions in that location. They can then look for public health information for that location to see if there are incidences of health impacts linked to the substances in the TRI reporting. In Canada, they can look for toxics in the National Pollutant Release Inventory and then search for health impacts linked to the pollutants in a location. Have them identify the demographics of the location to see if some groups are disproportionately impacted than others.
- Puzzling out toxic exposures in health can be a good critical thinking process. Consider assigning students Pro/Con topics posing questions about the variety of factors that can be implicated in illness and injury in addition to toxic exposures, such as genetics and harmful behaviours.
- For another critical thinking exercise, ask students to try to assess costs associated with health impacts from toxic exposures. Then compare this with costs involved with halting the exposures, what might be lost from health protective measures, such as reduced production of plastic, higher costs for car and truck fuels, other things we’d either no longer be able to have or that would become so expensive that few could afford them.
- If students live in an impacted community, have them explain the benefits of their family living there, such as jobs, access to schools, etc. and have them compare those elements to the hazards.
- Have students look at historic patterns where there are contaminated communities, for example, why petrochemical plants were placed in Indigenous and historic Black and Latino communities.
- If students are interested in disproportionate exposures from consumer products, have them check out personal care products marketed to BIPOC people. Black Women for Wellness, the “Study: Women of Color Exposed to More Toxic Chemicals in Personal Care Products,” in Explorations are good resources and have students look for new studies,
Check out the additional Explorations, and assignment pages.
Most of all, remember it is OK to say, “I don’t know,” and to actively learn alongside your students. An Environmental Humanities treatment of these subjects is just beginning to emerge. In this light, consider artistic expressions and reflections from what students learn, with creative response such as poetry, prose, visual and audio art, and other forms that enable students to engage and process the information and share their expressions with others.