Putting organic waste to work
Sustainability in the Curriculum
NMH’s academic sustainability courses ground students in a deeper understanding of their role in at least two of the three elements of a sustainable system (social well-being, economic prosperity, and environmental health).
The following sustainability courses empower students to become more informed and conscientious global citizens of a changing world. There is no requirement to be met; only an opportunity. NMH strives to make sustainability opportunities available to all students at all levels of study through these courses, in addition to the Collaborative Curriculum Project (which brings campus operations into classroom study), the annual cross-curricular Farmers’ Market Teach-In, and many other individual classroom projects.
Humanities
• ENG 453 Senior English: Literature and the Environment
• HIS 211 Topics in World History
• HIS 473 New Zealand History
• Humanities II: China
• Humanities II: South Africa
• IND 890 The Rhodes Fellowship Course in Social Entrepreneurship
• IND 210B Water and Humanity
• REL HIS 7 Global Inequities and Climate Change: 21st Century Responses
• REL 111 Humanities I: Introduction to Religious Studies
• REL 426 Theology of the Oppressed: Voices from the Margin
• SOC 412 Economics
Science
• ENV 411 Environmental Studies
• ENV 415 Environmental Studies: An International Perspective
• ENV 419 The Science of Farming
• ENV 511 Advanced Placement Environmental Science
World Languages
• FRE 411 French IV: Contemporary Issues in the French-Speaking World
• FRE 421 Honors French IV
NMH Collaborative Curriculum Projects
Each year, NMH sponsors a collaborative curriculum project. Developed jointly by a teacher and a member of the operational staff, each project offers students an opportunity to see classroom theory embedded in the practice of campus operations and gives them a deeper understanding of the systems that sustain us.
The project started as a collaborative effort between the institutions of the Eight Schools Association and was funded by an E. E. Ford Foundation grant. Recent projects are listed below.
- Heads, Hearts, and Hands — Connecting Religious Studies with Agrarian Contexts: this learning module was part of a "Humanities II: International Perspectives" course. Students connected classroom learning, which covered Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, with practical learning on the farm, to experience the agrarian contexts of the religions. Read the course's final report.
- Digital Design: Students explore graphic design and branding concepts, with NMH branding as the subject of study. Taught by Pam Lierle and Harry van Baaren of Communications, and Lauren S. Corwin of Visual Arts. Read the course's final report.
- “Who’s Gonna Stop It?”: Environmental Ethics and the Curious Case of the Radium Girls: Created by Elizabeth Patterson (then theater program director) and Tim McKinney (environmental safety coordinator). Read the project’s final report. Read a news story about this project.
- Conversations with Objects: Transcendence of Place Created by Jen Keator (Humanities I teacher) and Sara Karz Reid (archives). Read the project’s final report. Read a news story about this project.
- Greens for a Day: Created by Mary Hefner (Science of Farming teacher) and Erin Kassis (then NMH farm co-manager) Read the project’s final report.
- Digestion and Nutrition Unit: Created by Craig Hefner (Human Physiology teacher) and Carrie Quimby (assistant director, dining services). Read the project’s final report.
- What Does it Take to Feed a School? Created by Eleanor Conover (Video as Visual Art teacher) and Jennifer Sutton (writer/content editor, communications).
- Historical Perspective on the Global Food System and Its Impact on NMH: Created by Sean Foley (World History teacher), Rich Messer (director of dining services), Liam Sullivan (then NMH farm director), and Peter Weis (archivist). Read the project’s final report.
