I’m in the early stages of designing a crowd-shaped-and-shared online learning tool on the core issues shaping the human journey in this century (i.e., the issues at the right side of Dot Earth’s homepage). You can call it a syllabus, an online textbook, a course.
So when I learned about the New Earth Archive being built by a student organization at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, I got pretty excited. David Rothenberg, a professor there who’s been a frequent presence on this blog, introduced me to Anthony Sorgi, an enterprising, innovative student driving the project.
His goal is to build a resource guide (to books, films, news reports and more) for students of any age eager to smooth the human transition from spike (the last 200 years, both in terms of numbers and resource appetites) to whatever comes next.
A prime focus at the moment is developing a collection of informative, provocative or inspiring books. Here’s the current list.
Below you can read Sorgi’s call for your input on books that are bedrock reading for this consequential century.
Such a list will always be a work in progress, of course, and everyone will have picks and pans, see omissions and problems. That’s the idea. Dive in, cheer and complain and suggest.
I love the idea and could see it tying in with what I’m doing by creating an inter-campus discussion zone for analysis and critique of important books.
What’s on your must-read list?
Here’s Sorgi’s “Your Dot” contribution on the New Earth Archive:
Leading environmental figures like Paul Hawken and David Orr have joined students and faculty at NJIT in creating a streamlined resource network of inspiring books and films on issues like climate science, sustainability, social justice, and human nature. Since the group’s creation, it’s received an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response, highlighting to those involved that universities, researchers, and environmentalists are extremely motivated to help cultivate among students a vital sense of leadership, responsibility, and an appreciation for the environment.
Trusted advisers and role models have shown us that education without a greater emotional context — without community, purpose, and wonder — is next to useless, and often a detriment to society and the environment.
We’ve designed this archive to put human affairs in the larger context of ecology and now seek to connect our project with students and faculty at other schools, the media, and the global community focused on improving environmental and social quality.
We’re seeking votes for this New Earth Archive Booklist from anyone familiar with these books, and even after the vote we encourage anyone interested to continue suggesting new materials for the Archive, add reviews of the current materials, and participate in the conversations we hope to foster.
We hope that the New Earth Archive, as the foundation for a shared, collaboratively maintained resource, will help build a united understanding of problems facing societies around the globe, and inspire in our generation a sense of purpose and responsibility to solve them.
Here’s a blog post on the project at Wiser Earth, an open note from Sorgi to folks at Google.