KINGSTON, R.I. — October 22, 2001 — According to environmental educator David Orr, the most important discovery of the 20th century is the growing awareness of the earth’s limits and how those limits affect human evolution. On Monday, October 29, Orr will visit the University of Rhode Island to discuss how education can foster this awareness and prepare citizens to acknowledge their place in the environment. His lecture is part of the URI fall Honors Colloquium, “A Just and Sustainable Future: Overcoming Barriers to Action.”
Orr will speak at 7 p.m. in Room 271 of the Chafee Social Science Center on URI’s Kingston Campus. His lecture is entitled “Education, Environment, and the Human Prospect.” It is free and open to the public.
Orr has been described as “one of those who will shape our lives” by the Cleveland Plain Dealer and one with “vision, dedication, and personal passion” according to the Connecticut General Assembly, who awarded him a special citation. He is best known for his pioneering work on environmental literacy in higher education and his recent work in ecological design. He raised funds for and spearheaded the effort to design and build a $7.4 million Environmental Studies Center at Oberlin College, a building described by the New York Times as “the most remarkable” of a new generation of college buildings.
In addition to researching and studying the environmental education movement, Orr is an educator himself. He is professor of environmental studies and chair of the environmental studies program at Oberlin College. Prior to 1990, he was co-founder of the Meadowcreek Project, an environmental education center in Arkansas and was professor of political science at Agnes Scott College and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. He also lectures frequently at Schumacher College in the United Kingdom and has lectured at hundreds of colleges and universities throughout the United States.
Orr has published extensively, including 115 articles in scientific journals, social science publications, and popular magazines. He co-edited The Global Predicament and The Campus and Environmental Responsibility, and is a contributing editor of Conservation Biology. He authored three books: The Nature of Design, Earth in Mind, and Ecological Literacy.
He was awarded a National Conservation Achievement Award by the National Wildlife Federation in 1993 and the Benton Box Award from Clemson University for his work in environmental education. The Lyndhurst Foundation honored Orr with a Lyndhurst Prize, which recognizes “the educational, cultural, or charitable activities of individuals of exceptional talent, character, and moral vision.” He received two honorary doctorates and has been a distinguished scholar in residence at Ball State University and Westminster College in Salt Lake City.
Orr earned a bachelor’s degree from Westminster College, a master’s degree from Michigan State University, and doctorate in international relations from the University of Pennsylvania.
For more information about the many other events of the URI Honors Colloquium, visit www.uri.edu/sustainability, or call the Honors Program at 874-2303. The major sponsors of the colloquium are The Providence Journal and the Rhode Island Committee for the Humanities.
For Information: Todd McLeish 874-7892, Jennifer Smith 874-2116