Theme Schools: From Manifesto to Paradigm for Undergraduate Students

In sciences, when anomalies or discrepant observations generate a crisis, so that the old way of looking at things no longer suffices to explain or predict observable events, scientists construct a new paradigm (Kuhn, 1996). Despite vast differences in our backgrounds and in the attributes of our widely separated home institutions, we have arrived at strikingly similar perceptions of the need to fashion a new paradigm within undergraduate education. By aligning the anomalies and assembling experiences from several correlative efforts within the old paradigm, we have begun to distill some tenets of a coherent rationale for student-centred learning, built around the concepts inherent in a "theme school." These tenets are especially relevant to small, widely dispersed northern communities. Much of the following discussion originates in our shared disappointments with the effectiveness of education by the traditional Euro-American undergraduate paradigm when applied to northern environments and rural communities. Nevertheless, we are not institution-bashing: we owe much, after all, to the institutions that provided us with a point of departure for exploring alternatives and supplements

Global Assemblages, Resilience, and Earth Stewardship in the Anthropocene

In this paper, we argue that the Anthropocene is an epoch characterized not only by the anthropogenic dominance of the Earth\u27s ecosystems but also by new forms of environmental governance and institutions. Echoing the literature in political ecology, we call these new forms of environmental governance “global assemblages”. Socioecological changes associated with global assemblages disproportionately impact poorer nations and communities along the development continuum, or the “Global South”, and others who depend on natural resources for subsistence. Although global assemblages are powerful mechanisms of socioecological change, we show how transnational networks of grassroots organizations are able to resist their negative social and environmental impacts, and thus foster socioecological resilience

Pluralism, Resilience, and the Ecology of Survival: Case Studies from the Pamir Mountains of Afghanistan

As resilience is observed under circumstances of systemic stress, the various ecological zones of the Pamir Mountains of Afghanistan and the cultural diversity contained within this milieu provide an appropriate setting from which to ask "How can a dynamic concept of pluralism inform adaptation, survival, and resilience in the face of dramatic socio-cultural and environmental change?" This paper asserts that understanding of resilience in coupled socio-cultural and ecological systems is enhanced by the concept of pluralism. The idea of ecological niche is enriched by sensitivity to culture, religion, ethnicity, lifestyle, and habitat. Facilitative relations between the ethnically diverse Kyrgyz and Wakhi, as well as the Pashtu and Shugni, contribute to their mutual survival and food sovereignty. The common good is achieved by harnessing ethnic, religious, and ecological diversity

Biocultural diversity and indigenous ways of knowing : human ecology in the Arctic

Series: Northern lights series; 12Dramatic challenges face human civilization everywhere. Relations between human beings and their environment are in peril, with mounting threats to both biological diversity of life on earth and cultural diversity of human communities. The peoples of the Circumpolar Arctic are at the forefront of these challenges and lead the way in seeking meaningful responses. In Biocultural Diversity and Indigenous Ways of Knowing, Karim-Aly Kassam positions the Arctic and sub-Arctic as a homeland rather than simply as a frontier for resource exploitation. Kassam aims to empirically and theoretically illustrate the synthesis between the cultural and the biological, using human ecology as a conceptual and analytical lens. Drawing on research carried out in partnership with indigenous northern communities, three case studies illustrate that subsistence hunting and gathering are not relics of an earlier era but rather remain essential to both cultural diversity and to human survival. This book deals with contemporary issues such as climate change, indigenous knowledge, and the impact of natural resource extraction. It is a narrative of community-based research, in the service of the communities for the benefit of the communities. It provides resource-based industry, policy makers, and students with an alternative way of engaging indigenous communities and transforming our perspective on conservation of ecological and cultural diversity.Ye