Examining the relationship between ecology, religious faith and ethics
Marquette professors laud new online environmental science textbook
The Society of Jesus has focused on the relationship between the Earth and the church for decades, and a Marquette associate professor is among 24 scholars from Jesuit colleges and universities who have developed a new environmental science textbook for use by high school seniors and college freshmen.
Healing Earth is one of the most exciting outcomes of the academic career of Jame Schaefer, who teaches systemic theology and ethics at Marquette. Its development was commissioned by the Higher Education Secretariat of the Society in 2012.
The book required more than three years of planning before the website was publicly launched last week. Prior to launching, it had been tested in Belize, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Poland, Spain and the United States.
More than 90 scientists, theologians, ethicists, education experts and e-technicians contributed to Healing Earth. It explores six pressing ecological problems — the loss of biodiversity, natural resource exhaustion, transition to sustainable energy, the quality and availability of food and water, and global climate change.
After the scientific examination of each problem, spiritual perspectives of the major world religions and ethical questions are explored. Schaefer wrote for the spirituality and ethics introduction to the book and the energy chapter in a highly collaborative process.
“Never in my wildest imagination did I expect the text to be so beautiful,” she said. “Making Healing Earth available to faculty and students who cannot afford paper texts is especially gratifying.”
Schaefer said she considers its availability to those who can’t afford paper texts a demonstration of the Jesuit commitment to justice.
And there’s a good chance it will be used at Marquette. James Anderson, associate professor of biological sciences, is considering using the text in a class he is developing for non-science majors that will be offered this fall.
“The topics being offered in Healing Earth form an excellent foundation for me to explore areas of global sustainability and ecology with students while also incorporating the Jesuit traditions of considering the course material scientifically, ethically and upon spiritual reflection, determining a course of action,” Anderson said. “It feels like a complete consideration of what is rapidly becoming daily news in all of our lives.
“What better way to prepare students for that news and what’s to follow than a robust and personally developed perspective on what it must, in part, mean to be human,” he said.
The text features interesting, interactive case studies from all over the world, and bright, big colorful photos. The case studies include El Hierro, a volcanic island within Spain’s Canary Islands off the west coast of Africa; Kakadu, Australia’s largest national park; and the plight of teenagers in the Congo who work as miners for a highly valued metal used in cellular phones, computers, jet engines and weapons systems.
Last year, Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pope, issued the encyclical Laudato sí: On Care For Our Common Home,” in which he called all people of the world to take “swift and unified global action” to care for the environment. Pertinent parts of Laudato sí have been incorporated into Healing Earth.
“Caring about and for Earth now is vital to avoid leaving an impoverished planet that cannot support future life,” Schaefer said. “Healing Earth is the inevitable outcome of the interest that Jesuits have expressed about the plight of Earth.”
The co-directors of the project are biologist Nancy Tuchman and theologian Michael Schuck — both teach at Loyola University Chicago. Schaefer described them as “outstanding leaders.” She also lauded Rev. Michael Garanzini, S.J., who was President of LUC and head of the Society’s Higher Education Secretariat when the project was launched.
Tuchman and Schuck will be presenting at Marquette on Feb. 20 as part of Heartland/Delta Faculty Conversations.
One benefit of the e-textbook is updating it to reflect current scientific knowledge.
“Keeping the text current is essential for learning and addressing the problems on which the text focuses,” Schaefer said. “Our goal is to facilitate student learning, reflection, and action on problems that need addressing,” she said.
Because Healing Earth incorporates the spiritualities of the world religions when reflecting on ecological problems, Schaefer sees other benefits for students.
“The students will be able to identify with their religions when addressing a problem while learning how students who belong to other religions are motivated to act,” she said. “And, through the interactive tools Healing Earth provides, students can collaborate in acting on mutual problems from their various faith perspectives.”
She urges checking out Healing Earth which is accessible from http://healingearth.ijep.net/.
