Earthians have lost a great, if not the greatest, mind of our generation, Dr. Stephen Hawking. This scientific hero asserted the following regarding the future of Earth: “We have given our planet the disastrous gift of climate change…When we have reached similar crises there has usually been somewhere else to colonize…But there is no new world, no utopia around the corner…We are running out of space, and the only places to go are other worlds.” (Barclay, “Stephen Hawking’s warning: it’s time to get the hell off planet Earth”)
Clemson students are attentive to Dr. Hawking’s pessimistic, but real, view on what perhaps constitutes Earth’s most pressing challenge. According to Clemson’s Sustainability Action Plan, “78% of Clemson students feel a moral obligation to protect the environment.” (6) Our students are aware of the environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainability and are proactive in finding sustainable solutions to nurture the kind of planet they want to inhabit.
From curating library research collections, and conducting research on innovation and sustainability, to engaging in significant sustainability efforts across campus and throughout external communities, Clemson is committed to actively address these various environmental challenges and to integrate sustainability into every academic discipline and social space.
The “Read, Return, Repeat” book display (4/2-4/30) is a reflection of the ecological consciousness evidenced in classical writings, such as Eco-Joyce; as well as in ecocritical works, like International Perspectives in Feminist Ecocriticism. The “Earth Day, Every Day” book display (4/16-4/23), is a portal to children and juvenile literature devoted to help readers think more deeply about nature, climate change and other environmental themes. Titles, such as Treecology, The Big Green Book of the Big Blue Sea, and This Book Stinks!, offer powerful stories that help the youth feel part of the environment, and activate an ecological mind, capable of generating solutions. Our digital display, “eBooks & Clemson Scholarship” (4/8-4/30), showcases online collections that intersect literature, culture, and the physical environment. TigerPrints, our open-access, digital repository, provides a door to Clemson-born innovative renewable source research and approaches to sustainable science, engineering, and economy.
Please visit the Earth Month 2018 Guide, which serves as a platform for the Clemson community to join civic and scholarly conversations related to climate change, global warming, pollution, and renewable sources. Check out the e-displays sections and the calendar of events during Sustainability Month. For those of you with research topics and questions in mind, click on the “Scholarly Sources” tab, which contains core databases and journal titles related to environmental challenges and provides access to past and current scholarly conversations. And for those of you with the desire to join a network of eco-friendly Clemsonites, to learn more about the nature that surrounds our region, and to be part of the solution, take a look at the “Go Green at CU!” tab.
Enjoy!