Maria Doerr

I initiated and taught Environmental Justice in the Bay Area at Stanford University in Spring 2016. It focused on connections between lived environments, health, justice, and privilege (race, class, gender, etc.) in neighboring cities and communities in California. I sought to fill a gap in coursework available to my classmates and myself; while there were many environmental and social justice classes, few looked at their intersection. 

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My syllabi explored a different environmental justice topic relevant to Bay Area communities each week, from housing insecurity to air quality and mobility equity. I organized weekly readings from academia, local news sources, and environmental justice experts and prepared open discussions each week. In addition, I coordinated several local field trips to foster place-based learning and an applied understanding of environmental justice. One week, our discussions focused on food insecurity, and our field trip was a Saturday afternoon volunteering with Veggielution, an urban farm nonprofit that provides fresh produce to nearby residents.

 

My students were both underclassmen and upperclassmen and came with varying exposures to environmental and social issues. I was attentive to the students and their strengths in class as I sought to make space for each and foster a class community. 

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I designed a class website that served as a platform for the students to share insights and learnings and for the Stanford community to find environmental justice resources. I curated lists of courses, on-campus groups, and local organizations for those interested to learn more. Through weekly blog post exercises, I encouraged students to take ownership of their learning and draw on their own diverse experiences to contextualize and approach new topics.

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The class was designated a “Cardinal Course" by the Stanford Haas Center for Public Service, endorsed by the Earth Systems and Urban Studies Departments, and funded through the Associated Students of Stanford University. See the class Syllabus here.

 

My academic and professional pursuit of environmental advocacy has often been defined by my work on environmental justice. Stanford University coursework such as Global Protest and Civil Unrest, Conversations on Race and Ethnicity, and Ethical Issues in Engineering gave me perspective on the social implications of environmental engineering and science, and the impacts of environmental degradation and development inequity.