1. Campus Sustainability Films in a General Education Science Course Weston R. Dripps, Furman University, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences The Intent Making students aware of and peaking their interests in campus environmental and sustainability initiatives can be difficult, given students wide range of interests and competing demands for their time. I have recently added a sustainability film project to my general education science courses in an effort to get students, who are not necessarily environmentally minded, more vested in the campus sustainability movement. Each class is broken into groups of 4 – 5 students, and each group is tasked with producing a short (8 – 12 minute) film that either showcases an existing sustainable initiative on campus or proposes a new sustainable initiative that the group would like the university to pursue given its campus commitment to sustainability. The Assignment In an effort to foster student creativity, few guidelines or restrictions are placed on the film project except for the length of the film and its focus on campus sustainability. Access to the video equipment, as well as technical and logistical support for the editing and construction of the films, is provided by Furman’s Collaboratory for Creative Learning and Communication (CCLC) center. The Outcome The film project culminates in a public film festival at the end of the course in the campus movie theater, and the films are also posted publicly on a campus website for more general viewing. The students have been very receptive to the project, and, in fact, one of the class films was selected as the Grand Prize winner for the Student Conservation Association (SCA) / Mazda National Multimedia contest. “The Enviro-mentaries” The film exercise has not only served as a great educational bonding experience for those in the class, but has in the process gotten students more interested and certainly more informed about campus sustainability efforts. The Cliffs Cottage and Organic Garden Furman’s Cliffs Cottage is Southern Living magazine's first sustainable Showcase Home. The Cliffs Cottage was built to LEED certification standards and is a model of environmentally responsible design, building techniques and materials and energy-saving systems. Virtually every design element reflects the concept of environmental sustainability-inside and out. The house will become Furman’s Center for Sustainability in 2009. The Greenbelt Community The Greenbelt community is set of four small residence halls (Shack, Hut, Cabin and Cottage) designed for students who aspire to live a sustainable lifestyle, and in the process be campus role models for sustainable living. The buildings are fitted with solar panels, solar tubes, and energy efficient appliances, and were eco-friendly constructed where possible. The Lake Restoration Project In recent years the quality of Furman’s Lake has been in continual decline due to an overly large waterfowl population and sediment and nutrient runoff from the surrounding watershed. A Lake Restoration Task Force was formed in 2006 that developed, and are in the process of implementing, a comprehensive plan for restoring the quality and beauty of Furman’s Lake. The Lifestyle Project film won the $15,000 Grand Prize for the Student Conservation Association / Mazda National Multi-media contest. Assignment Text The CCLC Workstations Video Equipment Available through CCLC CCLC Support The Woodlands at Furman One of the few remaining forested sections of Furman’s campus has recently been cleared for the construction of a retirement complex. The film documents the conversion as its happening and has commentary from a group of students concerned over the potential environmental impacts. The Real World This film follows the day in the life of two hypothetical Furman students. One student strives to live sustainably, while the other does not. The film showcases ways in which students on campus can make small changes to their lifestyles and daily routines to reduce their ecological footprint and live more sustainably. Environmental Sustainability at Furman Furman University has committed to establishing itself as a national environmental sustainability leader among college and university campuses. This film provides more of a quick sampling and broad overview of a number of the campus sustainability projects (Cliffs Cottage, Organic Garden, The Greenbelt Community, The Lake Restoration Project).