Ecological Literacy

David W. Orr is Professor of Environmental Studies at Oberlin College, and co-founder of the Meadowcreek Project, a non-profit environmental education organization. He is co-author of The Global Predicament, and co-editor of the SUNY Press series Environmental Public Policy.

"It is ahead of its time, and the momentum is clearly moving in the right direction. In a country that is now concerned about the failure of its public (and much of its private) education system, this book could be very influential. It addresses some of the same concerns as The Closing of the American Mind, but it is an incomparably better book, a 21st century book. I believe that the future of this country and western society depends upon public receipt of this message. Orr has exceptional vision." — David Ehrenfeld, Rutgers University"It is ahead of its time, and the momentum is clearly moving in the right direction. In a country that is now concerned about the failure of its public (and much of its private) education system, this book could be very influential. It addresses some of the same concerns as The Closing of the American Mind, but it is an incomparably better book, a 21st century book. I believe that the future of this country and western society depends upon public receipt of this message. Orr has exceptional vision." — David Ehrenfeld, Rutgers University

• Introduction Part One: THE ISSUE OF SUSTAINABILITY I. The Problem of Sustainability II. Two Meanings of Sustainability III. A Tale of Two Systems: Sustainability in International Perspectives IV. Fragments of Strategy Part Two: EDUCATION V. Ecological Literacy VI. The Liberal Arts, the Campus, and the Biosphere: An Alternative to Bloom's Vision of Education VII. A Prerequisite to the Great Books of Allan Bloom: A Syllabus for Ecological Literacy VIII. Place and Pedagogy IX. Education and Sustainability: An Approach X. What is Education For? XI. Is Environmental Education an Oxymoron? Part Three: WHAT KNOWLEDGE? FOR WHAT PURPOSES? XII. Having Failed to Manage Ourselves, We Will Now Manage the Planet? An Opinion from the Back Forty XIII. What Good is a Rigorous Research Agenda if You Don't Have a Decent Planet to Put it On? (Apologies to Thoreau) XIV. Food Alchemy and Sustainable Agriculture XV. Epilogue Notes Index