Luce Project for Campus Sustainability

The surest method of sustaining new approaches at Williams is to focus faculty interest towards enhancing the curriculum and expanding teaching methods. The Luce Grant seeks to encourage interest and increase curricular offerings in the general area of energy sustainability/green architecture by providing support for faculty members in two areas:

1. Shared Research Seminars: Our semester-long shared research seminar will consist of 8 to 10 faculty members and staff at weekly seminars focused on energy sustainability/green architecture and on practical methods for empirical approaches to teaching about these topics, the latter guided by the Office of Experiential Education. Stipends will be provided by the Luce Grant.


2. Curricular Modification: Faculty members interested in developing new lecture topics or laboratory/field exercises that will enrich teaching about aspects of renewable energy/green architecture in existing classes should apply for support from the Luce Grant. Support could consist of summer stipends, student summer or semester research assistants or technical support from Amy Johns, the Environmental Analyst who works on the project.

Faculty members interested in participating in the Luce Grant should contact David Dethier, Professor of Geosciences (ddethier@williams.edu; 597-2078) or Henry Art, Professor of Biology (Henry.W.Art@williams.edu; 597-2461) for more specific information.

Executive Summary of Williams College Luce Project

            Williams College is involved in a five-year project, sponsored under The Luce Foundation's environmental theme of participatory and empirical teaching, to develop a curricular initiative focusing on the study of renewable energy and resource sustainability. The initiative is using Williams' campus (with its diversity of old and new buildings and regular cycle of construction and renovation), as a real-world laboratory to explore the practical complexities of capturing renewable energy and the compromises involved in managing energy use, architecture, and sustainability. The curriculum also incorporates the study and analysis of energy conservation efforts by local organizations as well as the energy-producing history and potential of various sites in Williams' rural, hilly environment. Integral to the curriculum's structure will be opportunities for students to formulate recommendations regarding efficient energy use and sustainable design on campus and in the community.

      The goals of the project are: (1) to address the traditional objectives of a liberal arts education - the development of critical thinking and analytical skills - by focusing on environmental topics that have particular resonance for our students; and (2) to enhance our students' understanding of critical environmental issues by requiring them to devise practicable solutions to environmental problems. A complementary goal is to strengthen our faculty's skill in teaching with empirical methods.

      The project has six components: (1) the development of new energy/sustainability modules for existing courses; (2) the development of an upper-level environmental science and policy course centered on the students' design of practical solutions to energy/sustainability problems; (3) student/faculty research; (4) an academic technician to assist data management and analysis; (5) faculty research seminars for the collaborative study of renewable energy and empirical teaching methods; and (6) a public lecture series.