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Environmental JusticeThe University: Experience and Qualifications Since its founding in 1855 as the first land grant university in the U.S., Michigan State University has adhered to its original mission: to “strive to discover practical uses for theoretical knowledge, and to speed the diffusion of information to residents of the state, the nation, and the world.” In operational terms, MSU has concentrated on building its strengths in educating and training succeeding generations of researchers both from the U.S. and the world at large. It has sought to establish collaborative links with people and institutions worldwide, broadening its research, academic and service outreach. MSU is recognized as a center of excellence in international development. The academic and professional community at Michigan State is highly diverse and responsive and augments the University’s international goals with a broad array of globally relevant skills and expertise. People from every county in Michigan, every state in the U.S. and 134 countries around the world contribute to the University’s success. Annually, more than 3500 international students and scholars enroll in MSU’s graduate and undergraduate and certificate programs. MSU plays host to hundreds of international visitors every year who come to view campus research facilities, participate in campus life as visiting scholars and specialists, or to meet with MSU colleagues. Hundreds of MSU faculty members are engaged in critical outreach programs in many countries throughout the world, teaching, conducting research or providing technical assistance. For more than 50 years, Michigan State University has been a leader among U.S. universities in international development programs. MSU has had a broad and deepening involvement in conducting technical assistance and research in developing countries, assisting the development of new institutions, and providing training for development tasks. MSU, through its Departments and Institutes and Centers, has also managed projects throughout the world, providing short- and long-term in-country technical assistance, degree and non-degree training programs, and extensive backstopping support from the main campus. The Office of the Dean of International Studies and Programs has overall responsibility for the university’s international initiatives. While historically a majority of MSU’s international development and technical assistance projects have been conducted by faculty in various departments of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, international expertise is increasingly incorporated into all aspects of university life marking MSU as a global university. The Office of Contract and Grant Administration (CGA) holds fiscal audit authority and responsibility for the MSU contractual portfolio with both domestic and international external donors. In fiscal 2006-2007 awards for sponsored projects reached $308 million. To ensure that MSU is aware of, and can comply with the various agency regulations, CGA is organized by funding agency. CGA has a separate group dedicated to administration of international projects. Environmental Justice As globalization advances and the global character of many environmental problems become more manifest, wider perspectives are stimulated in local environmental traditions. In North America, a burgeoning environmental justice movement makes links between environmental damage, poverty and race that strongly recall longstanding political concerns in Europe and the South. In Western Europe, scepticism and mistrust of GM and other new deep technologies raises questions about the character of “nature” long discussed in relation to the American wilderness tradition. About the globe, environmental activists grapple with new problems of human impacts, risk, technology, consumption and just distribution, and articulate new visions of the future. As a globally sensitive university at the cutting edge in technologies and agricultural advances such as GM plants, MSU faculty reflect a diversity of approaches to human issues of justice, especially environmental justice. Researchers, policy-makers, and activists have increasingly recognized the critical importance of these interlocking dimensions for understanding the social relations underlying many environmental problems, from Love Canal in New York to the Green Belt Movement in Kenya. Examples of emerging scholarship in this field include how gender, class, race, and ethnicity intersect in:
MSU’s Gender, Justice and Environmental Change Program (GJEC) The GJEC program offers graduate students a supportive and rigorous academic environment for exploring these issues as well as credentials demonstrating specialized training in the field. The certification of the specialization will appear on the student's transcript. The specialization is intended to:
The program is flexible and multidisciplinary in design and faculty and student participation. Students in natural science fields use the specialization to integrate gender and justice concerns with their regular program. Students in social sciences are exposed to the background, concepts, and methods of environmental studies necessary to communicate with natural scientists and policy makers. The GJEC Coordinator assists the student in planning a program of study that is related to the student's interests, capabilities, and professional goals. With the approval of the department and college that administer the student's degree program, the courses that are used to satisfy the requirements for the specialization may also be used to satisfy the requirements for the master's or doctoral degree. This program is unique to MSU. |
