Environmental Justice

Program Overview

Environmental Justice students learn why environmental harms and benefits are inequitably distributed, and how communities are organizing to regenerate the health of our ecosystems as much as the integrity of our social fabric, for the two are intimately connected. Investigating both cutting-edge and time-tested approaches to systems change, this program equips learners with tools to appreciate the histories that birthed this moment, and skills to create a liberatory future.

The program explores structural inequalities in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and beyond, examining patterns of privilege, power, and oppression. Coursework is interdisciplinary; our approach to scholarship, field work, and community organizing reflect the breadth and diversity of the global environmental justice movement as students interface with dozens of change-makers. These environmental justice experts include artists, scientists, policy-makers, farmers, activists, educators, architects, energy specialists, politicians, and medical professionals, all working toward food, water, and/or climate justice. The program is multi-place-based, occurring in sites of historical significance, contemporary contestation, “sacrifice zones,” food production, and regenerated ecologies across the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota. In this way, students learn stories of the land by the land. Because HECUA approaches each student as an agent of change, we make measurable contributions to the environmental justice movement all semester long, both through individually-designed internships that leverage student skillsets and career goals, and through class-wide engagement projects.

Past internship sites include MN350, Growing North, Representative Frank Hornstein’s office, and Lily Springs Farm. Students leave prepared for leadership at the intersection of environmental and climate justice.

Staff and Faculty

Michelle Garvey

Program Director

Photo of Michelle Dr. Michelle Garvey (she/her/hers) is an interdisciplinary scholar-activist, specializing in environmental justice (EJ) theory, history, and activism. Addressing its interconnected fields—climate justice, food justice, and reproductive justice among them—Michelle educates through community-engaged projects that channel student scholarship into the EJ movement. She has collaborated with several EJ partners, including Tamales y Bicicletas, Project Sweetie Pie, The Women’s Environmental Institute, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Mashkiikii Gitigan Urban Farm, Center for Earth, Energy, and Democracy, and MN State Congresspeople. Garvey also mentors the UMN student group Voices for Environmental Justice, and as an Institute on the Environment Educator, collaborates across UMN colleges to promote EJ research and community partnerships.

Most recently, Michelle served as a teaching specialist in Sustainability Studies at the University of Minnesota and Environmental Studies at Macalester College, and a food justice curriculum writer for Minnesota Youth Story Squad. She holds a Ph.D. in Feminist Studies from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, an M.A. in Women’s Studies from San Diego State University, and a B.A. in Philosophy from the College of St. Benedict/St. John’s University.

Courses

Climate & Environmental Justice (4 credits)

History & theory of climate and environmental justice social movements to end inequities in environmental/climate benefits & drawbacks.

Socio-Ecological Systems Change (4 credits)

Critical approaches to systems change: learning diverse interventions in systems of oppression and environmental destruction at reformist to radical, personal to political, and local to global, scales.

Field Methods (4 credits)

Encounters with and critical evaluations of diverse field methods in sustainability aimed at producing liberatory partnerships and outcomes in interdisciplinary research.

Internship (4 credits)

Concentrated practice: students apply theoretical learning to hands-on experience in an EJ field tailored to individual learning and career goals.

Complete Syllabus

Environmental Sustainability Spring 2021 Syllabus

Internships

Below are details of a few recently completed internships and projects. Note that internship sites can change semester to semester in response to the needs of local organizations, and when possible, in response to the specific interests of students in the program.

Lily Springs Farm

Lily Springs is a 100-acre farm using regenerative agricultural practices informed by permaculture design elements. The farm focuses on regeneration, education, and celebration. They use livestock and perennial plants to achieve a system of climate-appropriate, carbon-negative agroforestry with zero chemical inputs typically seen in commercial agriculture. Recent HECUA student interns have worked with the full-time farm manager to maintain and run major aspects of the farm. This included harvesting herbs and berries, creating paddocks for the goats in the forest, and learning about regenerative agriculture.

Growing North

Growing North Minneapolis is a community-driven collaboration with the University of Minnesota, which focuses on youth and their communities. Through intergenerational mentorship and urban agriculture, they advance environmental, social and racial justice in North Minneapolis.

MN350

MN350 unites Minnesotans as part of a global movement to end the pollution damaging our climate, speed the transition to clean energy, and create a just and healthy future for all. HECUA interns with MN 350 have worked with the food systems team, supported Line 3 resistance work, and more.

Program Costs

Fee Breakdown: All USA semester-long programs are based in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. USA semester program fees include tuition, nearly all reading materials, some field visits (including meals while traveling), and tickets to events and opportunities associated with the program. More information regarding program costs and fee breakdowns can be found here.

Group A schools

Students from the University of Minnesota pay $9,200.

Group B schools

Students from all consortium member* and affiliate member schools except Denison University, and the University of Minnesota pay $14,600.

*unDACAmented students from Augsburg College receive a $3,000 scholarship from Augsburg.

Standard Cost

Students from nonmember schools and Denison University $15,500. Although a HECUA member, Denison has opted to apply its member discount to a grant program dedicated to assisting low-income Denison students who wish to participate in a HECUA program.

Scholarships

HECUA distributes three scholarships to students from consortium member schools: Scholarship for Racial Justice (up to $4,000); the Scholarship for Social Justice (up to $1,500); and the Scholarship for Community Engagement (up to $750 for semester-long programs, and $500 for short-term programs). Click here to view all scholarships.

Good to Know

For students coming outside of Minneapolis/St. Paul, housing is available through HECUA’s partnership with St. Thomas University. Contact Julie at jrossate@hecua.org to learn more about housing.