Dr. Brigitte Stepanov is a war researcher and Assistant Professor of Francophone Studies. She is the founder and director of the Energy Today Lab, an interdisciplinary research hub that reflects creatively and analytically on the energy - broadly defined from labor to thermodynamics - of our contemporary world.
Dr. Brigitte Stepanov and the students in her Spring 2023 "French and Francophone Media and Film" course (FREN 4246/8803) recently established a community library on campus in the Swann Building. With a grant from SLS, they were able to purchase used…
As fall semester inches closer, we wanted to highlight a couple of ongoing, exciting opportunities, as well as one brand new course for your consideration during Phase II registration!
If you are contemplating a minor, take a close gander at the SLS-affiliated Sustainable Cities Minor! The minor in Sustainable Cities emphasizes sustainability, community engagement, and social justice. It provides students with a deep learning experience that integrates classroom learning and real-world, community-based project experience in creating sustainable communities, with a focus on the built urban environment. You can learn more about the minor, and all the details on how to integrate into your present course of study, by visiting SCARP…
Makaela Burch is a Masters student in City and Regional Planning at Georgia Tech. She participated in SLS' Sustainable Communities Summer Internship program this summer, as an intern for both SLS and Office of the Vice President for Interdisciplinary Research.
From June 5th-11th, I was able to attend the Southeast Environmental Justice Summit in Atlanta, Georgia. The Summit was organized by Harambee House, an environmental justice organization based in Savannah, Georgia. On the first day of the Summit, I had the chance to go on an environmental justice tour of Atlanta, organized by Dr. Erica Hollman, of the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance. Along with Dr. Hollman, and other community organizers, we visited three sites across West Atlanta, and learned about the environmental justice efforts that were being tackled by local organizations. The most impactful site for me personally was the Chattahoochee Brick Company, located in west Atlanta, led by Donna…
Monique Terrell is a Masters student in Public Health at the Morehouse School of Medicine. Monique is currently serving as an intern for A Sip of Paradise Garden through SLS' Sustainable Communities Summer Internship Program.
The Environmental Justice Summit hosted by Harambe House at the Grand Hyatt in Buckhead was an engaging and exhilarating conference. Being a part of conversations with the prominent stakeholders, organizations, nonprofits, and energy corporations who prioritize the environmental justice movement was an experience I will remember for years to come.
During the conference, I observed conversations concerning protecting the environment, organizations emphasizing the importance of safety and sustainability of all, and even discussions regarding Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and their significance to communities countrywide. Tours were available that highlighted past and…
During the second week of June, I had the opportunity of attending the Southeast Environmental Justice Summit held at the Grand Hyatt Buckhead. On the first day of the event, I participated in the Atlanta Justice40RWARD Environmental Justice tour, which included visits to significant locations, such as the Chattahoochee Brick Company site, Lindsay Street Park, and Project South. However, it was during our second stop at Lindsay Street Park that I had one of my most significant takeaways.
This park holds a special distinction as the first in the community created through the Conservation Fund's Parks and Purpose Program. The program aims to establish greenspaces that prioritize the safety of children while simultaneously addressing multiple challenges. These challenges include promoting access to healthy foods, creating employment opportunities for residents, and reducing the impacts of stormwater flooding through the…
Amani Allen-Beale is an Environmental Science major at Georgia Gwinnett College. Amani was part of the inaugural SDG Futures Fellows cohort in 2022-2023, run by RCE Greater Atlanta. Amani is currently participating in SLS' Sustainable Communities Summer Internship Program as an intern for RCE Greater Atlanta.
Stepping onto the property of Southview Cemetery felt like stepping into a Black history time portal. If you haven’t heard of Southview, here’s a bit of background. Southview Cemetery is a Black owned cemetery that was started in February of 1886. During this time, Black Americans were not allowed to be buried near or next to white people or host their own funeral services. Southview was created by nine Black men whose descendants such as Winifred Hemphill now head the cemetery.
Initially, I didn’t…
As a current intern with Serve-Learn-Sustain and the West Atlanta Watershed Alliance (WAWA), I’ve been given many opportunities to learn about equity and how our work should encompass that as we address sustainability. Because of this, I was given the opportunity to attend the micro-session titled “Challengers | Healers | Creators” hosted by AYA Institute at Trees Atlanta for the Thrive Outside monthly meeting on May 19th. This was just a taste of what it takes to tackle oppression, but it truly opened my eyes on how to address the intersectionality of oppression as both an oppressor and a member of an oppressed population.
The session began with a general overview of what this lesson could provide for us, delving into why we wanted to be there and what we could offer each other in the four hours we spent together. The conversation then transitioned into rethinking the ways we deal with oppression currently which induced a lot of…
From 2019 to 2021, SLS interns aided in the creation of the Coffee County Memory Project’s award-winning oral history documentary project focusing on the desegregation of the schools of Coffee County, Georgia.
Kara Vaughn Adams ’21, Brice Minix ’22, Nabil Patel ’22, Bennett Bush ’23, and Samina Patel ’24 conducted and transcribed oral history interviews, gathered material by searching through back issues of local newspapers, digitized artifacts, implemented graphic designs, and worked to configure and upload digital material used in the project’s exhibitions.
All were graduates of Coffee High School. As they worked on the project, they learned the history of their school and community. Their reactions to this information aided project…
On Friday, May 19, I attended the Challenger-Healer-Creator (CHC) workshop with some fellow SLS interns. The workshop was held at Trees Atlanta, a nonprofit working to improve Atlanta’s urban forest through conservation and education initiatives, and was led by Afiya and Wekesa Madzimoyo, two storytellers and experts in facilitating authentic communication. This workshop gave some really interesting perspectives and ideas on oppression, especially about the language we use. For the Challenging Oppression section of CHC, Wekesa offered the term injected oppression instead of internalized oppression. Injected oppression provides less blame on the oppressed individual, making them the object, rather than the subject, and insinuating it is another actor who is injecting that oppression. Wekesa mentioned also that this way of thinking gives more room to heal from the wounds of injected oppression.
Another idea presented in the…
The Vice President for Interdisciplinary Research (VPIR) and the Office of Undergraduate Education (OUE) are excited to announce an institutionalization plan for Serve-Learn-Sustain (SLS) that will advance two of Georgia Tech’s Institute Strategic Plan (ISP) initiatives - Sustainability Next and Transformative Teaching and Learning (TTL) - and strengthen our service learning, community engagement, and sustainability ecosystems at Georgia Tech.…