PHL 450/550 Moore & Grey

Environmental Ethics Spring 2004

As you prepare to visit your place …

Reread the green sheet. It has addresses and, in some cases, the names of contact people.

Your goals in visiting the place are many:

To get a sense of the place, it complexity, its moral dimensions.

To learn as much as you can about it and the moral issues it raises.

To get the pictures you will need for the PowerPoint presentation and

ultimately for the poster.

In some cases, to talk to the people who are already deeply involved in

the place, who will have given serious thought to its moral issues.

To listen to the place, and to have creative conversations with your group

members in that place, all toward a deeper understanding of its

issues.

And (a useful side effect) to let other people in that place know that students of

goodwill and creative energy are paying attention to the moral issues in

their place—to create a community of caring people.

In planning, please consider these questions:

Who are the people you want to meet and talk with?

When can they meet with you?

What courtesies should you observe (setting up an appointment; engaging in

respectful, unchallenging, friend-making questioning; writing thank you notes

after the interview, etc.)? Be polite; these people have not been warned that you

are coming and have not heard of our project. They may find it initially

threatening.

Please keep contact information for the people you meet, so we can invite them to the poster session!!!

What do you want to experience while you are there (sights, sounds, etc.)?

What do you want to learn while you are there?

How will you do this?

How will you give free rein to your moral imagination?

How will you document this? (digital photos? notes in a journal?)

How will you get there?

When will you go?

St. Mary’s Group. Sister Kathy is the person in charge of social services. She can be reached at 757-1988, ext 103. She can explain how the church interacts with the poor and the sorrowful. You might brainstorm a bit about the relation between poverty and environmental degradation, between grief and the solace of natural places and (conversely) between grief and environmental destruction. You might ask to see the places of grieving and comfort. Eric can brainstorm with you. So can Chris Anderson, whom you will meet next week.

McDonald Forest people. The professor who is in charge of the committee to rewrite the mission of the forest is Norm Johnson. You can tell him I sent you. He can explain the issues and direct you to people who can give you a tour of the forest, if that’s what you’d like. The College of Forestry has maps of the forest available, too, and informational brochures.

Bald Hill folks. Probably your first step will be a call to city parks to find out about the restoration project. I don’t know these people, but you might start with Jerry Davis at Corvallis Parks and Recreation.

Marys River Watershed. Sandra Coveny’s office phone is 758-7597 at the Marys River Watershed Council. If she wants to take you out o my land on the river to talk about issues, that’s fine with me. Another good access to the Marys is in Avery Park.