And now, an elective on environment in media

MANILA, Philippines – A new elective on environmental science at the Ateneo hopes to teach students how to ask the right questions.

A free elective composed of three units, the Seminar on the Environment in the Media has no prerequisites and its focus is on how environmental issues are being tackled in popular media.

ES 171 is a product of collaboration between professors Kendra Gotangco and Abigail Favis from Ateneo’s Environmental Science Department, and Inez Ponce de Leon from the Communication Department.

The professors described the elective as a result of an “organic evolution” through informal conversations among them and one of several ideas they pursued. With the Loyola Schools pushing for interdisciplinary studies, the elective will be a good fit.

“The direction given to us by our leaders is to go toward interdisciplinary collaboration. So this is a very natural pathway that we followed,” Favis says.

According to them, they chose the topic because the environment is something everyone can relate to and an example for students to see how different fields influence each other.

But Ponce de Leon points out that the environment in the media isn’t the only thing that the media should cover or what students should be critical about.

A lot of things in the media have to be more critically examined, she says, and that the whole setup of melding science and communication isn’t exclusive to the course but could be a step to future interdisciplinary courses.

Science literacy key

With the growing issues surrounding the country and the world, the professors agree that science literacy is important, which is why the elective will help debunk common misconceptions about the environment and the media.

“Now, it becomes more and more crucial to have critical thinking,” Gotangco says. “To be able to read or watch something and flesh out the issues rather than just passively accepting what you hear. We’re saying this not just for scientists but for non-scientists too.”

Ponce de Leon adds that although a lot of people are aware of environmentally related topics through various media, most of the things people know have little to do with the knowledge of how science works.

“There are so many ways that these stories spread. You can think of it as a bad thing but it’s also a good thing. So we need to make sure that we equip the students with skills that will help make sense of all the information so they can see the truth behind,” Favis says.

The professors are hoping to get a good mix of students from different majors but clarified that students shouldn’t be intimidated or worry about not having any scientific background because part of the course will include explaining the scientific foundations in terms of the processes involved.

“By also sharing their expertise and ideas, they’ll realize that all of their fields have something to contribute to the discussion,” Ponce de Leon says.

Expectations and outcomes

With the elective being a first, Gotangco, Favis and Ponce de Leon feel very hopeful and optimistic that the course will be fun for the students, with the ideal class size at 20.

While the professors say team teaching might be difficult to handle, the three of them promise to always be there and to continuously interact during the discussions.

At the end of the course, they want nothing more than for the students to understand clearly the environmental issues being faced today.

“We are not expecting the students to be scientists or to know everything about the issue,” Gotangco says. “What we expect from them is that they will get to ask the right questions.”

The whole point, after all, of the elective is to give students tools that they can use to analyze issues critically and to appreciate and understand how science works and how it impacts on society.