Teaching | Salma Monani

Teaching is like tending to a forest. I believe this organic metaphor best captures my teaching philosophy as it emphasizes an ecosystem approach where tree and forest are understood as intrinsically connected, each enriching the other. At the same time, both are grounded in and representative of a larger world ecosystem. As a teacher, I work with the understanding that students, like trees in a forest, are free and active agents, each individually different, yet all rooted within some contextual soil. The hope for growth is an interactive effort, and the teacher’s role is primarily to encourage students to flourish along side each other so that eventually within the larger community, each one is relatively self-sustaining, and eventually sustenance for others.

Classes

Introduction to Environmental Humanities
Environmental Film
Environmental Writing (with a focus on Journalism)
Food and Environmental Sustainability (First-year Seminar; Senior Seminar)
Natural Catastrophes and Geologic Hazards

Looking to do some research? Here are examples from students who have worked with me on cool research projects. (click on the various links to learn more!)

Senior Honors Theses and Student Authored Publications and Creative Work

Sarah Gilsoul, 2022. ES major, Educational Studies minor. Sarah’s project “The Creation of an Indigenous Virtual Story Map Project” involved developing an online ArcGIS Storymap collection, Indigenous Pennsylvania: Past, Present and Future that spotlights rich and vibrant Indigenous presence within Pennsylvania and within a few hours of Gettsyburg. It builds on the college’s Land Acknowledgment Statement to recognize Indigenous histories, presents, and futures as integral to environmental and social understandings of our region. Sarah is co-author on a peer-reviewed article in the Routledge Handbook of Ecomedia Studies that describes the project’s rationale and methods.

Sarah Gilsoul at the Painted Turtle Farm’s Three sisters’ garden.

Kylie Mandeville, 2021. ES major, Peace and Justice Studies minor. Kylie’s project Place Me in Gettysburg: Relating Sexuality and Environment draws on scholarly work in Environmental Justice studies to explore how race, sexuality, and other factors shape both personal and social notions of environmental place in the U.S. Kylie focused on Gettysburg as place and designed a Scalar webpage with art and poetry to complement the essays.

Kylie Mandeville–during study abroad in Vietnam.

Brittany Bondi, 2019. ES major. Kolbe Fellowship recipient, post-graduate Fulbright Recipient (Mongolia 2019-2020). Brittany is a now a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Environment and Resources program.

: Brittany as an X-Sig summer scholar doing field work in Iceland.

Senior Honors Thesis: “How Does Environmental Film Impact Audience Behavior and Concern?” Brittany worked with me (an environmental humanist), and my colleagues, Prof. Sarah Principato (a glacial geologist), and Prof. Chris Barlett (experimental social pyschologist) on this fantastically interdisciplinary project. She published her research in the peer reviewed journal Applied Environmental Education and Communication. Check out the website, The Personal Element that she created.

Micaela Edelson, 2017. ES and Public Policy double major. EPA-GRO grant and Post-graduate Fulbright recipient. Micaela completed a Master’s at Leeds University in England and worked for the World Wildlife Fund in DC before re-locating to Boulder, Colorado where she has immersed herself in non-profit work and writing.

: Micaela Edelson visiting Adams County’s farms to conduct interviews for her research.

Senior Honors Thesis: “Cultural and Technical Risk Associated with Pesticide Exposure of Migrant Workers in Adams County, Pennsylvania.” Publication: (with myself and Prof. Rud Platt) in the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 8.1 (2017), 71–96.

Elizabeth Cooper, 2017. ES and Latin American Studies double-major. Lizzy successfully innovated the SCCAP Gleaning Project as its Coordinator and has moved on to graduate work.

: LIzzy Cooper working with families at the Painted Turtle farm.

Senior Honors Thesis: “Social Implications of Community Gardening in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.” (co-advisor, Dr. Monica Ogra).

Dori Gorczyca, 2015. ES and History double-major. GeoCorps Intern, and currently a Park Ranger for the National Park Service.

: Dori works as a Park Ranger with the National Park Service post-graduation.

Senior Honors Thesis: “Is it Hot Out There? Climate Change in Glacier National Park, Montana.” (co-advisor, Dr. Sarah Principato).

Publications: (with myself and Prof. Sarah Principato)
“The Melting ‘Crown of the Continent’: Visual History of Glacier National Park.” Environment & Society Portal, Arcadia (Summer 2018), no. 20. Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society.
“Loving Glacier National Park Online: Climate Change Communication and Virtual Place Attachment” (In The Handbook of Climate Change Communication Vol 3., Eds Walter Leal Fihilo et al. Springer Press (2017): 63-83.

Emily Constantian, 2013. ES and Religion Studies double-major. Emily went on to a Master’s at Harvard University’s school of Education and works for youth advocacy at Project SYNCERE outside Chicago.

: Emily displaying photos from the photovoice project she helped run for Healthy Options.

Senior Honors Thesis: “The Food Gap: One Rural Community Responds.”

Publication: Dailey, Amy B., Audrey Hess, Camille Horton, Emily Constantian, Salma Monani, Betsy Wargo, Kim Davidson, Kathy Gaskin. “Healthy Options: A Community-Based Program to Address Food Insecurity.” Journal of Prevention and Intervention in the Community 43.2 (April 2015), 83-94.
Outreach Videos: The Food Gap” and “The Adams County Farmer’s Market.”

Brian Kelley, 2010. ES major.

: Brian Kelley is a successful filmmaker and photographer now.

Senior Honors Thesis: “Exploring intersections between wilderness and environmental filmmaking.” Which included the making of the Award Winning documentary, “On the Fence”.

Shorter (Semester or Summer) Independent studies

Abigail Major, 2019. History and Classics Double major, ES minor. Abigail completed graduate work at Georgetown University’s Communication, Culture and Technology program, worked as an intern for NASA and has a successful career in science communication.

Abigail was a NASA science communication intern in summer 2018

Independent project Spring 2019. “#MajorScience Talk: Because it shouldn’t be all [science] to me.”

Huanjia Zhang, 2017. Biology major. Huanjia worked for the Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, completed a Masters’ at NYU’s School of Journalism and is a successful science and health reporter.

Independent project Spring 2017. “The Batman Project: Science Communication.”

Eric Harris, 2015. ES major. Eric worked as an Environmental Specialist at Whitestone Associates before returning to graduate school. He is currently completing a Masters in Urban Planning at Rutgers University.

Independent internship Summer 2013. “A Comparative Study of Senior Food Access in Gettysburg, PA and Copenhagen, Denmark.” Food Studies.

***Rebecca Coorg, 2014.*** ES and Latin American Studies double major. Becca completed her PhD in Food Studies from Temple University in Philadelphia and works on issues of food justice. She is a Post-doctoral Mellon scholar at Wakefield University in Interdisciplinary Humanities.

Independent project Spring 2014: “Baltimore and the Cherry Hill Urban Garden.” Food Studies.

Sara Tower aka Seva Waters, 2012. ES and Philosophy double-major.