Instructor interview for Place-Based WAC/WID writing instruction in Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences, clip 11 of 18

Abstract

Brief excerpt from interview: The local students will usually bring up the local perspective in class—and I'll bring it up, too—some of the issues are contentious. Say, geothermal power. Some in the Hawaiian community are against it, some are for it. Siting wind farms is a problem, but that's also national and global . . . a 'not in my back yard' kind of thing . . . So in class, we have a local perspective, a national perspective, and international students bring the international perspective. Our island environment has some unique challenges that are brought to bear. And often we talk about importation of our food. Our food has to travel 2,000 miles to get here. And we get 90% of our food from the mainland. And most of our energy is imported in the form of petroleum. And that's an acute awareness that this class arrives at by the end of it.