While going deeper and deeper into the Night Forest, he began to feel hungry. He picked off a few of the strangely shaped luminous fruits and nibbled gingerly to see if they were edible. Edible was no word for it; some were tart, some sweet, some slightly bitter, but all were delicious. He ate as he walked, and felt a miraculous strength flowing into his limbs. ~ Michael Ende
Areas of Interest/Research
My work seeks to integrate educational, community development, and ecological goals for sustainable democratic societies.
John Dewey argued that democracy is guaranteed not by the specific institutional arrangement of a given time, but by the ability of the people to purposefully adapt those institutions in a dynamic and changing world. Foremost amongst these institutions, higher education, and especially the liberal arts and sciences, must continue to educate for citizenship. I argue that the liberal arts can only fulfill this democratic civic mandate so long as its practices are adapted to the needs of the present day. Today these needs most pressingly include the quality of our relationships with the broader ecologies of which we are a part.
I situate my project within higher education’s increasing investment in education for sustainability. I argue that formal and non-formal sustainability education is a key site, perhaps the principle site, for democratic education in the 21st century. I investigate the extent to which sustainability education within U.S. colleges and universities is based on curricula that stress the development of learning skills and civic skills. I explore the degree to which such pedagogical initiatives are, can and should be understood as methods for student empowerment. In other words, my research examines the extent to which such programs exemplify and pursue the democratic social justice component of sustainability.
I also work within my community, developing local food systems at the county planning, public school, and community garden levels. I am the live-in care taker for the 600 acre Tuscawilla Preserve, and my home doubles as the headquarters of Tuscawilla Learning Center, which provides environmental education to children ages 3 – 8, and frequently hosts adult environmental education and permaculture workshops.
Contact Information
Office Hours: Wednesday, 12:45 – 1:30 & Friday 2 – 3
Office: 320 Anderson Hall
Email: Seatonius@ufl.edu