Fieldwork
Photo: Ben Rudick

Field Site:

Common Ground

The theoretical problem I face most often in my studies of environmental matters is whether or not environmental causes are self-serving, or whether they also ultimately serve the humans who live in the environment. I see this most often in the criticism of environmentalism as a movement created by well-to-dos who can afford to worry about it, and one that tends to disenfranchise people in favor of obscure animals or habitats. I have tended to take the viewpoint that increasingly, environmentalism is ultimately an anthropocentric activity, as it preserves the environment that humans legitimately enjoy and without a doubt depend on.

My internship at Common Ground cuts to the bottom of this argument; how do you make environmentally-friendly buildings for people (homeless people) who are some of the least-well-off people in society. This is a debate I have been a part of often in my classes in environmental studies. Conventional wisdom would say the two causes, helping the homeless and helping the environment, would rarely if ever meet, but here exists an organization that seems to be doing just that. Common Ground is working to make that coalescence a reality, and I am extremely curious to see if it is one and what the many issues are surrounding it.
~ Ryan Dunfee

Website:
http://www.commonground.org/
Students:
David Schwab ‘08, Ryan Dunfee ‘