Teach-in on Sustainability Highlights Importance of Communication and Arts

Emerson College’s annual Teach-in on Sustainability (TIOS) showcases the work that the Emerson community does to help motivate and achieve a sustainable world.

“We can show the world, including folk at Emerson, that communication and the arts are a crucial part of tackling sustainability issues,” said Professor and Marketing Communication Chair Nejem Raheem, one of the organizers of this year’s Teach-In, happening November 20-22. “And we bring folk from outside the community in to show us what’s happening in our fields in terms of sustainability efforts.”

The full schedule of Teach-in on Sustainability is available on emerson.edu.

TIOS events also look to address at least one, if not all 17, United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Raheem emphasized why focusing on sustainability is more important than ever before.

“I’m not alone in thinking that communication around sustainability is clearly super important, since many voters weren’t making decisions on that basis,” said Raheem.

This year’s TIOS starts with a panel on November 20 about Sustainable Approaches to Public Health with voices from Colombia, Guatemala, and Kenya.

The online panel will include Communication Sciences & Disorders Professor Robin Danzak; Elma Lewis Center Executive Director Tamera Marko; Licensed Nursing Supervisor and Nurse Educator José Melvín Ramírez Hernandez, from the Intecap Región Central in Guatemala; and Mathew Kinyua, speech-language pathologist form Kenyatta University in Kenya.

Boaz Paldi, Chief Creative Officer for UN Development Programme, will provide the keynote address on November 21 about why communication and the arts and crucial to sustainability. As the Chief Creative Officer at UNDP, he recently launched both the #DontChooseExtinction and the #WeatherKids campaigns.

On November 22 there will be two performance-based events. At noon there will be a Compost Concert in The Loft. The event will feature musicians, dancers, and a puppet show. The event is being led by the Emerson Green Collective and the sustainability team, and student organizations will be present to share info about how their work intersects with sustainability.

Later that night will be the 24-Hour Play Festival in the Little Building’s Black Box Theater. Executive produced by Hannah McEachern ’19, the festival offers writers, directors, and actors an opportunity to explore sustainable development goals through the lens of theater. They will write, direct, and produce a short play that forms a narrative around one of the goals within 24 hours.