Schiller Student Challenge

Grappling with Environmental Racism

During the 2020-2021 academic year, the Boston College Schiller Institute for Integrated Science & Society delivered a series of programming and initiatives to recognize environmental racism as a challenge of our time and our campus. 

In Spring 2021, the Schiller Institute highlighted and sponsored projects by students and student groups that grapple with race and environmental justice. Undergraduate and graduate students were invited to participate.

Projects included, but were not limited to, short pieces of writing offering a unique perspective or personal reflection on environmental racism, draft op-eds addressing environmental racism and suggesting action to be taken, visual media interpretative works (photos, videos, etc.), research projects, data analysis projects, documentation of community action projects, or creative writing.

Students were invited you to participate in the Challenge in multiple ways.  

  • Click on the Submit your Project link below to submit your project for consideration to be displayed on the Challenge website. Projects will be reviewed on a rolling basis with a final deadline of May 18, 2021. Accepted projects will be posted once they have been reviewed.

  • Click on the “Environmental Racism Summit” link to submit an abstract for the Summit, which will be held on April 23, 2021. Abstracts are due on April 9, 2021. See below for more details. You are encouraged to submit an abstract for the Summit even if your project will not be completed prior to April 23. Projects that are submitted for the Challenge website can also be submitted for the Env. Racism Summit.

See the “Financial Support for Projects” link below to request funding for your project.

Faculty: Please email ljs@bc.edu to discuss enrolling your class in the Challenge.

The Student Challenge is co-sponsored by the Environmental Studies program and the Office of Student Involvement.

Students are invited to submit requests for funding support for proposed class projects to the Schiller Institute. Funding is intended to assist with completion of the project and may include supplies, travel, equipment, software, and research costs. Note that support for travel costs will be subject to the most up-to-date public health guidance due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Funding is available for up to $200 per project.

Please fill out the financial support submission form, and we will respond within 5 working days.

 

Completed projects (whether funded by Schiller or not) can be submitted to the Schiller Institute. After a quality assurance review process assisted by faculty, staff, and student stakeholders, selected projects will be featured on this web page. Please submit your completed project through the completed projects submission form.

Projects may include, but are not limited to, short pieces of writing offering a unique perspective or personal reflection on environmental racism, draft op-eds addressing environmental racism and suggesting action to be taken, visual media interpretative works (photos, videos, etc.), research projects, data analysis projects, documentation of community action projects, or creative writing.

Students are also encouraged to submit an abstract of their project for the Environmental Racism Summit. Please see the “Environmental Racism Summit” tab for further details.

The Environmental Racism Summit will take place on Friday, April 23 from 1-3 PM. 

The Summit will feature student presentations about projects submitted in response to the Schiller Student Challenge. Posters will also be on display throughout the day. The presentations will begin at 1:30 PM. For those unable to attend in person, the presentations will also be live streamed on Zoom.

The Summit is part of the Earth Day Fair being hosted by the student organization EcoPledge and will take place on Stokes Lawn. Due to COVID-19 guidelines, all attendees of the Fair / Summit will need to register for a time slot prior to entering the lawn. Attendees may pre-register using this registration form. You may also register when you arrive. Please note that all time slots will be capped at 150 registrants.

Attendees should enter the lawn on the side closest to Lyons Hall (from the diagonal sidewalk leading from Stokes Hall towards Fulton Hall). There will be people at the entrance checking to make sure that you've registered. Once you enter there will be tables set up along the lawn for the Fair, which will be attended by 15 different student groups and BC departments that are associated with sustainability. The tables will lead to a tent, which is where the Summit will take place.



Project Archive

The Schiller Institute is proud to highlight projects by students and student groups that grapple with race and environmental justice in response to the Schiller Student Challenge. The projects below are organized based on the class where the project was submitted. This page also includes projects that were on display at the Environmental Racism Summit.

E. Allen

Environmental Injustice: The COVID-19 Pandemic, Air Pollution, and Other Correlating Factors in Massachusetts

By Elizabeth Allen, Environmental Studies and Economics major, Class of 2021

Project Poster

Factors that Change Secondhand Smoke Exposure Among Women of Reproductive Age in Bangladesh including Grameen Bank Membership (2011)

By Kiran Khosla, Environmental Studies major, Class of 2019

Project Poster

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