Charlotte Faculty Lead Workshops To Help Incorporate Sustainability Into Courses
Each spring for the past 10 years, UNC Charlotte faculty have led multi-day workshops to help colleagues network across disciplines, share ideas and discover new resources and pathways to incorporate sustainability into their courses.
What is the benefit for students? Understanding how to create sustainable communities and businesses will help them be successful professionals and citizens.
Kristin Rothrock, senior lecturer in art and art history attended the sustainability workshop in 2022 and has incorporated sustainability concepts and practices into her classes since.
“After the sustainability workshop, I did research on natural dyes, proposed a student garden for natural fibers and dyes, and created a summer print media topics course with support from Erik Watterkotte, associate chair and associate professor of art and art history,” said Rothrock.
In the course Paper as a Sculptural Form, students make paper sheets using recycled materials alongside traditional materials of cotton, hemp, abaca, sisal and jute. They explore natural fibers and dyes from plants grown in the student garden beds near Robinson Hall, along with pre-prepared natural dyes like madder, cochineal, weld and indigo.
Students explore compost natural dyes from beets, cabbage, turmeric, avocado skins, pits and onion skins. Recycled paper collected from Ikea and Repros, the campus print shop, available for student use. With these materials, students make flat and cast paper pieces, sculptures and lanterns, which are later displayed in the Popp Martin Student Union Gallery.
Currently, Rothrock is teaching Book Arts/Paper-Making. As part of Earth Month, her class will visit the student garden, prepare the flax fiber bed, plant new seeds and forage campus for items such as petals, stems, leaves, bark and dried grass to include in handmade paper.
Students will make 18×24 inch sheets of hemp paper -adding natural dye to the pulp. Items collected can be embedded into the pulp sheets or embossed onto the surface of the wet paper. The students will form handmade sheets into the next project, theme environmental transformation
The project will conclude by reviewing the reality of how commercial paper is created, the materials and chemicals consumed in the process and how paper companies are addressing sustainability.
“We will reflect on what we can do as makers, teachers and artists to bring sustainability as a constant into art making practice,” said Rothrock.
In Rothrock’s 3-D design class, students are making birdhouses out of cedar for a specific North Carolina bird. And they must include a hint of architectural style to their final design.
“Students seem excited to make a functional object that might give a local or an endangered bird family a place to nest,” said Rothrock.
The students started by researching endangered birds in North Carolina or birds they see near their home, along with birdhouse templates and various architects and architectural styles. Once the project is completed, Rothrock will engage her students in a discussion on using natural dyes such as beet juice, cochineal, turmeric and clutch.
Both of her latest class sustainability projects include incorporation of natural materials, connection with the environment and action by making an object.
“I am hopeful these small moments will have some influence,” said Rothrock.
Interested in participating in one of the sustainability in the curriculum workshops? Visit the sustainability website or email Mike Lizotte ([email protected]), university sustainability officer at [email protected].