Watching the events unfold at Standing Rock has felt something like an out-of-body experience. I am seventeen hundred miles away, watching safely from my living room. But every picture and every story that comes out of Standing Rock hits with such impact that the great distance seems negligible.
I am a child of the Dakotas. I was born in North Dakota. I spent almost every holiday and summer in the Badlands of North Dakota, or with family in the Black Hills of South Dakota. When I was young, my family moved to the prairies of Saskatchewan, Canada, but we stayed close, just a few miles above the border. My childhood memories of the Dakotas and the Canadian prairies have blended, forming idyllic vignettes of golden sunsets, gorgeous but fierce…
During the October fall break, a group of roughly 30 students from three Yale graduate schools (FES, School of Management, and Public Health) traveled to Quito, Ecuador. The majority of these students were FES-ers, who 1) attended the UN Habitat III conference as accredited stakeholders and 2) either presented research related to urban resilience or participated in a consultancy project.
The UN Habitat III conference was a unique occurrence. It is an event that only happens every 20 years, where national and subnational governments gather to discuss urban development. In this past Habitat, the New Urban Agenda was adopted. This is a guidance document that will dictate how urbanization will occur worldwide, and encompasses many areas including but not limited to social inclusion, ending poverty, environmentally sustainable…
You may have noticed the ofrenda (altar) in Sage Lounge for El Dia de Muertos, (or El Dia de los Muertos) the Day of the Dead. EQUID students invite the FES community to share in this tradition.
During El Dia de Muertos (October 31st- November 2nd) it is said that the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead is thin. Death is honored as a part of life, and the holiday is seen as a joyous opportunity to be reunited with those who have passed on.
During our formal opening of the altar on November 2nd, staff and students brought the names and memories of loved ones into the space, verbally, tacitly, or with small items placed on the altar. One FESer…
I’m Jolisa Brooks, and I’m delighted to be assisting in the F&ES Admission’s Office. I’m a first year MESc with a research focus in environmental justice, political ecology and peace & conflict. Prior to matriculating to F&ES I was a Legislative Fellow for the US Congressional Committee on Foreign Affairs, where I worked on “Education for All Act 2016, “Women, Peace & Security 2016”, “Power Africa”, and a host of other international development policies. In the short time that I’ve been at Yale I’ve already fallen in love with F&ES and I can’t wait to encourage and assist prospective students in their application journeys.
Welcome to the 2016-2017 academic year! As we happily welcome the MODsters to New Haven we want to be sure to set the stage for conversations on Diversity, Inclusion and Equity on campus and were able to do so during the first week of MODS with the help of the Center for Whole Communities. I was lucky to join Kavitha, Delma and Samara, three amazing facilitators, at Great Mountain Forest for the first of these sessions on community inclusion and I was blow away by the insight of the FES community. Everyone’s commitment to exploring topics of diversity and inclusion left me both excited for the conversations to come and reflective of my personal impact. For those unable to attend, I would recommend exploring the resources that Maclovia Quintana (the…
As race, sexual orientation and identity continue to be addressed in our media I wanted to take the opportunity to talk a little bit about cultural competence and what we can all to do become more aware of the experiences of those around us. As the newest staff EQUID committee member I have begun gathering resources for our community, many of which are posted below or available in Sage Hall on campus. While our blog typically focuses on F&ES news and updates or issues related to the environmental field, this is an topic that applies to all people in all industries and is something that we want to make sure our community is continually thinking about.
What is Cultural Competence?
Cultural competence is understanding your own cultural identity and…
