You’re reading a story from Sidelines 100, a project showcasing a century of student storytelling at Middle Tennessee State University. Sidelines 100 plans to highlight 100 stories from the newspaper archives this fall and spring.

This story originally ran in the Aug. 28, 2002, edition of Sidelines. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay on top of all things Sidelines 100.

The story has been updated for current basic AP style, but the wording in the story has not changed. Any ideas, perspectives or opinions do not necessarily reflect those of Sidelines.

The fall 2002 Honors Lecture Series kicked off Monday afternoon with a speech on “Environments and Spaces” by philosophy professors Robert Hood.

“Environments and Spaces” marked the first speech in the fall series called “Our Shrinking Planet.” Hood has taught at MTSU for five years and is currently teaching a Bio Ethics course for the philosophy department. He is also busy with a fellowship at St. Thomas Hospital.

Hood spoke about many different aspects of environments, but the subject that seemed to spark the most interest from the crowd was environmental ethics. Hood outlined the reason behind environmental apathy.

“Most of us don’t even think about it,” he said. “Because we don’t think about it, it’s easy for us not to be preoccupied with the emissions coming out of the coal fire power plant over there. It’s very much far away for us.”

he continued with facts about air quality and mentioned the three general terms he defined an environment with: sustainability, degradation and resilience.

Many of the students perked up to hear Hood make reference to the typical college student’s environment – the dorm room.

“If your roommate or your mom came along and cleaned up your dorm room, it would then return to the way it was originally,” Hood said.

Throughout his lecture, Hood maintained that he wasn’t trying to solve a problem. He just wanted to pique interest and develop understanding.

“This is not a suggestion on how to fix this,” Hood said.

“I’m trying to get them to understand how to conceptualize social and natural environments in one rubric of sustainability, degradation and resilience.”

The course is taken by honors students for one credit hour but is open to the public as well.

The lecture series strives to develop an awareness of the scholarly and creative activity of others while cultivating intellectual curiosity within the student. The series also tries to keep students informed of current developments in a variety of disciplines outside the student’s major.

The lectures will be held every Monday from 3-3:50 p.m. in Peck Hall, Room 109A. For more information, contact the Honors College at 898-2152.

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