Earth Days Week 2019
Student Poster & Art Competition

Monday, April 8, 2019, 11am - 12:20pm

The theme of this year’s Earth Days Week celebration is “Sounding the Alarm on Climate Change: Critical Actions for a Livable Planet.” Once again, as part of the celebration, the university will sponsor a poster competition that features students’ research on a wide range of environmental topics on Monday, April 8, 2019, 11am - 12:15pm. Deadline for poster registration is April 1, 2019.

The Earth Day Student Poster Competition is the only judged poster competition on campus. Any class at 200-level or higher is able to submit posters on the Earth Days Week theme.

Instructors please consider integrating the poster competition into your Spring 2019 course assignments. Issues may include (but are certainly not limited to) such topics as:

  • What are the pressures on nature?
  • What is nature today, and what factors have contributed to its current state?
  • What is the impact of climate change on nature?
  • What is the relationship among agribusiness, food production and climate change?
  • What is the impact of population growth on nature?
  • What is the impact of desertification on nature?
  • What is the impact of ocean acidification on nature?
  • What is the impact of capitalism on nature?
  • What changes have these pressures on nature caused?
  • How have deforestation, desertification, habitat loss, species loss, and/or ocean acidification worsened and what is the likely future scenario for these?
  • Climate costs: what are the financial, environmental and human costs of climate change?   What are the future costs of inaction now?
  • What are some examples of carbon footprint analyses?
  • Climate casualties:  who will be the most impacted with rising seas, more extreme weather, and ever-rising temperatures? What are some examples of case studies?
  • What is the impact of climate change and habitat loss on biodiversity?
  • Climate justice:  what are the moral and philosophical dimensions of climate change?  Will climate change bring about cooperation or conflict?
  • How does climate change affect war and conflict?
  • What is the impact of fracking on the environment and the economy? 
  • What are the public health impacts of climate change and other forms of environmental degradation?
  • What is happening at the global, national, state and local level inside and outside of government to worsen or address the pressures on nature?
  • How have Trump Administration appointments and executive actions impacted climate change and environmental issues in general?
  • What actions has the 115th Congress taken on environmental issues, and what is the impact on the natural world?
  • What does social science research say about why misinformation and disinformation is believed so readily and persistently?
  • How have attitudes toward nature changed over time?
  • What is the impact of the “post-truth era” on environmental policy?
  • What are the implications of the executive and legislative branch actions on fossil fuels for sea level rise?
  • What was the role of the fossil fuel industries and other anti-environment interest groups in Election 2016 and subsequent legislative activity?
  • What happened on state level environmental ballot measures in Election 2016?
  • How are states responding to federal actions on the environment?
  • What’s next for cities and towns in their efforts to promote energy efficiency and fight climate change?
  • What are the potential economics of carbon taxes on consumer goods and services?
  • What are methods of carbon sequestration?
  • What role can green chemistry and industrial ecology play in reducing carbon pollution and other pollutants?
  • What are the economic and environmental impacts of recycling and conservation?
  • How does climate change affect the oceans and marine fisheries?
  • What are the ethical and moral dimensions of climate change?  or sea level rise?
  • In what ways are the executive and legislative branches seeking to weaken the Endangered Species Act? Marine Mammal Protection Act? Clean Air Act? Clean Water Act?
  • Can economic exploitation and environmental stewardship be reconciled?
  • What is the role of forests in international climate change treaties?
  • How should climate change be presented to skeptics? How should skepticism about climate change be handled?
  • How can capitalism be leveraged to address climate change? Can capitalism be reconciled with climate change?
  • What is the public response to the new attacks on the environment and environmental policies?

We can easily imagine relevant environmental topics emerging from any major discipline at the university.

Posters are not required to follow this year’s theme as long as the topic of the poster relates to the environment and/or environmental protection.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED in (1) having your students submit posters for the competition, AND/OR (2) acting as a poster judge, please contact poster event coordinator Dr. Severin Kitanov as soon as possible for information about the competition itself.

Please observe the following poster submission rules:

  • Posters must be primarily the work of students and not faculty; please no faculty co-authors
  • Posters must be tied to a class, or to a professor if someone does one as a directed study
  • Poster size is limited to the size of 3’ x 4’ and must be mounted on free-standing, tri-fold poster board; NOTE that undersized posters will not receive a score from the judges - with no exceptions; oversized posters are also not allowed, since there is NO wall space for posters to be mounted during the competition

  • Students may not re-enter posters that have been used in previous Earth Day poster competitions, unless there has been significant or substantial addition or revision

During the celebration posters will be on display in Veterans Hall, Ellison Campus Center, on Monday, April 8, from 11:00 am until 12:20 pm, for students, faculty, staff and members of the local community to review. Students who design a poster must stand by their poster during this time period for judging. Winning posters will be on display during the Earth Day Awards Ceremony on April 11, 2019.

 

Juried Earth Day Art Competition and Exhibit

A purely visual response to the Earth Day event

We would like to invite the entire Salem State community to participate in this celebration by submitting a visual response to an environmental issue for the art exhibition and competition. Any two-dimensional media is eligible, including drawing, painting, collage, photography, printmaking and graphic design. The theme for this year’s Earth Days program is “Sounding the Alarm on Climate Change: Critical Actions for a Livable Planet.”

Art department and science department faculty will jury submitted artwork. Awards in prize money will be awarded to art that responds to this year’s theme will be announced at an evening ceremony on April 11. Artwork submitted should be professionally presented with a brief statement of intent & registration form.

Registration forms can be picked up from Donna Folino in the Art + Design department office in Meier Hall, Room #309. Deadline for the submission of artworks is Friday, APRIL 5, 2019. Contact Ken Reker in the art department for submission guidelines and inquiries.
This year’s EARTH DAY event will include an indoor and outdoor exhibition of environmentally related student and faculty artwork. An installation entitled SHADOWS OF NATURE, created by Ken Rekers’ FORM & DESIGN classes, will be exhibited in the outdoor commons area in front of the library from Monday, April 9 through Monday, April 23. Selected two-dimensional works will be displayed during the Earth Day Program and exhibited throughout Meier Hall for Earth Days Week.

See photos of last year's winning art entries!

Questions about Earth Days 2019 should be directed to the Earth Day Planning Committee, co-chaired by Tara Gallagher, Sustainability Coordinator, and Dr. Andrea Zeren, Psychology. Please contact Tara Gallagher for further info about Earth Days at SSU.

 
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