Service-Learning Explores Philosophical Path through Marcellus Shale Fields

A free, public panel, Marcellus Shale from the Perspective of Environmental Ethics, will convene as part of a service-learning project by 25 philosophy students at the University.

Under the direction of Dr. Faith Bjalobok, assistant professor of philosophy, the students worked with Marcellus Shale Outreach Butler to bring together different philosophical and faith perspectives on Marcellus Shale extraction.

The Nov. 6 presentations, held from 6 to 10 p.m. in Room 105 of College Hall, will include:

  • Dr. John F. Stolz, professor of biological sciences, Impacts of Unconventional Shale Gas Extraction
  • Dean James Swindal of the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts, The Metaphysics of the Natural World: A Catholic Perspective
  • The Duquesne students from Bjalobok’s Philosophy of Technology class, who compiled a white paper on The Development of EPA and its Philosophical Origins
  • The Rev. William C. Thwing, A Protestant Perspective on the Marcellus Shale
  • Jeffrey Cohan, executive director of Jewish Vegetarians of North America, What Does Judaism Say about Hydrofracking?
  • The Rev. Jane Ellen Nickell, chaplain at Allegheny College, A View from the East: Contributions from Islam and Religions of Asia

Samantha Laurence, Allegheny College junior, Religious Origins of Environmental Ethics.