A sustainable side to a Theatre degree

Of the potential combinations that come to mind when you think of Dal’s Environment, Sustainability and Society program as a second major, pairing it with Theatre might not top your list.

But it seemed a perfect fit for new graduate Laura MacFayden.

"It was another passion of mine that I wanted to explore," she says of Dal’s sustainabiltiy program, which graduated its first class this spring. "I also saw an advantage in diversifying my degree.”

She says it was the extracurricular opportunities she discovered through the degree that really enhanced her university experience and offered some life-changing experiences.

She had one such experience with a program called Mindshift. "Mindshift is essentially a high school program for students who perform a script about everyday sustainable choices to their peers,” she explains.

The program is run by the HRM Adventure Earth Centre, and caught her eye when the College of Sustainability co-hosted one of its performances.“I’ve been working and volunteering for the Adventure Earth Centre ever since and have met some amazing people."

As for the combination of the ESS program with Theatre, she says she always knew that the two made sense together.

"In reality, both programs have a lot of similarities," she adds. "They both have themes revolving around society, and I’ve often found myself beginning a comment about social themes in my theatre classes with, ‘As a sustainability student’...  I’ve always been a believer in the power of theatre as a tool for teaching and for inspiring change in society, and it’s one that I have been able to see first-hand in the projects that I’ve been a part of."

Building a proactive generation

By preparing a new generation of students to come out swinging at pollution, apathy and wastefulness, Ms. MacFayden thinks that the ESS program can help build towards a larger awareness societal understanding about sustainability and our relationship with the environment. She believes that education at the university level is necessary to foster a more open-minded and proactive generation.

"The interdisciplinary degree fosters a space to share opinions and ideas, and to grow them as a collective," she says. "It produces a diverse group of graduates, whose like-minded goals can ultimately be planted throughout many different industries, countries, and landscapes.

“If you are prepared to think critically, and be open to new ideas and ways of thinking, this program will suit you well."