story by Justin Klughillustrations by Nicholas Massarelli Furniture built from mushroom spores? Zero-energy houses? Dreamers and doers at our region’s colleges and universities are committing to a sustainable future where clean air and water, sensible energy use and social entrepreneurship are the norm. Here are six of the many products and services we saw that
MoreSophomore Slump by Rob Fleming You might assume that colleges and universities would serve as the vanguard for sustainability. Some of the most intelligent and progressive people in the world can be found in their hallowed halls. And yet, if we were to examine the transcript of grades for higher education we will find—at best—a
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Illustration by Laura Weiszer School’s Out by Jerry Silberman Question: What college program can best prepare me for a career in mitigating and adapting to climate change? The Right Question: Is going to college the best choice? Education, especially college and postgraduate education, is extremely expensive. And yet, the proportion of young people enrolling in
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Illustration by Corey Brickley Learning to Forget interview by Heather Shayne Blakeslee It’s unlikely that any particular college degree would prepare you to become a “futurologist.” But that’s exactly what polymath Jack Uldrich calls himself. His breathless recitations of game-changing inventions and ideas that entrepreneurs and environmentalists should be on the lookout for run the
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Illustration by Nicholas Massarelli Swarthmore students helped spark a national movement toward fossil fuel divestment. But their own school has yet to take action. by Steve Neumann When freshman Kate Aronoff arrived in 2010 on the small, idyllic campus of Swarthmore College, a “Little Ivy” tucked away in the suburbs of Philadelphia, she was already
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Illustration by Donte Neal History Lessons essay by Donte Neal I never saw myself in the history of the United States of America during my K–12 education. It made me feel invisible. We had Black History Month, but the learning points were either solicitously innocuous, patronizing or about slavery. The Pledge of Allegiance got harder
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Dear Diary by Anna Herman Handcrafting a book to jot down favorite quotes or sketch your garden plans is an hour or two of work well spent. With a bit of planning and practice, you can transform scraps and hand-me-downs into practical or fantastical journals, albums or printed books. These make great presents and gifts,
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Photo by Julien Roubinet Bound by Matt Bevilacqua Behind a set of red double-doors on South Philly’s quiet Alter Street, Bridget Morris is hard at work. Her bookbinding company, Bella Forte, typically handles between three and 10 orders at a time, all of them handmade by Morris, her husband, Paul King, and two other employees.
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Photo by Margo Reed Anarchist Book Nook by Emily Kovach You might not expect to find a radical bookstore among the pawn shops and window displays of sneakers and jewelry on South Street. But at 704 South, there it is: the storefront for Wooden Shoe Books and Records, an all-volunteer collective that’s been a mainstay
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Photo by Margo Reed Kooky and Calm by Emily Kovach Ann Tetreault has always been a book lover. Her parents—both teachers—would frequently stop to peruse bookshops with their children, and Tetreault became a book collector at a young age. She studied literature in college and got her master’s degree in folk studies, going on to
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