The last third of the twentieth century witnessed a shift in Earth-human relations. The human species now threatens Earth’s capacity to sustain life as we know it. At this pivotal moment in history all fields of human inquiry are called upon to collaborate in what the eminent cultural historian Father Thomas Berry of Fordham University called the Great Work of our era: to transition from a period of human devastation of the Earth to a period of sustainable Earth-human relations. The Jesuit commitment to justice adds the insistence that such ecological sustainability be marked by environmental justice for the poor and the vulnerable and care for creation. As Pope Francis reminds us in Laudato Si’, “A great cultural, spiritual and educational challenge stands before us, and it will demand that we set out on the long path of renewal.”
About the Director
An award-winning author, Dr. Henning has written or edited more than 10 books and 35 articles and chapters, including Riders in the Storm: Ethics in an Age of Climate Change (Anselm 2015) and Climate Change Ethics and the Non-human World (Routledge 2020).
He has delivered more than 150 talks to general and academic audiences in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Professor Henning can be reached at henning@gonzaga.edu. For more on his work, visit https://connect.gonzaga.edu/henning.
The Center reflects Gonzaga’s regional leadership in
- educating students to live and lead in an era of climate disruption,
- preparing faculty (both university faculty and K-12 educators) to thoughtfully incorporate climate and sustainability pedagogy and curricula, and
- assisting municipal, religious, tribal, community, and corporate entities to understand and respond to the challenges of climate change.
