Due to “unbelievable challenges” coming with new U.S. presidential administration, Loraine McCosker said topics of sustainability are pertinent.
The Spring Sustainability Series will start at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at The Athena Cinema, 20 S. Court St. The screenings are free and panel discussions follow the films.
The series covers an assortment of topics related to sustainability and the environment, including energy, social justice and endangered species, McCosker, outreach coordinator in environmental studies and coordinator of the Common Experience Project on Sustainability, said.
McCosker starts her search for “new, cutting-edge” films to screen by looking at ones shown at environmental film festivals, she said. After the movies are shown at the Athena, they are available for checkout in the library.
“We also just look at a diversity of films,” McCosker said. “We don’t want it to be all the same topic (because of) the idea that sustainability is all-inclusive and has many areas.”
Alexandra Kamody, director of the Athena, said providing free admission for the sustainability series offers an opportunity for co-curricular activities for classes at Ohio University. The series is a “great way to open up our eyes to different problems” around the world and how people are working on solutions, Kamody said.
“I think the series touches on a lot of current issues that are relevant to different topics students are studying and to their daily lives,” Kamody said.
Alyssa Geraci, a junior studying political science, likes the appeal of watching movies about environmental issues.
“It can raise awareness and it provides the information in an easier way rather going online and researching it yourself,” she said.
McCosker encourages students to come to the first night of the sustainability series to learn more about the series as a whole.
“My hope is that each student will leave OU having an understanding about the environment and sustainability because the environment is where they are,” she said. “They are connected to nature, and it needs every person possible to sustain and protect it.”
