Associate Environmental Studies and Sciences Professor Nurcan Atalan-Helicke has taught at ϳԹ since 2011. Before coming to ϳԹ, her work was rooted at the crossroads of government and environmental education, whether volunteering as an environmental education teacher for 8- to 9-year-olds, working with a consortium of local governments on cultural preservation, or working for a variety of project-based nonprofits. The interdisciplinary and intersectional roots of Professor Atalan-Helicke’s professional background are directly reflected in her approach to teaching and mentoring. She aims to create a culture of empowerment for her students, in the hope that this type of mentorship can create interdisciplinary and lasting social change that begins to address the deeper human complexities of environmental issues.
In her Project Pericles course, ES 224: Political Ecology, personal and community empowerment were applied in addressing environmental degradation, with a focus on civic engagement and advocating the government for environmental and community needs. Informing this process were conversations Professor Atalan-Helicke had with other faculty members - facilitated by ϳԹ’s Civic Engagement Director Eric Morser and the Center for Leadership, Teaching, and Learning - on how to infuse civic engagement into coursework. She worked closely with Sustainable Saratoga to develop a service-based project for students enrolled in ES 224.
Atalan-Helicke plans to continue focusing on academic civic engagement and is eager to share her experiences and lessons learned with fellow faculty. She also hopes there are continuing “conversations on campus among faculty about implementing ACE (civic engagement-centered) and Bridge Experience courses.”
– Michael DeCarlen-Bumiller ’23