A fragile education for a good world: ‘Kenosis’ and self-giving in teaching for sustainability and change

In this book chapter, I argue for an ‘ecology’ of being and belonging at the heart of sustainability goals in a university education. What kind of person do we think we make it possible for students to pursue and become in the course of their study at university? And who is that person for whom goodness can be both a virtue and a practical aim in their scholarly endeavour? These questions require from our students accounts of who they are and of the moral responsibility they bear for fraught human relationships with the natural world. To answer these questions, I use a case study in which students explore food ethics and the theological and practical implications of ‘being in relation to’ as the moral ground for contemporary commitments to care for the environment. I conclude that a character and the development of the human person are embedded aims in the subjects we teach in the Humanities. An ecology and sustainability agenda is therefore a particular kind of good students can expect from their university education.