Biocitizen

Biocitizen was incorporated in 2009 to provide educational services within the field of environmental philosophy. Biocitizen has sister schools in Los Angeles, California; Westhampton, Massachusetts; Viña del Mar, Chile; and New York City, New York. Our goal is to share our Field Environmental Philosophy programs with as many people as possible. Biocitizen teaches students about the place they live in, for when they know what their place is, they take care of it. Places are nested in biomes, and we bring students into the field so they discover the ecological systems and processes that comprise them. Places are not only biomes, however. They are stories we live in. While students are learning ecology, they also learn the cultural history of their biomes. By integrating these two perspectives—ecological and cultural—our students A) realize that their place is a superorganism (a biome) whose living systems sustain, and are, them. At the same time, they B) learn how cultural narratives determine our relationship with our biome and, even more importantly, how “constructed” those narratives are. After a few sessions with our teachers, they know what their place is, and why it’s in its present condition. They know their place didn’t just appear— it’s created partly by biophysical forces (ecology) and partly by us (culture). When embodied, this knowledge produces our namesake, the biocitizen: a person who knows they are more than just a citizen of a nation; they’re a citizen of their biome—the place that is who they are. Knowing this is empowering and encouraging. With this power and courage, biocitizens take care of their place.