Biographical Information

C. A. (Chet) Bowers holds a Ph. D. from the University of California in educational studies (with an emphasis on education and social thought), has taught at the University of Oregon and Portland State University, and was granted emeritus status in 1998. Currently Courtesy Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Oregon.

Teaching Career: University of Saskatchewan (1962-1967), University of Oregon (1967-1992), Portland State University (1993-1998), Granted emeritus status in 1998, University of Oregon (1998-2005) adjunct professor of environmental studies.

Teaching Appointments at Other Universities: University of California, York University, Taiwan Center for European and American Studies, Northern Arizona University, University of British Columbia, the Chinese University of Hong Kong

Books and Chapters in Edited Collections by Other Authors: Written 15 chapters that have been published in edited books in the fields of education, history, and linguistics. The list of books I have authored include: The Progressive Educator and the Depression: The Radical Years (1969), Cultural Literacy for Freedom (1974), The Promise of Theory: Education and the Politics of Cultural Change (1984), Elements of a Post-Liberal Theory of Education (1987), The Cultural Dimensions of Educational Computing: Understanding the Non-Neutrality of Technology (1988); (with David Flinders) Responsive Teaching: An Ecological Approach to Classroom Patterns of Language, Culture, and Thought (1990); Education, Cultural Myths, and the Ecological Crisis:Toward Deep Changes (1993); Critical Essays on Education, Modernity, and the Recovery of the Ecological Imperative (1993); Educating for an Ecologically Sustainable Culture: Rethinking Moral Education, Creativity, Intelligence,and Other Modern Orthodoxies (1995); The Culture of Denial: Why the Environmental Movement Needs a Strategy for Reforming Universities and Public Schools (1997); Let Them Eat Data: How Computers Affect Education, Cultural Diversity, and the Prospects of Ecological Sustainability (2000); Educating for Eco-Justice and Community (2001). Detras de la Apariencia: Hacia la descolonizacion de al educacion (2002). Mindful Conservatism: Rethinking the Ideological and Educational Basis of an Ecologically Sustainable Future (2003), Rethinking Freire: Globalization and the Environmental Crisis (co-edited with Frederique Apffel-Marglin) 2005; The False Promises of Constructivist Theories of Learning: A Global and Ecological Critique (2005); Revitalizing the Commons: Cultural and Educational Sites of Resistance and Affirmation (2006); Perspectives on the Ideas of Gregory Bateson, Ecological Intelligence, and Educational Reforms (2011); University Reforms in an Era of Global Warming (2011) Educational Reforms for the 21st Century (2011); The Way Forward: Educational Reforms that Focus on the Cultural Commons and the Linguistic Roots of the Ecological/Cultural Crises (2012); In the Grip of the Past: Educational Reforms that Address What Needs to be Conserved and what Needs to be Changed (2013); The False Promises of the Digital Revolution (2014); An Ecological and Cultural Critique of the Common Core Curriculum (2014); Digital Detachment: How Computer Culture Undermines Democracy (2016); A Historical Detour that May be Fatal: What We Can Learn from the Ludite's Community-Centered Approach to Technology (2016), Reforming Higher Education in an Era of Ecological Crisis and Digital Insecurity (2016); Educational Reforms that Address the Ideological, Cultural, and Linguistic Roots of the Ecological Crisis (in press).

Journal Publications: Over 103 articles have appeared in education journals, as well as in such journals as The Dalhousie Review, Manas, Main Currents in Modern Thought, The Trumpeter, Environmental Ethics, The Humanities, American Indian Quarterly, Capitalism Nature Socialism, Journal of Political Ecology, Language and Ecology, Tikkun, International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development,Workplace, Studies in the Sociology of Science

Invited to speak at 42 universities in the United States, including Harvard and Stanford Universities. The invitation to speak at 41 universities in other parts of the world included the University of Trondheim, University of Zagreb, University of Queensland, University of Cape Town, Rhodes University, York University, University of Toronto, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Trinity College (Dublin), Universidad Catolica Boliviana San Pablo, Swiss Foundation for Environmental Education, Seoul National University, and National Chung Hising University (Taiwan). Recently invited to lecture in 5 German cities. Also asked by Vice-President Al Gore to be the featured speaker at a dinner/seminar (held at the Gore residence) on the influence of metaphorical thinking on environmental and technology policies.

One of 6 Western scholars, along with the former Chinese Minister of Culture, invited to speak at the International Congress on Culture and Humanity in the New Millennium, sponsored by the government of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Gave the John Dewey Memorial Lecture in 1982, and in 1991 was voted the most outstanding environmental faculty at the University of Oregon.

Foreign Language Translations: Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish.

Notable Radio Interviews: Let Them Eat Data, was the basis of a half hour interview with Moira Gunn broadcast on National Public Radio.

Foundation Support: Received three grants from the Foundation for Deep Ecology, and was a regular participant in the mini-conferences of deep ecology thinkers sponsored by the foundation that met twice a year over a period of five years. Participants included Vandana Shiva, Helena Norberg-Hodge, Charlene Spretnak, Jerry Mander, Arne Naess, George Sessions, Wes Jackson, among others.

Foreign Language Translations: Let Them Eat Data: How Computers Affect Education, Cultural Diversity and the Prospects of Ecological Sustainability (2000) Japanese and Chinese
Behind the Appearance: Towards a Decolonizing Education (2002) Spanish

Courses taught in the Following Departments at the University of Oregon: Educational Studies, Humanities, Environmental Studies, Honors College

Courses taught since retirement, and as an adjunct Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Oregon:
Environmental Ethics in Cultural Perspective (Honors College)
Revitalizing the Commons in an Era of Globalization (Environmental Studies)
Cultural Issues in Environmental Education (Environmental Studies)
Ideologies, Eco-Justice, Globalization (Environmental Studies)
Language, Sustainable Communities, Global Warming (Honors College)
Curriculum Reform in an Era of Global Warming (College of Education)
Gregory Bateson, Ecological Intelligence, and Educational Reform (Environmental Studies)

Address: 24379 Portola Avenue, Carmel, CA 93923 chetbowers@earthlink.net

Last updated on January 21, 2017

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