Dept. of English held the Environmental Ethics and Ecological Discourse Forum on Oct. 23 and 24, inviting Dr. Holmes Rolston III, Distinguished Professor at Colorado State University, to deliver speeches to graduate students. Dr. Rolston is widely recognized as the father of environmental ethics as a modern academic discipline. In the speech, he not only talked about the global environmental crisis resulted from capitalism, consumerism, and population explosion, but also shared his ideas and process of studying environmental ethics. “Environmental ethics is the main research field that our graduate program focuses on, so I am pleased that Dr. Rolston can come to share his experience with us,” said Huang I-min, Chair of Dept. of English.

Dr. Rolston is a world-renowned scholar of environmental ethics, best known for his contribution to the combination of ecology and ethics. He has esteemed status in both academic and religious fields, and won the 2003 Tem-pleton Prize in Buckingham Palace, which symbolized the highest achievement in religious field.

Dr. Rolston came to Taiwan in 2004 for the first time to present speeches and do the field study. During that time, he was fascinated by the beauty of Taiwan. After four years, Dr. Rolston visited Taiwan again. This time, he went to Wulia, Kenting, and Tamsui to experience the Nature of Taiwan. “There are diversified ecological beauty in Taiwan,” Dr. Rolston said. Chiu Wen-hsin, 2nd year student of Master Program, Dept. of English, indicated that the speech made her realized that each individual is one part of ecological system. “Human beings should not only see the past but also the future. Everyone needs to protect the environment in person,” said Chiu. ( ~Shu-chun Yen )