Chae 15 Complexity of Campus Sustainability Discourse Tamara Saelea and Jae Park Abtract From the outset, the authors note a general lack of a more updated and deep theoretical en gagement on the discourses of ecologism and sustainability in universities, and contrast this de iciency with sustainability-related practices. While explaining the interconnected nature of eco logism and sustainability, the authors describe the rise of ecological citizenship and he ex pected role of universities. Although ecological discourses are comparable across counries and universities, the practical implications of sustainability on campuses vary in degrees of com plexity, namely linear, complicated, and complex. To support their arguments with practical understanding, the authors typiy the challenges i n sustainability practices at the Duke Universi ty nd the University of Hong Kong by using their earlier works. The findings show similarities . in sustainability discourses across campuses characterized by a "double dichotomy" phenome· non in sllstainability eforts. The authors propose a metaphor of "ensoulment" to suggest cam pus-based practices in favor of education for sstainability rather than the dominant reening and public relation eforts. Inodcion . The rapid growth of ecology-related eforts in higher education (HE) reveals the absence of well-ticulated theoretical structures to support campus sustajnabiJiy discourse. The theoretical reflections on the history and intellectual content, pertinent to the topic of sustainability and i ts relation to a broader notion of ecologisi, are sporadic and discormected. In numerous analytical studies, the key objectives of campus sustainability discourse - analysis, management, and dis semination - have not been pursued as theoretically advanced. As a result, sustamability re mains an intellectually non-rigorous field within broader hmnanistic domains. The lack of theo retical engagement resricts researchers rom fully understanding the complex situation of eco discourses on campuses. How does sustainability discourse fit in within srucrures and processes of E? he case in point is the Westen discourses 1 of ecologism and sustainabiliy, which have the most visible applications on university campuses, compared o other ecological move ments' Although. the origin of concen for nature in the West could be traced back to the Middle Ages in the works of St. Francis (Sessions 1987), the rise of moden eco-discourses reaches the Age of Ecology with Carson's Silen Sing (1962) and Meadows's Limits of Growth (1972), which, in m, followed earlier works on "ecological perspective" by Law rence and Huxley among other writers, and on "ecological conscience" by Leopold (Sessions, I 2 • The present work follows Gee et al. (1996) to define discourse as "a way of talking, listening, reading, writing, acting, interacting, believing, valuing, and using tools and objects, in particular settings and at speciic times to display or to recognize a particular identity." Dryzek (2005) proposes four basic ecological discourses: environmental problem solving. survivalism, sllstainability, and green radicalism. Savelyeva, T. & Park. J. (2012). Ecologism and Complexity of Campus Sustainability Discourse. In W. Leal (Ed.), pp 183- 192 Environmental Education, Communication, and Sustainability, Vol 34 Sustainable development at universities: New horizons. Frankfurt: Peter Lang. ISBN 13: 9783631573754