Stony Brook Southampton

An idea whose time has come.

The most important issue on Earth today is the issue of sustainability. And awesome as it may sound, we're all responsible for life on Earth. Can Stony Brook Southampton really hope to change the world? Like so many hopes, it begins with the very smallest considerations.

We all love to take a look. Through a telescope or into a microscope, humans love to peer. But here's a way to peer at sustainability with your own naked eye. For instance:

	A Kernel of Corn. We all recognize a corn kernel. There are about 800 of them on every ear. Slathered with butter, a little salt, a little pepper, corn is summertime's great treat. However, corn is much, much more than a treat. This hardy grass (yes, corn is a grass) was cultivated by American Indians, who introduced it to the settlers, who then brought it back to Europe. It thrived and spread and became a lifesaving crop that today feeds millions who would otherwise starve. So that makes corn a blessing, pure and simple? Not so fast. The power of chemistry has transformed this nutritious foodstuff into something very different: High-fructose corn syrup. Also corn fructose. Also corn dextrose. These are all sweeteners, very difficult to escape. It is how our old friend corn now shows its face in soft drinks, breads, desserts, ice cream, all manner of cookies, crackers, almost any snack food, and may be the single greatest contributor to obesity in America. Corn is also a prime ingredient in the production of ethanol. Actually, corn may be ill suited for this role. Why? Because it takes so much energy to turn it into ethanol. In addition, a new genetically altered corn has been developed and is being farmed worldwide, without sufficient testing of its effect on humans. It may be that biologically engineered crops could be lifesaving but we simply don’t yet know.
	A Tiny Fish. Or even something tinier than a tiny fish: Krill! These barely visible little shrimp-like crustaceans are the daily diet for the biggest animals on earth…whales. And from krill right on up the food chain, bigger fish dine on smaller fish. Each one concentrating the poisonous runoff of pesticides, mercury, and other heavy metals we dump into our waterways every day. That, plus the excess hormones we stuff into our cattle, swine, and poultry, to increase profits, at any cost. At Stony Brook Southampton our up-and-running Marine Sciences Research Center is already turning out tomorrow's oceanographers, training to show us the way back to cleaner oceans and sensible harvesting of the renewable bounty of the seas. And that’s characteristic of Stony Brook Southampton.
	Our Classic Windmill. At Stony Brook Southampton, one thing above all must be renewable: Energy! And this century-old windmill on our property reminds us that the dependable Atlantic winds of yesteryear are still a-blowin'. Stony Brook Southampton will harness some of that energy with our own wind turbines, even as we employ every other ecologically sound attempt to create an energy-efficient and sustainable campus. While we're at it, let's look at another kind of renewable power.
	Student Power. The kind of students we attract will be just the kind of students we want. Enthusiastic young people, filled with a Peace Corps attitude, who, in addition to their academic studies, are willing to landscape the campus and plant a garden to provide a kitchen with organic fruits and vegetables. That's why campus life will be so interconnected. Carpooling and communal TV viewing will be the norm. The sense of common purpose, community, and the desire to produce meaningful change will inform the student body. Students will be immersed in a curriculum that is not parsed out in disciplines but rather organized around problems related to sustainable development, natural resource management, and planning. Career skills—team building, communications, negotiation, project management, ethics—will be required components of the curriculum at Southampton. The usual lines drawn between student and faculty will be extremely fine—or even erased completely. Because in a very real way, students and faculty will be partners in a search for deeper solutions to the problems our troubled world is facing.
	And Writers. The Word at Stony Brook Southampton will be spoken by the brilliant authors who live within the communities that surround our campus. Those whose works recall W.H. Auden’s great poem, "In Memory of W.B. Yeats": …Time that is intolerant, of the brave and innocent, And indifferent in a week, To a beautiful physique. Worships language and forgives Everyone by whom it lives. These real-life, fire-breathing writers will become teachers to our students and turn a few of them, at least, into the writers who will make the world a better place to read in. Irrelevant as it may seem in our culture, the world has never existed without poetry and cannot long endure without it. Throughout history words are the invention that turns each newborn into a human being. Words are the only vehicles for transforming innovative ideas into action and connect us all to the past while preparing us for our future. The power of words will be made even clearer at…
	The Writers Conference Pick a name…any name. Just look at these writers…and just imagine! You can actually work with many of them. Talking over your creative approach with them. Having them critique your writing versus that of your contemporaries. Can you imagine choosing anything better than one of these exemplars becoming your guru? It's no wonder you'll feel nervous at first. But that's only until you attend your first meeting at The Writers Conference. There you'll be, in the flesh, with the flesh-and-blood writer whose work you're crazy about. And the wonder of the Writers Conference is in a nutshell, what Stony Brook Southampton is all about: Putting you in the company of authors you've only dreamed of meeting. And it’s not just authors, either. For example: Let’s see how our glorious Emerson String Quartet sets students to thinking about great music.
	The Little Finger That Wasn’t There. The Emerson String Quartet asks you, what would a masterpiece sound like if the violinist, or pianist, or clarinetist were missing a pinkie. Well, wouldn't that stop you in your tracks? Make you think differently about any piece of music? Then make you think even harder about what it takes to make great music? It's all part of being at Stony Brook Southampton: Immersing yourself in music and all the lively arts by linking you day-by-day with seemingly ordinary people, except that they produce such extraordinary sounds and stories and sights. Speaking of sights…
	What About the Visual Arts? Dance, theatre, film, photography, and design will all be an essential part of the Stony Brook Southampton curriculum. But in every case, we will present these courses in a fresh and provocative way. These days, art is more about ideas than the way it's executed. More about philosophy than techniques. Lucky for us, we have an extraordinary pool of talented visual artists, writers, and musicians within a short radius of the school. These geniuses are a resource for us to bring fresh and provocative views of contemporary artists to inform our student body. Courses such as Environmental Art—which explores art inspired by nature or art placed in natural environments—and Nature Photography will be integral components of the curriculum and instill teamwork, and critical and creative thinking across the disciplines.
	‘Sustainability’ is the future—and we intend to lead the way. Stony Brook Southampton is breaking ground in higher education and you can be part of the development of a new paradigm that is bound to become a model for others to follow. Live and study for four years on the Southampton campus—overlooking the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club and Atlantic Ocean—and immerse yourself in one of the most innovative and interdisciplinary curricula in the nation, and prepare to tackle one of the most pressing problems our society faces: sustainability. Apply now.