News and Events

Phillips Exeter Academy Opens Fall 2011 Sustainability Film Series

September 27, 2011

Exeter, NH (September 27, 2011)—Phillips Exeter Academy opens its fall 2011 sustainability documentary series this season with three provocative and compelling independent films, featured monthly through December 2011.

Film topics include the unhealthy, little-known and profit-driven secrets of America's food industry; a conservationist's journey that challenges viewers to evaluate their own relationship with the land; and the exploration of the economic and ecological crises stemming from the world's dependency on cheap fossil fuels. The monthly film viewings will be held in the Academy Center's Forum on Fridays at 7 p.m. These events are free and open to the public.  

Movie Series:

October 21—Food, Inc.,—is an exposé that addresses the hidden and profit-driven secrets of America's highly mechanized food industry. Controlled by a small number of corporations that often overlook the health of consumers, the livelihood of American farmers, the safety of workers and the environment, today's American food industry produces large-breasted chickens and insecticide-resistant soybean seeds, but also has new strains of e coli, widespread childhood obesity and an epidemic of diabetes among adults.

November 4—Green fire —Considered the father of wildlife management and of the U.S. wilderness system, Aldo Leopold was a conservationist, forester, educator and outdoor enthusiast. Green fire examines Leopold's thinking about a land ethic for a 21-century population facing ecological challenges. The film follows his almost lifelong journey of observation and understanding and challenges viewers to evaluate their own relationship with the land.

December 9#THE GREAT SQUEEZE: (surviving the human project)#After 200 years of modern civilization's global growth and America's survival on inexpensive and abundant fossil fuels, humanity's demands today for these natural resources exceed the earth's capacity. The extraction and consumption of these resources have not only changed our climate and ecosystems, but also helped to create today's global economic crisis.  


For further information about the film series, call PEA Science Instructor Elizabeth Stevens at 603- 777-3134. A complete list of upcoming sustainable events can be found on the PEA Sustainability webpage and on the PEA Community Calendar. Events are also available on the Phillips Exeter Academy public events line at 603-777-4309 and on our website at http://www.exeter.edu/. For directions to Phillips Exeter Academy, call 603-777-4330.

—Famebridge Witherspoon