Zoe Weil Receives Honorary Doctorate from Valparaiso University
IHE Founder Recognized for Commitment to Humane Education
Zoe Weil, president and co-founder of the Institute for Humane Education (IHE) based in Surry, Maine, will be awarded an honorary doctorate by Valparaiso University on May 16 for her commitment to creating a better world through humane education. IHE has trained and supported educators and advocates worldwide for the past 19 years to incorporate real-world sustainability and social justice issues into classrooms and communities.
As part of a three-day visit to the university, Weil will address Valpo graduates at a commencement awards banquet and gather with current humane education students and alumni. She will also lead a MOGO (Most Good Least Harm) hands-on workshop on May 15 at 3:30 p.m. for faculty. The workshop is open to the public, but seats are limited. Spaces may be reserved at the workshop by emailing Megan.Mankerian@valpo.edu.
“It is an honor to be recognized by Valparaiso University,” Weil said. “I look forward to strengthening our partnership and growing the humane education program in a way that provides many more graduate students the opportunity to see the challenges of our time through a solutionary lens and gain the skills necessary to create a more humane and compassionate world.”
IHE has partnered with Valparaiso University since 2011 to offer fully online graduate programs leading to master of education, master of arts, and graduate certification in humane education. Humane education is a unified course of study that explores the connections between human rights, environmental preservation, and animal protection, providing learners with the knowledge, tools and motivation to become conscientious and engaged citizens for a healthy, just, and humane world.
“We look forward to welcoming Zoe Weil and IHE faculty and staff to campus,” said Jennifer A. Ziegler, Ph.D., dean of the Graduate School and Continuing Education.
Lauding the quality of the online humane education program, Ziegler noted that all of the courses have been certified to meet best practices in online education. “The commitment by IHE faculty to delivering a cutting edge online program with a distinctive focus continues to inform our vision for the best possible student and faculty experience in an online Valpo education,” she said.
Weil is a six-time author, frequent TEDx speaker and event keynoter. She is currently spearheading the development of a K-12 Solutionary School, along with a free and shareable curriculum. The school is planning to open in 2018 in New York City, and it will serve as a model for global replication within any school type — public, charter or independent.
Based on the tenets Weil gives in her TEDx “The World Becomes What You Teach,” the 21st century offers our children unprecedented opportunities and challenges confronting their daily lives. Through education, children hold the potential to become problem solvers with exposure to a model education that interconnects core academics with global issues to create a sustainable future for all humans, animals, and the environment.
