UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State Sustainability (SustainPSU) is kicking off its spring 2025 programming with the latest film in its Intersections film program, "An Injury to One," which uses the 1917 murder of a labor activist in Butte, Mont. to highlight the intersection of labor rights and environmental degradation. The film screens online on Wednesday, Jan. 22, at 7 p.m. (EST) and will be followed by a panel discussion led by Penn State’s Center for Global Workers’ Rights (CGWR) and Labor School. 

“It is my hope that attendees walk away from our films, panel discussions and speakers empowered with connections to new opportunities to learn more and get involved at Penn State, and feeling reconnected to their values,” said Jake Hohner, a third-year biochemistry and molecular biology major and public programming intern at SustainPSU. 

"An Injury to One" is a highly experimental film in format that interweaves the story of the murder of labor activist Frank Little, who had been trying to unionize Butte’s copper mines in 1917, with an examination of environmental contamination at abandoned copper mines in the 21st century. The story highlights the long history of attempted suppression of workers’ rights and how much protecting those rights can also help protect the health and safety of broader communities.  

Following the film, experts from the CGWR and Labor School will help put the story into a more global framework and point to ways students can learn more and get involved with workers’ rights issues. 

The online film screening and panel are free and open to all. Pre-registration is required at this link. 

SustainPSU hosts several events each spring, including its ongoing monthly Intersections film program, annual Colloquium on the Environment, Sustainability Showcase Series, and annual Student Sustainability Summit. The theme for SustainPSU’s 2024-25 programming is “Mind Over Matter,” highlighting the importance of mindfully reconnecting to our values as individuals and communities in order to be more resilient and empowered to take action.   

Other scheduled SustainPSU events this spring include: 

• Wednesday, Feb. 5, 4:30 p.m., online and in person at 118 Katz Building – Colloquium on the Environment featuring renowned sociologist Eric Klinenberg discussing lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic about the power of social connectivity to improve health outcomes and decrease political polarization. 

• Wednesday, Feb. 12, 7 p.m., online – Intersections Film Series: "Fire Through Dry Grass," a film about a group of disabled African American poets trying to survive the COVID-19 pandemic amid New York City’s mismanagement of its nursing homes. 

• Wednesday, March 5, 7 p.m., online – Intersections Film Series: "Resistance Climbing," a film about a small group of novice Palestinian rock climbers struggling against disenfranchisement to access climbing grounds and emphasizing the need to ensure equal access to the outdoors for all groups. 

• Wednesday, April 2, 8 p.m., in-person outdoors at the Arboretum at Penn State – Intersections Film Series: "Between Earth & Sky," a film about Nalini Nadkarni, a renowned ecologist known as the “Queen of the Rainforest Canopy,” and her personal resilience inspired by trees to recover from a life-threatening fall. 

• Wednesday, April 23, all day, various in-person locations and online – 3rd Annual Student Sustainability Summit: a collaboration across departments, student organizations and community groups to highlight sustainability successes at Penn State and build momentum for the future. In addition to activities, discussions, workshops and more, the day will feature a screening of "Desert PHOSfate" and a talk by the film's director/subject, Mohamed Sleiman Labat, about his work with refugee camps in Algeria of people displaced by phosphate mining and how he builds community through small-scale agriculture and art. 

All events are free and open to students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members. With the exception of the in-person Arboretum screening and select Sustainability Summit events, events are online and accessible to all campuses and communities. Pre-registration for films is required and can be completed at the Intersections website.  

All events help to illustrate various United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are 17 goals agreed to by more than 190 nations in 2015 to try to create a sustainable future for all by 2030. The goals confront issues of social and economic justice in addition to environmental protection and form the basis of how Penn State defines its approach to sustainability. 

Each year Penn State Sustainability reaches more than 6,000 Penn Staters and community members alike through its programming, exposing them to engaging and complex ideas and helping connect them to more opportunities to advance in their personal sustainability journeys. 

Spring 2025 SustainPSU programming is co-sponsored by the Arboretum at Penn State, Center for Global Workers’ Rights (CGWR), College of Arts & Architecture, College of the Liberal Arts Sustainability Council, Institute of Energy and the Environment (IEE), Labor School, WPSU, University Park Allocation Committee (UPAC), University Park Student Fee Board and University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA). "Fire Through Dry Grass" and "Between Earth & Sky" are screened in collaboration with POV, PBS’ award-winning nonfiction film series.

For more information about SustainPSU programming or if interested in co-sponsoring future events, contact Grant Rowe at ger5277@psu.edu.