jeanne.hamming
english.dept.
centenary.college
jhamming@centenary.edu
313.JAC
318.869.5082
v.card

enst 302: environment and society
Spring 2008|M 2-5
office.hours: TR 11-2|M 1-2
(and by appointment)

schedule (click here to view)

course.description

This course is the capstone for the Environment and Society minor and is intended to survey pressing environmental issues from multiple disciplinary perspectives. This course is meant as an antidote to what Giovanna Di Chiro observes are traditional environmental studies courses that reinforce dualisms between nature and culture:

Although by the late 1960s Rachel Carson's Silent Spring had introduced a worldwide audience to the concept of "ecological interdependence," conceptualizing humans as part of rather than distinct from nature, with few exceptions much of the curriculum comprising the field of environmental studies has uncritically inherited this Western philosophical nature/culture dualism (Hazlett, Orr). Offering courses that partition the study of "nature" (geology, ecology, environmental chemistry) from critical analyses of the "social" world (policy, law, culture and values, environmental economics), many environmental studies programs leave it to the individual student to do the work of imagining the interdisciplinary connections. (Feminist Teaching 16.2)

With this in mind, we will proceed through the course material in such a way as to bring science, society, and the arts into conversation with one another. It is also the responsibility of the students, whose disciplines range widely, to lend their academic expertise to the course for the benefit of all.

course.goals

The primary goal of this course is for students to become "environmentally literate" on several topics and to understand the relationship between environment and society as multivalent and complex. Moreover, students should gain the critical apparatus and vocabulary necessary to think their way through any complicated issue related to environmentalism, dispelling myth, resisting propoganda, and seeking out viable "truths." Finally, there will be considerable emphasis on local issues so that students may become familiar with environmental challenges in their own communities.

grade.breakdown

All assignments must be completed in order to pass this course.

Reading List Response Papers (2-3 pp; 3 total; 5% each) 15%
Reading List Presentation (20 minutes + discussion) 15%
Research, Interview, and Report on local environmental group/project (5-7 pp or 10-15 min. podcast) 15%
Final Project/Paper (5-7 pp) 20%
Final Presentation (as public talk; 20 minutes + discussion) 20%
Preparation and Participation (attendance, reading, discussion, convocations, field trips, etc) 15%

reading.list

Because each student has different interests and reasons for taking the class, each will work with me to develop an independent reading list (1500 pages minimum) of relevant books, articles, etc. As you work through your reading, you will turn in short 2-3 page critical responses to your reading. Near the end of the semester you will present an overview of your reading to the class as a presentation and discussion. You may also consider using this reading list as the basis for research for your final paper/project (or you may find a research topic through your reading). Choose the subject of your reading list carefully. You don't want to be bored or overwhelmed.

Schedule for reading list response papers:
1. Feb. 11
2. March 3
3. March 31

report: local.environmental.group

Your second project will be immersive research on a local environmental organization, person, or project. For this assignment you will arrange and conduct interviews, visit the group's site, perhaps become involved as a volunteer, etc. You will report what you've learned either as a 5-7 page paper or, if you are feeling more adventurous, as a 10 minute podcasted documentary. You may team up with a classmate to produce a longer podcast (15-20 minutes). Alternatively, you may create a podcast documentary that is topically driven but with a local angle. For instance, you may want to conduct interviews with representative segments of the Shreveport population (children, college students, business persons, elderly people, etc) on their views of a relevant environmental issue. I can arrange to get you the necessary equipment to produce your podcast and can assist you in editing. KSCL is interested in airing podcasts that are well-made.

final.paper/project.and.presentation

For your final research paper/project you will select one environmental issue to research in depth. You will develop an argument based on your research which you will present in the form of a paper and a public talk (imagine giving this talk as a convocation or a public presentation to a local organization. In other words, you should become an expert on the scientific, political, and ethical dimensions of the issue, and your argument must be more than a superficial reiteration of what's already in circulation. In other words, please try to see through the propaganda, rhetoric, and hype in order to develop an intelligent, informed position.

Your topic may develop out of your reading list or may extend the work done in your report/podcast, but it doesn't have to. Examples of relevant topics include:
--global warming
--energy "crisis"
--coastal erosion
--polllution and/or environmental toxins
--depleting water resources
--environmental justice
--habitat loss
--national parks
--presidential candidates' stances on environmental issues
--EPA
--environmental activism
--deforestation
--rain forest destruction
--nuclear waste
--environmental risk theory
--species extinction
--wildlife rehabilitation
--urbanization, smart zoning
--green building
--sustainability
--green consumerism
--green economics
--electric cars
--animal rights
--vegetarianism/veganism
--organic agriculture
--and the list goes on and on

You may also to choose to do a project instead of a paper. If so, the finished product (a podcast, a video, etc) should be available for public consumption (on KSCL, ETC, youtube, etc). In other words, whether you do a paper/talk or a media-project, imagine that it will have a life out in "the world" and can be put in the service of the greater good.

field.trips

I will arrange a few field trips during the semester. When possible, I will arrange them to be during class time. If that is not possible, I will reduce class time in order to accommodate students. We can discuss this further, but here are some possibilities for your consideration:
--visit to growing station (on campus) with Jon Soul
--visit Heifer International's Heifer Ranch in Perryville, Arkansas
--canoe Big Thicket
--canoe Trinity river in Dallas (would go on a Saturday or Sunday in late Spring and end with lunch at Kalachandji's)
--visit Pratt Industries recycling facility and/or recycling tour with Shreveport Green
Note: If you cannot attend a scheduled field trip, you may work with me to arrange an alternative and equivalent activity.

attendance

Please note my Policy on Attendance: to be eligible to pass a course, a student may miss no more than three times the weekly number of class meeting, regardless of the reason for these absences. This means that for classes like this one that meets once a week, students who have in excess of 3 absences cannot pass the course. Frequent absences, even when they fall short of this absolute limit, will adversely affect your grade. Lateness to class counts as 1/3 of an absence.

texts

Hands-On Environmentalism
ECO Guide to Careers
Donna Haraway. Companion Species Manifesto
Independent Reading List (1500 pages minimum)
Selected handouts

schedule (click here to view)