Envs 4950  Integrative Seminar in Environmental Studies, Spring 2014, O'Donnell

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Calendar
last update: March 18, 2014

 

- Class meets on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10:25 to 11:20am, in Hutcheson Hall 107

- Except for the first class meeting (Fri, Jan 17), we will not meet on Fridays.

- BSNW = Best American Science and Nature Writing 2010.

 

Week 1 (Jan 17) 

Introductions. 

 

Week 2 (MLK DAY; Jan 22)

This week: Schedule an individual meeting with me to review of a draft of your syllabus, and to arrange a service placement.

 

Wednesday 

Review the sample syllabi from previous Envs students: faculty.etsu.edu/odonnell/2014spring/envs4950/syllabi.htm

Read the following, online:

- "What is Environmental Studies?" Michael E. Soule and Daniel Press. BioScience 48, 5 (May 1998): 397-405. http://cstpr.colorado.edu/students/envs_5720/soule_press_1998.pdf . (Or click here for a cached version.)

- "Environmental Studies" Wikipedia article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_studies

Also, browse the titles for presentations at the summer 2012 annual national conference of the the Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences:

- Friday, June 22 2012, "A" sessions: http://www.aess.info/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=939971&module_id=116421

- Friday, June 22 2012, "B" sessions: http://www.aess.info/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=939971&module_id=116422

Due: Write a short memo (300-600 words) to me and to your classmates, explaining your interest in environmental studies. Where do you see yourself fitting into the field, as it is described in the readings, above? What classes have you taken? What particular area of environmental studies interests you? Why are you interested in that area? Include a draft of a working title for your customized syllabus for this course--that is, a complete, specific description of your interest within the field of environmental studies. Also include any comments you have on the service placement you would prefer. Be prepared to present to the class.

Also for Wednesday: Read, in BSNW, the Foreword and Introduction. Browse the table of contents, and bring the book to class.

 

Week 3 (Jan 27, 29) 

Monday

Read the following three articles on the WV Chemical Spill:

- "Officials Don’t Really Know How Dangerous the Chemical Spilled in West Virginia Is: Authorities have virtually no way of regulating many industrial chemicals. The latest spill could change that." By Bryan Walsh. Time Magazine online, Jan. 14, 2014. science.time.com/2014/01/14/how-dangerous-is-chemical-spilled-in-west-virginia/

- "No One’s Job: West Virginia’s Forbidden Waters." Posted by Jedediah Purdy, January 14, 2014. "News Desk" blog at the New Yorker Magazine online. www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2014/01/a-chemical-spill-along-the-elk-river-in-west-virginia.html

- "Our Toxicity Experiment in West Virginia." Posted by Deborah Blum, January 18, 2014. "Wired Science Blogs," at Wired Magazine online. www.wired.com/wiredscience/2014/01/chemistry-experiments-west-virginia-dont-try-home/

In BSNW, read the following articles:

- "The Sixth Extinction?" by Kolbert, p188-200

- "Still Blue," by Brower, 133-43. Be sure to see Flip Nicklin's photographs on line.

Due: Write a memo to me and your classmates, about 250-300 words, which includes the following:

1) A full, formal citation for, and brief description of, an interesting and/ or important text that you encountered in one of those three articles.

2) The names, formal titles, and brief descriptions of two interesting people you encountered in those three articles.

Write a clear, complete freestanding memo, using complete sentences and paragraphs.

 

Wednesday

In BSNW, read the following 2 articles.  As you read, underline the names and professional titles of people interviewed or cited:

- "Scraping Bottom," by Kunzig, p229-38.

- "Green Giant," by Osnos, p334-51.

Read "Why Not Frack?" By Bill McKibben. The New York Review of Books. March 8, 2012. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/mar/08/why-not-frack/. Be sure to also read the letters from April 26 and March 22.

 

Week 4 (Feb 3, 5)

Monday

In BSNW, read the following three articles:

- "Flight of the Kuaka," by Stap, p106-113. Circle a thesis statement, if you find one.

- "A Life of Its Own," by Specter, p239-58.

- "Hearth Surgery," by Bilger, p311-33.

Due: Pick an interesting individual that you encountered in one of those three articles. Use the internet to find out what that person's job is. In a memo to me and your classmates, write up, in a few sentences, your take on what that person's credentials are and what they do for a living; also say a word about the organization that employs them: Is it private industry, state-run education, philanthropical foundation, or other?

 

Wednesday

Begin reading the first selection in your customized readings for the course.

Due: Be prepared to present the book to your classmates: Prepare a full citation. Gloss the book. Describe how you selected it. Also be prepared to discuss how your service placement is going so far.

 

Week 5 (Feb 10, 12) 

Monday

Read the following two Rachel Carson essays, online: 

- Rehabilitating Carson: Why do some people continue to hold Rachel Carson responsible for millions of malaria deaths?" By John Quiggin. Prospect Magazine, May 24, 2008. www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/rehabilitatingcarson/

- "Margaret Atwood: Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, 50 years on." By Margaret Atwood. The Guardian [Manchester, England]. Friday, December 7, 2012. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/dec/07/why-rachel-carson-is-a-saint

 

Wednesday

Read the book you've chosen for your customized reading in this course.  Bring the book to class. 

Due: Select a key passage from the book you're reading.  In a memo to me and your classmates, write a response that incorporates that passage.  Introduce the book and the passage, and explain why the passage is significant.  300-500 words.

 

Week 6 (Feb 17, 19)

Monday

Finish reading the first book in your customized readings. Bring that book to class for further discussion.

Read "Review of the must-read book: Merchants of Doubt: How a handful of scientists obscured the truth on issues from smoke to global warming." By John Atcheson. Posted July 14, 2010, at "Climate Progress," the climate section edited by Joe Romm at ThinkProgress.org, a blog site sponsored by the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a nonpartisan, liberal organization. thinkprogress.org/romm/2010/07/14/206422/merchants-of-doubt-naomi-oreskes-review/

Browse the information on this page:  "Climate of Doubt: Frontline goes inside the groups who shifted the direction of the climate change debate." Runtime: 53:46. October 23, 2012. WGBH Blueridge PBS. www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/climate-of-doubt/

Begin reading Merchants of Doubt.

 

Wednesday

Read Introduction (p1-9) and "Chapter 1: Doubt Is Our Product" (p10-35) in Merchants of Doubt.

 

Week 7 (Feb 24, 26) 

Monday

Read "Chapter 3: Sowing the Seeds of Doubt: Acid Rain" (p66-107) in Merchants of Doubt.

Due: Reading response; about 300 words--write a memo to me and your classmates, in which you make a connection between some information or insight in Merchants of Doubt and some info or insight you've gained in your service placement.

 

Wednesday

Read "Chapter 5: What's Bad Science? Who Decides? The Fight Over Second-Hand Smoke" (p136-167) in Merchants of Doubt. 

 

Week 8 (March 3, 5)

Monday

In Merchants of Doubt, Read "Chap 6: The Denial of Global Warming," p169-216.

Also, browse the following blogs:

     - climatedepot.com - A blog that "aims to redefine global warming reporting."

     - climateprogress.org - "A liberal blog on the science, solutions, and politics of climate change."

 

Wednesday

In Merchants of Doubt, Read "Chap 7: Denial Rides Again: The Revisionist Attack on Rachel Carson," p170-240.

Also, browse this website:  RachelWasWrong.org. "Uncovering Silent Spring's Deadly Consequences," by the Competitive Enterprise Institute

Due: In a memo to me and your classmates, write a response to chapter 7.  Do you find the authors' case compelling?  What do you think of the "rachelwaswrong.org" website?

Also begin reading the second book on your customized reading list. Be sure to bring the book to class.

 

                        SPRING BREAK!  March 10-14

 

Week 9 (March 17, 19) 

This week:  Read your second book.  Be prepared to discuss in class.  Also, be prepared to discuss your service placement in class. 

 

Week 10 (March 24, 26)

Monday

Finish reading the second book on your customized readings.  Due: Reading response; about 300 words--write a memo, to me and your classmates, that introduces some person you've met in your reading of your second book:  Who is the person?  What is her/his title?  What's their organizational affiliation?  What type of organization, what's it's history, where does its money come from? 

Also, read the Prologue of Charles Mann's 1493, and bring the book to class. 

Also, read "Tweak To NC Law Protected Duke's Coal Ash Pits."  By The Associated Press, March 17, 2014.  Posted at the website of National Public Radio:  www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=290883112

 

Wednesday

Read Mann, 1493, Chapter 1 (p.3-38).

 

Week 11 (March 31, Apr 2) 

Monday

Read Mann, Chapter 2 (through page 75).

Due: Write a memo to me and your classmates, about 250-300 words: Find one title in Mann's list of sources that you think you might like to read, or that you think is important or noteworthy. Include a full citation in your memo and comment: Why is that title significant? 

 

Wednesday

Read Mann, Chapter 3 (through page 116).

 

Week 12 (Apr 7, 9)

Monday

Rough draft of major writing project due: At least 1,500 words. Bring two extra copies (a total of 3 copies) for peer review. 

 

Wednesday

Read Mann, Chapter 6 (p197-238).

 

Week 13 (Apr 14, 16) 

Monday

Read Mann, Chapter 7 (p238-80).

 

            NOTE:   *** I may add some reading assignments after this date, but, if so, those readings will be short pieces related to current events, and I will announce the calendar changes in class. ***

 

Week 14 (Apr 21, 23)

Monday:  Major writing project, 2nd draft due.  Include a cover memo, written to me:  What have you changed since the first draft?  What other comments and questions do you have?  How do you plan to present this material to the class? 

Wednesday:  In-class student presentations? 

 

Week 15 (Apr 28, 30) 

Monday:  In-class student presentations. 

Wednesday:

  1.  Final revision of writing project due.  Bring a hard copy to class today. 

  2.  Final log of service hours due.  Include supervisor contact information, so I can verify your hours.

  3.  Short in-class writing:  Comments on the class, and one major issue raised.  This short, in-class writing will not be graded.  It will be worth a check mark, the same as other ungraded writing activities done this semester.

 

No class meeting during final exam period.