Envs 4950 Integrative Seminar in Environmental Studies, O'Donnell, Spring 2015

---

[ Policies ] [ Calendar ] [ Links ]

---

Calendar
last update: April 6, 2015

- Class meets on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10:25 to 11:20am, in Sam Wilson Hall 322

- Except for the first Friday (Jan 23), we will not meet on Fridays.

- BSNW = Best American Science and Nature Writing 2014.

Week 1 (Weds Jan 21; Fri Jan 23)

Wednesday: Introductions, overview.

Friday:

Review the sample syllabi from previous Envs students: faculty.etsu.edu/odonnell/2015spring/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.)

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

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

Week 2 (Jan 26, 28)

Monday

Read the following:

- "Global Warming's Terrifying New Math: Three simple numbers that add up to global catastrophe - and that make clear who the real enemy is." Bill McKibben. Rolling Stone Magazine, July 19, 2012. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/global-warmings-terrifying-new-math-20120719

- "Can the World Really Set Aside Half of the Planet for Wildlife? The eminent evolutionary biologist E.O. Wilson has an audacious vision for saving Earth from a cataclysmic extinction event." By Tony Hiss. Smithsonian Magazine, September 2014. Online: www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/can-world-really-set-aside-half-planet-wildlife-180952379/

- In BSNW, read "The Rebirth of Gorongosa," by E. O. Wilson, p291-295.

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 was mentioned, discussed, and/ or cited 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 two articles. As you read, underline the names and professional titles of people interviewed or cited:

- "Learning How to Die in the Anthropocene," by Scranton, p231-237.

- "A Race to Save the Orange by Altering Its DNA," by Harmon, p38-52.

Week 3 (Feb 2, 4)

Monday

In BSNW, read the following three articles:

- "Under Water," by Sheppard, p238-250. Circle a thesis statement, if you find one.

- "Twelve Ways of Viewing Alaska's Wild, White Sheep," by Sherwonit, p251-265.

- "Mixed Up," by Bagley, p1-7.

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 introduce 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 4 (Feb 9, 11)

Monday: Continue reading the first book you've chosen for your customized reading in this course.

Wednesday: Continue reading the first 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 5 (Feb 16, 18)

Monday:

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

- Read "Denial Rides Again: The Revisionist Attack on Rachel Carson." Chapter 7 of Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming. By Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway. Bloomsbury Press, 2010. Pages 216-239. Posted online at a private blog: beforeness.tumblr.com/post/97396882093/denial-rides-again-the-revisionist-attack-on -- click here for a printable, 16-page ms word version.

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

Wednesday

Read the prologue and Chapter 1 of The Sixth Extinction, by Elizabeth Kolbert.

Week 6 (Feb 23, 25)

Monday: Read Kolbert, Chapters II-IV.

Wednesday: Read Kolbert, Chapters V-VII.

Week 7 (March 2, 4)

Monday: Read Kolbert, Chapters VIII-X.

Due: Find a short passage in Kolbert's book that is worth quoting. In a brief memo to me and your classmates, introduce the passage, quote it and cite it, and comment on it.

Wednesday: Read Kolbert, Chapters XI-XIII.

Due: Reading response; about 300 words--write a memo to me and your classmates, in which you make a connection between some aspect of Kolbert's book, on the one hand, and some info or insight you've gained in your service placement.

SPRING BREAK! March 9-13

Week 8 (March 16, 18)

Monday: Discussion of the plan for the second half of the semester.

Wednesday: Bring in a preliminary bibliography for your final project, with at least 3 good sources. Be prepared to present and discuss.

Week 9 (March 23, 25)

Monday:

In BSNW, read the following articles:

- "Imagining the Post-Antibiotics Future," by McKenna, p188-198.

- "The Return of Measles," by Mnookin, p199-201.

Due: Identify someone who has a job/ career that you'd like to have, and that you can reasonably aspire to. (I'd like to have LeBron James' career, but that's not realistic, right?) This could be a person that you've met through your service placement, or someone you've met in person through other channels. Or it could be a person you've encountered in your reading. Do some background research; then write a memo, about 300 words, to me and your classmates, in which you answer as many of the following questions as you can: Who is the person? What is her/his title? What's their organizational affiliation? What type of organization--what's its history, where does its money come from? Describe this person's job, briefly. What formal credentials does the person have? How much money does he/she make?

Wednesday:

In BSNW, read the following articles:

- "TV as Birth Control," by Pearce, p213-221.

- "Ants Go Marching," by Nobel, p202-211.

Week 10 (March 30, Apr 1)

Monday: Today we'll read three articles, one from each of your bibliographies. Links will be posted here.

Posted on 3-30:

- "Conserving America’s Fisheries: An Assessment of Economic Contributions from Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Conservation." Prepared by Joseph John Charbonneau, Ph.D., and James Caudill, Ph.D. Business Management and Operations, Division of Economics, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Arlington, VA. September 2010. www.fws.gov/home/feature/2011/pdf/FisheriesEconomicReport.pdf

Wednesday:

As we discussed in class, do the following reading exercise:

Step 1: Review the fact sheet posted at the Erwin National Fish Hatchery web site, which we discussed in class: www.fws.gov/erwin/pdfs/Erwin_economic%20report_2013_LR.pdf

Step 2: Look through the FWS Division of Economics 2010 report, which that fact sheet cites as it source. Find where the numbers came from: www.fws.gov/home/feature/2011/pdf/FisheriesEconomicReport.pdf

In BSNW, read the following articles:

- "The Great Forgetting," by Carr, p8-18.

- "Why the Brain Prefers Paper," by Jabr, p98-106.

Week 11 (Apr 6, 8)

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.

Week 12 (Apr 13, 15)

Monday:

- "Beneath California Crops, Groundwater Crisis Grows." By Justin Gillis and Matt Richtel. The New York Times, April 5, 2015. www.nytimes.com/2015/04/06/science/beneath-california-crops-groundwater-crisis-grows.html

- "The Food Movement, Rising." By Michael Pollan. The New York Review of Books, May 20, 2010. michaelpollan.com/articles-archive/the-food-movement-rising/

Wednesday:

- "Carbon Capture: Has climate change made it harder for people to care about conservation?" By Jonathan Franzen. The New Yorker, April 6, 2015. www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/04/06/carbon-capture

Week 13 (Apr 20, 22)

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 14 (Apr 27, 29)

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.