Envs 4950 Integrative Seminar in Environmental Studies, Spring 2025
[ Policies ] [ Calendar ]
Calendar
last update: January 11, 2025
Class meets on Mondays and Wednesdays, 9:20-10:15am, in Sam Wilson Hall 315.
Abbreviations:
- Fire Weather = Fire Weather: On the Front Lines of a Burning World, by John Vaillant. Vintage Books, 2024.
- Age of Deer = The Age of Deer: Trouble and Kinship with Our Wild Neighbors, by Erika Howsare. Catapult Books, 2025.
Week 1
Wednesday, January 22:
Review the custom syllabus assignment, and browse the sample syllabi from previous Envs students.
Read the following, online:
- "What is Environmental Studies?" Michael E. Soule and Daniel Press. BioScience 48, 5 (May 1998): 397-405. (Click here for a cached version.)
- "Environmental Sciences vs. Studies." The University of Wisconsin Environmental Sciences Major website. No date. envirosci.cals.wisc.edu/environmental-sciences-vs-studies/
Browse "Environmental Studies" Wikipedia article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_studies
Due: Write a short memo (300-600 words) to me and to your classmate, 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? What's your personal connection to it? Include a draft of a working title for your customized syllabus for this course. Also include any comments you have on the service placement you would prefer. Be prepared to present to the class.
Type this up, using a standard memo format -- which means you include these 4 fields at the top of the page: To: From: Date: Subject:
Week 2
Monday, January 27
- Read Fire Weather chapters 1-3 (through page 43).
Also read the following:
- "As a Climate Scientist, I Knew It Was Time to Leave Los Angeles." By Peter Kalmus. The New York Times, January 10, 2025. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/10/opinion/la-fires-los-angeles-wildfires.html
- "Climate Scientist Peter Kalmus Fled L.A. Fearing Wildfires. His Old Neighborhood Is Now a Hellscape." Democracy Now!, January 10, 2025. Youtube video, runtime -- 7:04. www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMYvuY_MLMQ
- "They came to Asheville looking for a 'climate haven.' Then came Hurricane Helene." By Julia Simon. National Public Radio, October 9, 2024.
www.npr.org/2024/10/09/nx-s1-5137024/climate-haven-hurricane-helene-asheville
Wednesday, January 29
- Read Fire Weather chapters 4-7 (through page 96).
Week 3
Monday, Feb 3
- Read Fire Weather chapters 8-13 (through page 170).
Wednesday, Feb 5
- Read Fire Weather chapters 14-17 (through page 224).
Due: Identify a person you've encountered in the pages of Fire Weather who seems like they might have an interesting job. Use the internet to find out what that person's job is. What is the job like? What is the highest degree that person has earned? What sort of organization employs that person -- is it private industry, nonprofit, government? About how much money do you think the person makes? Where does the money come from, for this person's salary? What sort of degree or credential does the job require? Would you, yourself, want that job? In a memo to me and your classmates, write up a few paragraphs about what you learned. Be prepared to present in class.
Week 4
Monday, February 10
- Read Fire Weather chapters 18-20 (the history of the science of climate change -- pages 227-275)
Wednesday, February 12
- Read Fire Weather chapters 21-23
Due: Write a memo to me and your classmates, in which you describe your service placement: What is the name and the nature of the organization you're working for? Whom are you working with? Describe the nature of the work you're doing. Say something about the nature of the organization: Government, private non-profit, for-profit? What is the mission. Where does the money come from?
Week 5
Monday, February 17
- Read Fire Weather chapters 24-25 and Epilogue (pages 330-359).
Due: Write up your customized syllabus, describing what you're doing in this class, this semester. See guidelines and examples, here.
Bring a printout to class today. Also, email me an electronic version.
Wednesday, February 19: Class cancelled.
This Wednesday, in place of the cancelled class, view the following videos. Take notes on the important points, and be prepared to discuss in class next week:
- "How We Fix the Climate." vlogbrothers youtube video. August 13, 2021. Runtime -- 16:18. 631,000 views as of January 2025. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcMLFMsIVis
- "The Biggest Climate Bill of Your Life - But What does it DO!?. vlogbrothers youtube video. August 12, 2022. Runtime -- 22:23. 866,000 views as of January 2025. www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw5zzrOpo2s
Week 6
Monday, February 24
Wednesday, February 26
Read, here online: "The Case Against Civilization: Did our hunter-gatherer ancestors have it better?" by John Lanchester. The New Yorker, September 11, 2017. www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/09/18/the-case-against-civilization. (Click here for a cached version.)
Week 7
Monday, March 3
Begin reading the first book that you've selected, related to your service placement.
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. Also in your response, introduce the book and the passage, and explain why the passage is significant. Also include a full, formal citation of the passage and the book. Be prepared to present in class.
Wednesday, March 5
Continue reading the first book that you've selected, related to your service placement. Be prepared to discuss in class.
Week 8
Monday, March 10
In-class review for midterm exam.
Wednesday, March 12: Midterm exam.
SPRING BREAK: Monday, March 17 to Friday March 21.
Week 9
Monday, March 24
Check in on service placements.
Wednesday, March 26
Continue reading the book that you've selected, related to your service placement, and prepare to do another presentation in class:
Due: Select another key passage from the book. In a memo to me and your classmates, write a response that incorporates that passage. Also in your response, introduce the book and the passage, and explain why the passage is significant. Also include a full, formal citation of the passage and the book. Be prepared to present in class.
Week 10
Monday, March 31
In Age of Deer read chapters 1-2.
Wednesday, April 2
In Age of Deer read chapters 3-5.
Week 11
Monday, April 7
In Age of Deer read chapters 6-9.
Wednesday, April 9
In Age of Deer read chapters 10-13.
Due: Write a response to one of the Age of Deer chapters that we've read so far. Quote a passage from the chapter. Comment on it. Also comment on Howsare's use of sources. Be prepared to present in class. Also, write at least 3 questions that you'd like to ask author Erika Howsare, when she visits ETSU two weeks from now.
Week 12
Monday, April 14
In Age of Deer read chapters 14-15.
Browse the following student final projects from previous semesters:
* "Recreation and Nature Education at a City-Owned Nature Preserve: Service Placement Experiences at Bays Mountain Park, Spring 2019" by Sarah Mawhinney, April 2019
* "The Conservational and Economical Benefits of Modern Day Wildlife Manipulation: My Time at the Erwin National Fish Hatchery" by Helena Hunt, May 2018
* "Public Land Management and Cherokee Forest Voices, a Non-Profit Forest Watch Coalition: One Student’s Experience" by K.S., April 2014
Wednesday, April 16
- Rough draft of written project due. Bring two extra copies (a total of 3 copies) for a draft workshop.
Week 13
Monday, April 21
In Age of Deer read chapters 16-17.
Wednesday, April 23
Read this article, here online: "The Serviceberry: An Economy of Abundance." By Robin Wall Kimmerer. Emergence Magazine, October 26, 2022. emergencemagazine.org/essay/the-serviceberry/
Thursday, April 24, in the Reece Museum
1:20-2:40: Nonfiction Writing, with Erika Howsare
as part of the ETSU Spring Literary Festival
Week 14
Monday, April 24
Final project due. In-class presentations.
Wednesday, April 26
Also today: Bring your service log to class.
Monday, May 5, 8-10am: Final exam.