Envs
4950 Integrative Seminar in Environmental Studies, Spring 2025
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Calendar
last update: February 17, 2025
Class meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:45am-1:05pm, Lamb
Hall 207
Abbreviations:
- Haskell=The
Songs of Trees by David George Haskell
- BSNW = Best American Science and Nature Writing
2022
Week 1
Tuesday, January 20
Introductions.
Thursday, 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
Tuesday, January 27
In BASNW, read the following:
- "How We Drained California Dry," by Mark Arax, p
60-68.
- "The Climate Solution Actually Adding Millions of
Tons of CO2 into the Atmosphere," by Lisa Song and James Temple, p69-87.
Thursday, January 29
In BASNW, read the following:
- "In the Oceans, the Volume is Rising as Never
Before," p88-92.
- "The Nature of Plastics," by Meera Subramanian,
p93-105.
Week 3
Tuesday, Feb 3
In BASNW, read "Our Summer from Hell," by Jeff
Goodell, p47-50; and "How Rising Groundwater Caused by Climate Change
Could Devastate Coastal Communities," by Kendra Pierre-Louis, p51-59.
Thursday, Feb 5
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.)
In BSNW, read "A Recipe for Fighting Climate Change and
Feeding the World," by Sarah Kaplan, p238-245.
Due:
Review the articles we've read in the "Best American Science and Nature
Writing" anthology, and identify a person you've met in those pages, over
the course of those readings, 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 classmate, write up a few paragraphs about what
you learned. Be prepared to present in class.
Week 4
Tuesday, Feb 10
In BASNW, read "Power Shift," by Justine Calma, p246-259.
Thursday, Feb 12
In BASNW, read the following:
- "New Wind Projects Power Local Budgets in
Wyoming," by Jane C. Hu, p266-269
- "Work from Home, Save the Planet? Ehh," by Emily
Atkin, p270-273
- "A River Reawakened," by Jessica Plumb,
p282-287.
Due:
Write a memo to me and your classmate, 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
Tuesday, Feb 17
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.
Thursday, February 19
Listen to the following episodes from John Green's podcast, The
Anthropocene Reviewed. Also browse the corresponding transcripts:
- "Plague."
September 24, 2020. Runtime: 25:48.
- "Mortification
and Civilization." July 30, 2020. Runtime: 27:23.
Week 6
Tuesday, February 24
In BASNW, read the following:
- "There's a Global Plan to Conserve Nature. Indigenous
People Could Lead the Way," by Sengupta et al, p288-293
- "Beavers Are Firefighters Who Work for Free," by
Lucy Sherriff, p260-265
- "Thriving Together: Salmon, Berries, People," by
Jess Hausti, p200-205.
Thursday, February 26
Read "David Haskell Speaks for the Trees," an
award-winning profile article by Paul Kvinta, published in Outside
Magazine on March 23, 2017. www.outsideonline.com/culture/books-media/david-haskell-speaks-trees/
Read the first chapter of Haskell's The Songs of Trees.
Week 7
Tuesday, 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 classmate,
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.
Thursday, March 5
Continue reading the first book that you've selected,
related to your service placement. Be prepared to discuss in class.
Week 8
Tuesday, March 10
In-class review for midterm
exam.
Thursday, March 12: Midterm
exam.
SPRING BREAK: Monday, March 16 to Friday March 20.
Week 9
Tuesday, March 24
Check in on service placements.
Thursday, 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
Tuesday, March 31
Read Haskell, chapter 2, "Balsam Fir."
Thursday, April 2
Read Haskell, chapter 3, "Sabal Palm."
Week 11
Tuesday, April 7
Read Haskell, chapter 5, "Hazel."
Due:
Write a response to one of the Haskell chapters that we've read so far: 1, 2,
3, or 5. Quote a passage from the chapter. Comment on it. Also comment on
Haskell's use of sources. Be prepared to
present in class.
Thursday, April 9
Read Haskell, chapter 7, "Cottonwood."
Also we'll draft an outline of your written project.
Week 12
Tuesday, April 14
Read Haskell, chapter 8, "Callery Pear."
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
Thursday, April 16
- Rough draft of written project due. Bring
two extra copies (a total of 3 copies) for a draft workshop.
Week 13
Tuesday, April 21
Read Bill McKibben, "The Failure--and Hope--of Earth
Day," in The New Yorker, April 22, 2025. www.newyorker.com/newsletter/the-daily/the-failure-and-hope-of-earth-day
Also read McKibben's "Introduction" to Here
Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for
Civilization. Norton, 2025. faculty.etsu.edu/odonnell/readings/intro_here_comes_the_sun.pdf
Thursday, April 23
Read Haskell, chapter 9, "Olive."
Week 14
Tuesday, April 28
Final project due.
Wednesday, April 26
Also today: Bring your service log to class.
Tuesday,
May 5, 8-10am: Final
exam.