The Environment and Society
ES / ST 118
Colby College Spring Semester 2002
Faculty Nancy Quirk Miller 254 x3445 ncquirk
Colin Sage Miller 235 x3904 clsage
Tom Tietenberg Miller 234 x3143 thtieten
Meetings Lectures M &W 10:00 - 10:50 a.m. Olin 1
Group Mtg Th 7:00 p.m. Olin 1
Discussions F 10:00 - 10:50 A.M. A- Tietenberg, Miller 319 B- Quirk, Olin 335
C- Sage, Arey 110
Objectives This course has three primary objectives. The first is to introduce some of the major environmental problems that will have a significant effect on the quality of life over the next century and to examine the degree to which our political and economic institutions are capable of diminishing or coping with the difficulties posed by these trends. To do so we will cover a selected set of illustrative issues, focusing on background forces, natural resource management, and pollution, rather than try to introduce the entire range of environmental problems. The second is to introduce disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to the study of these environmental problems, with a particular focus on how research is used to understand and attempt to address them. The third is for participants to learn how to do “hands on” group research project that are well-designed to answer specific questions about an environmental issue or set of environmental issues.
Required Texts
McKinney and Schoch, Environmental Science: Systems and Solutions (Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 1998). (Hereafter referred to as M&S)
McKinny and Shariff (eds.), Outlooks: Readings for Environmental Literacy, (Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 1997). (Hereafter referred to as Outlooks)
Schoch (ed.) Case Studies in Environmental Science (West Publishing Company, 1996) (Hereafter referred to as Case Studies)
ES 118 Faculty (eds.), The ES 118 Course Reader. Available from the bookstore. (Hereafter referred to as CR)
Required Reading We assume that the assigned readings will be completed before that week's discussion section. Web resources, discussed below, also form part of the required reading. Come to class Friday ready to discuss the readings. Bring notes from the readings with you, if you like.
Web Resources Each week some current readings may be assigned relevant to that week's issues, available on the web. These will be listed on the course web page. You are responsible for finding and reading, the web resources each week.
Group Research Projects All students will work in groups to design research projects with individual components that collectively address a question in environmental studies. Course meetings on Thursday night class meetings will cover issues related to project design and research. Students are expected to design and conduct a project to answer the question that motivates their research and sheds new light on environmental problems.
Grading Grades will be determined using the following scheme: (1) Two Mid-Semester Exams - 15% each, (2) Class Participation (attendance and contributions) - 15%, (3) Group project - 40% (including topic statement and proposal 5%, individual section 15%, final project report 15%, and oral presentation 5%), and (4) Final exam - 15%. The requirements for each writing assignment are described in this syllabus in the section “Group Project Guidelines.” You are responsible for making sure you meet all deadlines.
COURSE Schedule
INTRODUCTION
1. Introduction Feb 4-8
February 4 (M) Introduction and Overview
February 6 (W): Perspectives I
February 7 (Th): Mechanisms for Selecting Topic Areas
February 8 (F): Discussion Section
Required Readings:
CR: J. McPhee, “Encounters with the Archdruid”
Web: A review of “The Skeptical Environmentalist” http://pacinst.org/Lomborg_review.html
M&S: Ch 1, “Introduction to Environmental Science”
2. Historical Feb. 11-15
February 11 (M): Perspectives II
February 13 (W): Sustainable Development
February 14 (Th): Group Topic Selection (if possible)
February 15 (F): Discussion Section
Required Readings:
M&S: Chapter 22, “Historical, Social, and Legal Aspects of the Current Environmental Crisis”
Web: http://www.iclei.org/egpis/
"Local Sustainability," the European Good Practice Information Service, provides a large number of case studies from across Europe.
Outlooks: 4 “We Can Build a Sustainable Economy”
Case Studies: 6 “Will a Technological Fix Work, Or Do We Need Fundamental Social Change?”
CR: World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future, Chapter 2 “Towards Sustainable Development”
Deadline:
Preliminary Topic Proposal for Group Papers Due in lecture, Monday, February 11.
BACKGROUND FORCES
3. Population, Consumption, Poverty and Affluence Feb. 18-22
February 18 (M): Approaches to Population
February 20 (W): Poverty, Hunger and the Environment
February 21 (Th): Models of Acceptable Research
February 22 (F): Discussion Section
Required Readings:
M&S: Chapter 5, “Demography”;
Web; http://www.seattle.battelle.org/services/e&s/pop-env/ch03.htm
On environmental space and sustainable consumption (topic 1)
http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/sustainable_development/publications/tworld/summary.html
http://www.iisd.ca/linkages/consume/fjeld.html
Outlooks: 9 “Ten Myths of Population”; “; 41 “Microenterprise”
Case Studies: 8 “Differing Approaches to the Population Problem”, 9 “Famine and Overpopulation in Ethopia”
CR: Garrett Hardin, “Living on a Lifeboat”
NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
4. Natural Resource Management Feb. 25 - Mar. 1
February 25 (M): Natural Resource Management I
February 27 (W): Natural Resource Management II
February 28 (Th): Research and Sources (plus Mike McGuire)
February 29 (F): Discussion Section
Required Readings:
M&S: Chapter 6, “Principles of Resource Management”
CR: Garrett Hardin: “Tragedy of the Commons”
Case Studies: 2 “The Mystery of Easter Island”
Deadline:
Group Project Proposal - Due in lecture, Wednesday, February 27
5. Biodiversity Mar. 4 -8
March 4 (M): Biodiversity I
March 6 (W): Biodiversity II
March 7 (Th): FIRST EXAMINATION
March 8 (F) VIDEO shown in Olin 1 (No Discussion Section)
Required Readings:
M&S: Chapter 12, "Conserving Biological Resources"
Outlooks: 18 "Will Expectedly the Top Blow Off?"; 19 "The World's Forests"; 20 "The Mystery of the Stellar Sea Lion"
6. Food and Agriculture Mar. 11 - Mar 15
March 11 (M): Food and Agriculture I
March 13 (W): Food and Agriculture II
March 14 (Th): Work Session
March 15 (F): Discussion Section
Required Readings:
M&S: Chapter 13, “Feeding the World
Web Reading: http://www.ifpri.org/2020conference/summaries.asp
http://www.colby.edu/environ/ES118/FoodSecChap.doc
Case Studies: 9 “Famine and Overpopulation in Ethiopia”
Outlooks: 25 “Common Ground”
7. Energy I and II Mar. 18- Mar 22
March 19 (M): Energy I
March 21 (W): Energy II
March 22 (Th): Theory, Hypotheses, Falsifiability
March 23 (F): Discussion Section
Required Readings:
M&S: Chapter 7, “Fundamentals of Energy”; M&S: Chapter 9, “Alternative Energy Sources and Energy Conservation”
Outlooks: 13 “The Unexpected Rise of Natural Gas”; 14 “Windpower”
Case Studies: 13 “The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill”; 14 “The Dangers of Conservation”
Spring Break Mar. 23 – Mar. 31
POLLUTION
8. Pollution Overview Apr. 1 - 5
April 1 (M): Environmental Policy Process and Policy Tools I
April 2 (W): Environmental Policy Process and Policy Tools II
April 4 (Th): Work Session
April 5 (F): Discussion Section
Required Readings:
M&S: Chapter 14, “Principles of Pollution Control”
Outlooks: 40 “China Strives to Make the Polluter Pay”
Case Studies: 30 “The Rise and Fall of DDT”; 31 “Computer Chips, Carcinogens, and Health Risks”; and 34 “The Subtle Dangers of Synthetic Chemicals”
9. Environmental Justice April 8 - 12
April 8 (M): Environmental Ethics
April 10 (W): Environmental Justice
April 11 (Th): Analysis
April 12 (F): Discussion Section
Required Readings:
M&S: Chapter 21, “Environmental Ethics”
“Confronting Environmental Racism in the 21st Century, UN Racism and Public Policy Conference, Durban, South Africa, September 3-5, 2001, Highlights of Policy Paper by Robert D. Bullard readable on the web at: http://www.ejrc.cau.edu/durbanhighlights.htm
Outlooks: 42 “Reassessing the Economic Assumption”
Case Studies: 55 “The Life and Death of Chico Mendes”
Deadline:
Section Drafts -- Due in lecture, Wednesday, April 10
10. Air Pollution Topics -- Domestic Apr. 15 - 19
April 15 (M): Domestic Air Pollution I
April 16 (W): Domestic Air Pollution II
April 18 (Th): MIDTERM EXAM II
April 19 (F): VIDEO shown in Olin 1 (No Discussion Sections)
Required Readings:
M&S: Chapter 17, “Air Pollution: Local and Regional”
Outlooks: 32 “Particulate Control”; 48 “Cinderella Story”
11. Air Pollution Topics -- International Apr. 22 -26
April 22 (M): International Air Pollution I
April 23 (W): International Air Pollution II
April 25 (Th): How to Give a Presentation
April 26 (F): Discussion Section
Required Readings:
M&S: Chapter 18, “Global Air Pollution”
Outlooks: 33 “The Sound of Global Warming”; 34 “Verdict (Almost) In”; 35 “Complexities of Ozone Loss Challenge Scientists”; 36 “Ozone-Destroying Chlorine Tops Out”
Case Studies: 40 “Ultraviolet Damage in Canadian Lakes”
ASSESSING THE EVIDENCE
12. Sustainable Development Apr. 29 - May 3
April 29 (M): Managing the Environment Under Conditions of Risk, Complexity and Uncertainty
May 1 (W): Sustainable Development II
May 2 (Th): Work Session -- Practice Presentations
May 3 (F): Discussion Sections
Required Readings:
Web: http://www.ucar.edu/communications/awareness/2001/hazards/
Outlooks: 38 “Green Revolution in the Making”; 45 “How to Make Lots of Money, and Save the Planet Too”; 46 “Forging a New Global Partnership to Save the Earth”
Case Studies: 51 “Green Consumerism, or No Consumerism”
13. Group Project Presentations May 6-10
All of the research teams shall present their findings during a 50-minute session (allowing time for discussion). Presentations will be run on the four course days as a conference, with four presentations occurring simultaneously and students not presenting each attending one of the presentations they have signed up to attend. Locations to be announced.
Deadline: Final Project Report Due by Noon, Monday, May 13
FINAL EXAMINATION – TBA
Group Project Guidelines
Your participation in a semester-long group project represents 40% of your final grade. You will be evaluated on your choice of topic and proposal, the individual section you write for the project and the group final project report, and oral presentation. The topic statement and proposal are worth 5%, the individual section 15%, the final group project report 15%, and the oral presentation 5% of your semester grade. Group project assignments must be typed using double spacing, 12 pt. Times or equivalent, and one-inch margins for all borders. Students should save a copy of their work on disk. Papers handed in after the due date will receive a late penalty of one-third of a grade per class day late. (A class day is any day Monday through Friday.) Papers not handed in at all will receive a zero, not merely an F.
Group Project Proposal
The successful proposal will include:
A description of what large question(s) the project is attempting to answer and what framework the group proposes to use to answer these questions. The proposal will describe the common elements that link the individual research, what aspect of the question will each student study and how each student proposes to research his or her issue. Each student will submit five references that s/he has preferably had a chance to review or alternatively has ordered based on reading an abstract.
Grade: 5% of overall grade. We plan to give a single, group grade to all group members. However, we maintain the discretion of giving individual grades should that be necessary.
Due date: Wednesday, February 27
Individual Sections
Section papers must be a minimum of 8 pages and will be evaluated based on how well the paper answers the questions outlined in the proposal. In addition to content, grading criteria will include breadth and use of references and paper mechanics. We will make available a style sheet that indicates how we expect references to be cited. We encourage students to take advantage of the services offered by Colby’s writing center located in Miller.
Grade: 15% of course grade: This is an individual grade.
Due date: Wednesday, April 10
Group paper
The group paper integrates the individual sections both analytically and visually (table of contents, single font, pagination, single reference section). Individual sections will be revised to take earlier comments into consideration and will be included in the final paper.
A 3-4 page group introduction will give a background as to why this is an interesting topic, what questions research is designed to answer in looking at this issue, the process used to study the issue, and how the cases or data were chosen to shed light on these question..
A 4-5 page analysis will look methodically at the data collected by the team. It will describe the process used for analysis across as well as within the case studies as well as how the evidence was assessed to derive results.
A 1 –2 page conclusion will draw on the evidence derived from the analysis. This section will also include new questions, issues and insights that arose from the analysis.
For this final paper the individual case studies should be included in Appendicies, not in the body.
Before completing the papers, each group shall meet with advisor to discuss how the analysis is being conducted.
Grade: 15% of course grade. Grades will be one-half individual grade and one-half group grade. Part of individual grade will be based on the extent the student contributed to common activities. To help determine this, students will be asked to evaluate themselves and their group mates.
Due date: Monday, May 13
Presentation
Each group will prepare a 50 minute presentation (allowing for time for questions) highlighting, in an engaging manner the issue, research and analysis.
Grade: 5% of course grade. Grades will be one-half individual grade and one-half group grade.
Due date: During week of May 6
A Warning Concerning Plagiarism
Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Papers and projects must represent your own work and thought. Use of other people’s work without acknowledging their contribution is plagiarism and is a very serious offense in any discipline. This includes verbatim copying, paraphrasing (changing a few words here and there), and structural plagiarism (borrowing the structure or outline of somebody else’s work without acknowledgement).
Tenured professors have been publicly reprimanded and dismissed from their jobs for this practice, and otherwise promising careers have been destroyed.
Students submitting papers containing any plagiarized materials will receive an F in the assignment and may receive a failing grade for the course. Serious cases will be reported to the Dean of Students, possibly resulting in academic probation or suspension from the college, as noted in both the student handbook and college catalogue.
If in doubt, cite!
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