Facets of Sustainability IDS 2154 Sec. 02AH Fall 2017
Tuesday 8-9 (3:00-4:55 PM), Thursday 9 (4:05-4:55 PM) Turlington L005
Professor Thiele www.clas.ufl.edu/users/thiele/
Office Hours: Wednesday, 2:30-5:30 PM
Anderson 302 Tel. 273-2380
Teaching Assistants and Graders:
Nazmi Ahmed
Office Hours: TBA
Graham Gallagher
Office Hours: TBA
Course Description:
Sustainability entails much more than recycling and switching off lights. It has implications for what we buy and what we eat, whom we vote for and support politically, what groups we join and what careers we pursue, and how we think about ourselves and the world. Sustainability Studies equips you to think clearly about and develop adaptive responses to the complex challenge of fostering ecological health, social equity, and economic vitality in a changing world.
This course introduces the ideas, insights, and debates associated with sustainability. It addresses the principles and practices of sustainability as approached through a variety of topics and academic fields, and features a series of guest lectures by leading scholars as well as community and business leaders.
Is the earth headed for ecological collapse, and if so, what can be done to avert catastrophe? How can humanity’s growing needs be met without mortgaging the future? Are there economically viable ways to ensure equitable, flourishing lives for the citizens of the planet? Is a sustainable world primarily to be achieved through green design and technology, or by changing consciousness and behavior? What are the characteristics of sustainable lives and businesses, and what practical means are at our disposal to achieve these goals? In this course, you will develop answers to such questions by critically and creatively engaging with interdisciplinary texts and lecturers, by way of debate and discussion, and through collaborative problem-solving.
Facets of Sustainability serves as the gateway course for students in the Bachelor of Arts in Sustainability Studies and the Minor in Sustainability Studies. For information about the Major and Minor in Sustainability Studies, visit http://sustainability.clas.ufl.edu/
Objectives and Outcomes:
Students taking this course will:
1. Gain knowledge of a diverse spectrum of sustainability oriented scholarship, including that in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities;
2. Understand the benefits and challenges of addressing and integrating the environmental, economic, and social components of sustainability;
3. Critically assess, evaluate and utilize interdisciplinary knowledge and systems thinking to facilitate adaptation in a rapidly changing world at local, regional, national, and global levels;
4. Demonstrate effective written and oral communication of a broad range of approaches, frameworks, metrics, principles, and practices of sustainability.
Throughout the course, you will be encouraged to develop an understanding of complex systems and an appreciation for diverse perspectives, and to clarify their personal values and public commitments. In turn, this course aims to equip you with the skills required to pursue sustainability in a rapidly changing world. These skills include systems thinking skills, communication skills, and collaborative problem-solving skills.
Required Texts:
Leslie Paul Thiele, Sustainability, 2nd edition (Polity Press 2016). Do NOT buy the 1st edition.
Worldwatch Institute, Is Sustainability Still Possible? (Island Press 2013)
This book may be bought, or can be accessed free in PDF form here: http://library.uniteddiversity.coop/More_Books_and_Reports/State_of_the_World/State_of_the_World_2013-Is_Sustainability_Still_Possible.pdf
Daniel Quinn, Ishmael (Bantam)
Other assigned readings will be announced in class.
Recommended Readings:
Lester Brown, Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, available free online at
www.earth-policy.org/index.php?/books/pb4
Weekly reading of online sources, such as The Grist, available at http://www.grist.org/
Environmental News Network, available at http://www.enn.com
Course requirements and grading:
Term paper: 26 points
Online Blog Submissions: 12 points
TeamWork Hand-ins: 12 points
Team Project 1: 10 points
Team Project 2: 15 points
Mid-term Exam: 10 points
Final Exam: 15 points
Total: 100 points
Each week you must be prepared to discuss the course readings (approximately 50 pages per week). Class attendance and active learning and note taking is required. You should take extensive notes during lectures so you have material to review for exams. Powerpoint presentations employed in lectures will NOT be made available.
This course is designed to encourage the development of organizational and time-management skills, which are crucial to virtually any career you might choose. For this reason, late submission of assignments is severely penalized. Mark your calendars for submission dates, and prepare for your assignments well in advance.
Prof. Thiele and/or his Teaching Assistant will be happy to respond to all email inquiries—unless the requested information is on Canvas, in other documents provided, or was specifically addressed in class. If you do not receive a response to an email inquiry, it is because the information was already made available to you. In such cases, refer to available documents or confer with a classmate.
Term paper: 26 points
You will write a 2600 word term paper. Papers under 2400 or over 2800 words will not be accepted. The paper is to have an additional Works Cited page which is not included in the word count. Paper topics will be discussed in class in late September. The paper will be graded on the quality of research and writing, its organization, and the completion of all components. You will be held responsible for demonstrating good writing skills, and should consult the tutorial offered at www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/skills/grammar/grammar_tutorial/index.htm. The electronic copy of your final paper, submitted to Canvas, will be routed through Turnitin.com, a web-based plagiarism-checking program. Plagiarism of any sort will not be tolerated and will result in failure of the course. Your submission is due at noon on November 2. Late papers, beginning at 12:01 P.M., will be penalized ½ letter grade per day.
Online Submissions - 12 submissions, due each Tuesday by noon; you receive up to 1 point for each submission for a total of 12 points
In a weekly online assignment, submit a short quotation from the week’s reading with the appropriate page number indicated and a quotation from one of the documents or videos from the Conservation and Creativity website. Follow the quotations with a response that critically and constructively comments on the quotations. To receive credit, your submission must start with a title and your full name, followed by the quotations and a well-written response of a minimum of 150 words. It is due each Tuesday before noon, August 29-November 28, with the exceptions of October 3rd and 10th. Late submissions and submissions not appropriately submitted will not receive credit. There are no make-ups for online submissions, so submit yours early to ensure that a late developing event (e.g. illness, or your pet python eating the reading assignment) does not prevent your receiving credit.
You may be asked to expand on one or more of your online submissions in the final exam, so keep a dated, weekly copy of each submission, and make each one worthy of more extensive discussion.
TeamWork Hand-ins – 12 hand-ins, for a total of 12 points
Each Tuesday after the guest lecture, you will engage in TeamWork until the end of the class period. After the TeamWork session, and no earlier than 4:55 PM, that week’s team leader delivers to Prof. Thiele in 302 Anderson a Team Statement of Accomplishment. Individual signees of an appropriately completed Statement will receive 1 point each. If you do not participate in a full TeamWork session until the end of the class period, you can do a make-up by attending a public lecture (announced by Prof. Thiele throughout the semester) and submitting a 500-600-word review that identifies the speaker, date, and lecture title, summarizes the lecture, and relates it to class readings and discussions. You may submit (to the course TA) up to four public lecture make-ups. To receive a make-up credit, your review must be received by 4 PM of the day following the public lecture.
Team Projects – 10 points for the first project, 15 points for the second project
There are two team projects. The Footprints and Handprints project is due October 3 at noon. The Sustainable Solutions project is due December 5 at noon. For both projects, EACH team member submits the SAME written document to Canvas by the deadline. The team leader assigned for that week submits the video to Canvas. A penalty of 1 point will be assessed for all late submissions. The videos will be presented in class on the day of their submissions. For both projects, you will be graded by Prof. Thiele and by your fellow teammates.
Exams - 10 points for the Mid-term Exam; 15 points for the Final Exam
The mid-term will be a take-home exam. It will be explained and made available October 5, and is to be submitted on Canvas by 5 pm on October 12. Late submissions will be penalized 1 letter grade for each day late.
The final exam will be in class November 30, and will be comprehensive. It will be based on the readings and lectures and selected weeks of your online submissions. You should take extensive notes during lectures so you have material to review for the final exam. You can bring your written or printed notes to class on exam day, but computers and cell phones will NOT be allowed.
Bonus project: 0-4 bonus points - See the “Sustainability and Art” assignment on Canvas for details. Due November 20.
Requirements for class attendance, assignments, make-up exams, grading, and academic honesty are consistent with university policies that can be found at: https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current/regulations/info/attendance.aspx
https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current/regulations/info/grades.aspx
Students with disabilities requesting accommodations should first register with the Disability Resource Center (www.dso.ufl.edu/drc/) and then present an accommodation letter to the instructor.
Grading Scale:
A 95 – 100% C 73 – 76%
A- 90 – 94% C- 70 – 72%
B+ 87 – 89% D+ 67 – 69%
B 83 – 86% D 63 – 66%
B- 80 – 82% D- 60 – 62%
C+ 77 – 79% E 59% or below
N.B. – Grades are not rounded up. So, for example, a 94.99 is an A-, and an 86.99 is a B.
Class Schedule
August 22: Dr. Thiele: Introduction to the course and the Sustainability Studies Major
August 24: Dr. Thiele: Sustainability Practiples, Sustainability Skills, and Advice from the 2016
graduating class of Sustainability Studies
Readings: Going Green at UF: http://sustainable.ufl.edu/faqs/going-green-at-uf/
Read all 8 links that address the findings of Google’s Project Aristotle, as well as Charles Duhigg’s New York Times article “What Google Learned in their Quest to Build a Perfect Team,” available at: https://rework.withgoogle.com/guides/understanding-team-effectiveness/steps/introduction/
Section 1: Sustainability Practiple: Think Like a Mountain
August 29: Dr. Thiele, Introduction to team projects; Teams formed and Footprints and
Handprints project initiated
Readings: Aldo Leopold, Thinking Like a Mountain, at http://www.eco-action.org/dt/thinking.html
Watch five minute video, “Navigating Webs of Interdependence” by Peter Senge at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOPfVVMCwYg&list=PL0EF49AFFABB8AEF8
Watch 22-minute TED talk by Allan Savory, “How to green the desert” at
http://www.ted.com/talks/allan_savory_how_to_green_the_world_s_deserts_and_reverse_climate_change
August 31: Dr. Thiele, “Thinking Like a Mountain”
September 5: Professor Martha Monroe, UF School of Forest Resources and Conservation: “Systems Thinking”
Dr. Thiele, “Thinking Like a Planet: Deep Time and Glocality”
Readings: Thiele, pp. 1-38; Worldwatch, pp. 3-16; 218-233
September 7: Teamwork: Footprints and Handprints project. The classroom is available for TeamWork. Prof. Thiele will be attending a geoengineering workshop in Washington, D.C.
Section 2: Sustainability Practiple: There is No Away
September 12: Tom Kay, Executive Director, Alachua Conservation Trust: “The Value of Conservation
on our Quality of Life”
TeamWork: Footprints and Handprints project.
Readings: Thiele, pp. 39-64; Worldwatch, pp. 39-50; The Rich Live Longer:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/04/11/upshot/for-the-poor-geography-is-life-and-death.html?emc=edit_th_20160411&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=71023177
September 14: Dr. Thiele, “There is No Away”
September 19: Sally Sanders, Ethical Choices, “Sustainable Agriculture and the Ethics of Eating”
Readings: Is Meat Sustainable? http://www.worldwatch.org/node/549
Thiele, pp. 65-89; Worldwatch, 63-72, 190-200; Watch: “Hungry For Justice: Spotlight on the South,” a 20 minute locally produced video on agricultural justice at http://www.foginfo.org/hungry-for-justice-spotlight-on-the-south-campaign/
September 21: TeamWork: Footprints and Handprints project. The classroom is available for TeamWork.
Section 3: Sustainability Practiple: Communicate, Collaborate, Conserve & Coevolve
September 26: Lauren Poe, Mayor of Gainesville, “Sustainable Cities”
TeamWork: Footprints and Handprints project
Readings: Thiele, pp. 116-144; Worldwatch, pp. 244-252, 279-291; Francis Moore Lappe, “Scarcity-mind or Eco-mind?” Solutions Journal at http://www.thesolutionsjournal.org/node/22191
September 28: Dr. Thiele, “Communicate, Collaborate, Consume Responsibly & Coevolve”
October 3: Footprints and Handprints projects due at noon, with presentations in class
Readings: Ishmael, from beginning through Chapter 8 (approximately 150 pages)
October 5: Dr. Thiele, Mid-term exam assignment and Sustainble Solutions team project explained,
and new teams formed
October 10: No class: Dr. Thiele is at a conference in Berlin, Germany.
TeamWork double session: Sustainable Solutions project. Give TeamWork forms to TA.
October 12: No class: Dr. Thiele is at a conference in Berlin
Mid-term exam to be submitted on Canvas by 5 pm
Section 4: Sustainability Practiple: Diversity serves Resilience
October 17: Dr. Jane Southworth, UF Geography: “Geographical Sciences and Sustainability”
TeamWork: Sustainable Solutions project
Readings: Worldwatch, pp. 353-362; “Synthesis on Biodiversity.” (from the Millennium Assessment Report), pp. 18-41, at http://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.354.aspx.pdf
Watch 10 minute TED talk by AJ Jacobs, “The World’s Largest Family Reunion”
http://www.ted.com/talks/aj_jacobs_the_world_s_largest_family_reunion_we_re_all_invited
October 19: Dr. Thiele, “Diversity serves Resilience”
Section 5: Sustainability Practiple: Plan to Survive, Adapt to Thrive
October 24: Matt Williams, Director, UF Office of Sustainabilty, “Conservation and Creativity in Large
Organizations”
TeamWork: 16 Sustainable Solutions project
Readings: Worldwatch, pp. 317-331; Watch 23 minute TED talk by Janine Benyus, “Biomimicry’s Surprising Lessons from Nature’s Engineers,” at
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/janine_benyus_shares_nature_s_designs.html;
Watch 17 minute TED talk by Steven Johnson, “Where Good Ideas Come From,”
http://www.ted.com/playlists/20/where_do_ideas_come_from
October 26: Dr. Thiele, “Technological Challenges”