Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday and
Friday 1-2, Monday and Wednesday 10-11 and by appointment. I encourage you to come to me with questions,
concerns, random ideas, etc.
Course
objectives and description:
In this course we will answer the question, “What
does sociology have to do with the environment?”, a very understandable
question to which I would answer, “How can you possibly study the environment without sociology?” We’ll see where you end up. Our goals will be to:
- Understand the basic concepts and theories that
make up the field of environmental sociology, including understanding what a
sociological perspective brings to the study of the environment.
- Understand the connections between inequality in
society (along class, racial, gender, and global lines) and the distribution of
environmental goods and bads.
- Understand how sociological concepts help us to
understand people’s relationships to their environments and their attitudes
about the environment.
- Identify the key environmental problems facing our
local and global societies and how a sociological approach helps us to develop
potential solutions to these problems.
- Use a wide range of sociological methods,
including original research, to investigate topics related to the environment.
Course
Requirements:
Other issue blog post and presentation. In teams of 2-3 students, you will pick some
environmental problem or topic not discussed in our course readings. You will
research this topic and then apply course concepts in order to help understand
this topic/problem. You will write a blog post telling us what you learned and
also make a 10-minute presentation in class about your topic/problem. More
details about this assignment will be distributed in class.
Consumption Diary.
Starting the first week of the semester, you will keep a consumption
diary, recording everything you buy.
This includes any declining balance on your Hanover account, any other
food, drinks, clothes, books, whatever.
If you buy it, write it down somewhere in your diary. You should also keep a running commentary
reflecting on what you bought and why.
So at least once a week you should reflect on what you bought for that
week and why. At the end of the 1 month,
you should turn in the diary itself along with a 4 page reflection on the
diary, making connections between your own consumption and course readings. Due: Monday, Feb. 9th.
Sociology of supermarkets paper. For this paper you will
visit at least two different types of supermarkets or places where you can buy
food. Other places you can buy food include a natural foods store, a farmer’s
market, a roadside stand, a convenient store, etc. In your paper you will
reflect on the experience of shopping in these two locations, making
connections to course readings. Due:
Friday, March 6th.
Social construction of nature reflection. For this assignment, you will visit a place
that you consider “natural” and a place you consider “not natural.” Reflect on
the experience of being in each of those places. In your paper, you should
explain why each of your places fits the criteria (why one is “natural” and one
is “not natural”) drawing on discussions from Bell. Then you should describe
your experience in each of these places. Due:
Friday, April 3rd.
Blog posts: Over the course of the
semester, you will complete a total of 3
posts on our class blog. More details about blog posts will be distributed
in class.
Final. The final for this class may
be in-class or take-home, but will be cumulative. We will discuss the final in more detail
during the semester.
Class participation:
Do
not assume that if you sit through the bulk of this course like a mindless
zombie that you will receive a passing grade for participation. Being an active participant in this class can
be just as demanding as doing well on a paper or exam and I take it just as
seriously. I will be carefully
monitoring your participation and providing you with feedback throughout the
semester, so do take this grade seriously.
Grading
Total: 500 points
Attendance
You may miss three
(3) classes at any point in the semester without being penalized in any
way, shape or form. For every absence
beyond those three, your final grade for the course will be lowered by one grade step (for example, if your final grade
is an A- and you miss one class over three, your final grade will be lowered to
a B+). I will keep attendance, but you
are responsible for keeping track of your own absences.
Academic
conduct
All students are expected to conduct themselves in
an ethical manner with respect to academic honesty. This applies to class related activities
outside, as well as within, the classroom.
Anyone engaging in plagiarism, cheating, or any other form of academic
dishonesty will be penalized as indicated in the Hanover
college course catalog. Ignorance of the law is no excuse, so if you
have any questions about what constitutes plagiarism, please consult the
following website http://www.hanover.edu/Library/plagiarism.htm or
come see me.
Duggan
Library LibGuide
Environmental Studies:
Sociology:
Required
readings
Michael Mayerfeld Bell. 2004. An Invitation to Environmental Sociology. Pine Forge Press.
Richard Reed. 1997. Forest
Dwellers, Forest Protectors: Indigenous Models for International Development. Allyn and Bacon.
Raj Patel. 2008. Stuffed and
Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System. Melville House.
Course
schedule
Readings with an asterisk (*) will be on reserve in
the library, distributed in class or available online through My Hanover. All other readings are in required texts.
Jan. 5 (M)
|
Getting started
|
Jan. 7 (W)
|
Bell, Chap. 1
|
Jan. 9 (F)
|
Bell, Chap. 2, pp. 41-57
|
Jan. 12 (M)
|
Bell, Chap. 2, pp. 57-64
|
Jan. 14 (W)
|
Bell, Chap. 3, pp. 65-83
|
Jan. 16 (F)
|
Stuffed and Starved, Introduction
|
Jan. 19 (M)
|
Bell Chap. 3, pp. 83-94
|
Jan. 21 (W)
|
Stuffed and Starved, Chap. 1
|
Jan. 23 (F)
|
Stuffed and Starved, Chap. 2
|
Jan. 26 (M)
|
Film: A Place at the Table
|
Jan. 28 (W)
|
Bell, Chap. 4, pp. 95-110
|
Jan. 30 (F)
|
Stuffed and Starved, Chap. 3
|
Feb. 2 (M)
|
Stuffed and Staved, Chap. 4
|
Feb. 4 (W)
|
Bell, Chap. 4, pp. 110-122
|
Feb. 6 (F)
|
Stuffed and Starved, Chap. 5
|
Feb. 9 (M)
|
Bell, Chap. 5, pp. 123-137
Consumption
Diary due
|
Feb. 11 (W)
|
Bell, Chap. 5, pp. 137-145
|
Feb. 13 (F)
|
Stuffed and Starved, Chap. 6
|
Feb. 16 (M)
|
Stuffed and Starved, Chap. 7
|
Feb. 18 (W)
|
Stuffed and Starved, Chap. 8
|
Feb. 20 (F)
|
Stuffed and Starved, Chap. 9
|
Feb. 23 (M)
|
Winter Break
|
Feb. 25 (W)
|
Winter Break
|
Feb. 27 (F)
|
Winter Break
|
March 2 (M)
|
Bell, Chap. 6
|
March 4 (W)
|
Other issues
presentations
|
March 6 (F)
|
Sociology of
supermarkets due
|
March 9 (M)
|
Other issues
presentations
|
March 11 (W)
|
Bell, Chap. 7, pp. 169-187
|
March 13 (F)
|
Bell, Chap. 7, pp. 187-200
|
March 16 (M)
|
Bell, Chap. 8
|
March 18 (W)
|
Other issues
presentations
|
March 20 (F)
|
Film: Rachel Carson’s Silent
Spring
|
March 23 (M)
|
Other issues
presentations
|
March 25 (W)
|
Other issues
presentations
|
March 27 (F)
|
Bell, Chap. 8
|
March 30 (M)
|
Reed, “Introduction” and “Gurarani Social
Organization”
|
April 1 (W)
|
Reed, “Guarani Production”
|
April 3 (F)
|
Reed, “Contemporary Development and Guarani
Communities”
Social
construction of nature paper due
|
April 6 (M)
|
Reed, “Indigenous Models for Sustainable
Development”
|
April 8 (W)
|
Bell, Chap. 9
|
April 10 (F)
|
Bell, Chap. 10, pp. 254-266
|
April 13 (M)
|
Bell, Chap. 10, pp. 266-278
|
April 15 (W)
|
Bell, Chap. 11, pp. 280-294
|
April 17 (F)
|
Bell, Chap. 11, pp.294-304
|
No comments:
Post a Comment