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Syllabus

ENV 103 –Foundations of Natural History and Environmentalism

Instructor:  Dr. Keith S. Summerville

Contact Information: 271-2265; keith.summerville@drake.edu

Office Hours:  Harvey-Ingham, 30-A - M, W: 3-4 pm; T, R: 10-11am; F 11am-12pm

Course Description:

This 3-credit course is intended to help students interested in environmental science and policy develop an advanced understanding of the philosophical and ethical underpinnings of their discipline, through reading, discussions, and outdoor field activities.  Students are also encouraged to deepen their personal connections to the natural world through their own writing and field exploration. 

Course Organization:

Lecture:  M W F 2:00 – 2:50 PM

The format for this class is largely centered around group discussion and evaluation of the writings and philosophies of historical and contemporary ‘environmentalists’.  Students are expected to come prepared to discuss both the main ideas of each day’s reading as well as their reactions to how the authors view the environment.  Formal lecture will be kept to a minimum, except when background material on the authors or their philosophies will enrich the discussion.  Occasionally, class will meet outdoors for exercises and quantitative observations that will heighten awareness for the roots of modern environmentalism and allow students to explore philosophical concepts such as the differences between Natural and Unnatural features of the ecological landscape.

Textbook:

There is no required textbook for this course, and the required readings will be distributed in a reading packet or, in some cases, separately one week before discussion.

Assignments:

There are three major “assignments’ that will comprise the bulk of the work I will use to evaluate student performance. 

1)      “Special Place” Assignment / Private Reflections:  I am requiring each of you to find a special place for quiet reflection on nature and the development of your own, individual environmental ethic.  I want you to keep a journal of your thoughts and feelings while you are visiting your special place, and I want you to make a highly concerted effort to visit your site at least once per week for at least an entire hour.  Thus at a minimum, I am expecting you to have 15 entries in your journal.  The precise format for your writing is highly individualized, some may use poetry, others may use stream-of-consciousness, others may find formal writing more appropriate.  You may find that your approach to writing changes as we explore how other authors choose to express their environmental views.  This assignment is not trivial!  I am expecting you to make connections between yourself and Nature- that means asking questions, finding answers, and reacting to sites, sounds, and occurrences while you are in your special place.  I will review journals at the end of September and October to make sure that you are meeting my expectations and to suggest ways to improve your writing.  This assignment is worth 200 points, and will be DUE FINALS WEEK.

2)      Reaction Papers (3-4 pages each):  Below, I present four topics that will comprise the themes for each of you to write reaction papers.  Although there are four topics, I am only expecting you to write a total of THREE (3) reaction papers- thus you may choose from the list below.  Papers will be due one week after we cover the readings upon which the topics are based.  For example, Theme 1 essentially asks you to comment and criticize current approached to resource valuation in light of how individuals such as Darwin, Thoreau, and Native Americans view Nature.  We complete the readings for this topic on Sept. 25, so the paper will be due October 2.  Papers will be worth 120 points total.

Paper 1:  Comment and Criticize (if appropriate) the emerging concept of “resource valuation” whereby Nature is viewed as an economic commodity.  Due October 2.

Paper 2:  Will conservation efforts best be served if humans accept that they are part of Nature or stewards of Nature?  What is the human “place”: in Nature?  Due Oct. 30.

Paper 3:  How do individuals in the Wise Use movement view Nature?  Should Wise Use be viewed as a form of “Enlightened Environmentalism”?  Due Dec. 4.

Paper 4:  Is EcoPhobia a real phenomenon and does it have the potential to create a generation of Indifference among our youth?  How can we effectively teach individuals to interrelate with Nature?  Due Dec. 11.

3)      I will give three short quizzes throughout the semester to assess the degree to which you understand the main ideas from our readings.  The tentative schedule for quizzes is given on the syllabus, and I am anticipating that each quiz will be given on a Wednesday within a given week.  Each quiz is worth 30 points, combined to yield 90 total points.

Evaluation:

There are 510 possible points for this course.  Points are outlined above, with the addition of 100 total points for classroom participation.  Students will be evaluated based on the number of points they receive out of the total possible.  Grading follows University standards, final grades will be A, B, C, D, or F.  I reserve the right to dock points from your participation grade for excess absences, and turning in assignments late is unlikely to please me either. 

Tentative Schedule and Required Readings (from current syllabus, Fall 2002)