|
Tentative Class Schedule |
Modified: January 10, 2011 |
| The entries in the "Assigned Reading" column refer to readings covered in class. You are expected to read the references before class and prepare typed 1-page summaries of each article, unless instructed otherwise. The references are available in electronic format, in which case a link is provided (Acrobat Reader is necessary to view these). |
| Date | Topic | Assigned Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 10 | Introduction to course. Overview of environmental studies. | Syllabus. |
| Part I: Wilderness, Wildlife and Human Values | ||
| Jan 12 | Human attitudes toward nature | |
| Jan 14 | Historical development of attitudes towards nature in the US. The scientific conservation movement. | |
| Jan 17 | Conservation vs preservation. | Readings 4-5 |
| Jan 19 | Public land use management in the US | Land use questions to answer. Possible sources: Coggins et al., "Public Land Law: an Introduction," and a CRS Report on federal land management. |
| Jan 21 | Case Study: Offshore Drilling | Taking Sides issue 7: Should we drill for offshore oil? |
| Jan 24 | The economic approach to the environment | Reading 7 Optional/background: Readings 8-9 |
| Jan 26 | The economic approach to the environment | Taking Sides issue 3: Should a price be put on the goods and services provided by the world's ecosystems? |
| Jan 28 | Case study: rainforest destruction | Readings 11-12 |
| Jan 31 | Biological diversity and its loss | Reading 13 |
| Feb 2 | The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem health | Readings 14-15 |
| Feb 4 | The Land Ethic | Reading 16-17 |
| Feb 7 | The Endangered Species Act. Case Study: Tennessee snail darter and TVA v Hill | Hoban and Brooks, "The
Problem of Extinction" |
| Feb 9 | Ecosystem management | Taking Sides issue 4: Should North America's landscape be restored to its pre-human state? |
| Feb 14 | TEST #1 | Old Tests |
| Part II: Human Pressure on Natural Resources | ||
| Feb 11 | Overview of natural resource depletion. Case study: Easter Island. | Reading 20 |
| Feb 16 | Human population growth | Readings 21-22 |
| Feb 18 | Overshoot and collapse | Summarize the movie"The Story of Stuff" (Trouble playing movie? Try going here.). Also helpful: an annotated script, and questions to consider. |
| Feb 21 | The Technologists | Readings 24-25 |
| Feb 23 | Common-pool resources | Readings 26-27 |
| Feb 25 | Sustainable Development | Taking Sides issue 2: Is sustainable development compatible with human welfare? Background: Reading 28 |
| Feb 28 | Peak Oil | Readings 29-30 |
| Mar 2 | The Hydrogen Economy | Readings 31-32 |
| Mar 4 | Alternative Energy | Either TS issue 9 (wind power) or issue 11 (biofuels) |
| Mar 14 | Nuclear Energy | Taking Sides issue 12: Is it time to revive nuclear power? |
| Mar 16 | Food production | Readings 33-34 Extra credit: Reading 35 |
| Mar 18 | Synthetic organic pesticides | Taking Sides issue 16: Should DDT be banned worldwide?Background: Readings 36-37. |
| Mar 21 | Sustainable agriculture | Minigroup
research questions (submit results of research); |
| Mar 23 | Sustainable agriculture | Taking Sides issue 15: Can organic farming feed the world? |
| Mar 28 | TEST #2 | Old Tests |
| Part III: Effects of Chemical Pollution | ||
| Mar 25 | The precautionary principle. Case study: Love Canal | Reading 39 |
| Mar 30 | The precautionary principle | Taking Sides issue 1: Is the precautionary principle a sound approach to risk analysis? |
| Apr 1 | Pollutant toxicology and risk assessment | Readings 41 & 43 |
| Apr 4 | Endocrine disrupters | Taking Sides issue 17: Do environmental hormone mimics pose a potentially serious health threat? |
| Apr 6 | Overview of air quality problems | Air
Quality Questions to
answer before class (instead of a summary sheet); |
| Apr 8 | Air pollution mortality. Case studies: the PM controversy; killer smogs. | Readings 45-46. Background: A short summary on the PM/ozone controversy. |
| Apr 11 | Economic incentives for pollution control | Readings 47-48 |
| Apr 13 | Overview of water quality problems | Reading 49. Questions to answer, using latest EPA National Water Quality Inventory |
| Apr 15 | Toxic waste sites. Superfund. | Taking Sides issue 18: Is the Superfund Program successfully protecting human health from hazardous materials? |
| Apr 18 | Global climate change | Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis (summary for policy makers) |
| Apr 20 | Environmental treaties. Case studies: Helsinki, Montreal, Kyoto | Reading 54. Background: UNEP, Action on Ozone |
| Apr 22 | Carbon capture & sequestration | Taking Sides issue 8: Is carbon capture technology ready to limit carbon emissions? |
| Apr 25 | TEST #3 (9am) | Old Tests |