For the first time in human history, the North Pole can be circumnavigated. 

Melting ice opens up North-west and North-east passages simultaneously. Scientists warn Arctic icecap is entering a 'death spiral'

Welcome to

ENV 110: Introduction to Environmental Studies

Fall 2009 – TTh (12:20-1:50)
Instructor: Jim Casey
Contact Info: Holekamp Hall 214, Ext. 8102, Email: Caseyj
Office Hours: W 10:00-12:00
 

ENV110 is the gateway course to the environmental studies program.  It serves as a broad introduction to environmental studies.  It takes an interdisciplinary approach to studying the environment and is structured by case studies of contemporary environmental issues.  Throughout the semester we will look at four contemporary environmental concerns and we will look at each of them through the lenses of the social scientist, the humanist and the natural scientist.  The four topics this year are (1) Values and Environment, (2) climate change, (3) Water, and (4) poverty.  Certainly there are more than four major environmental issues in the world today, but with only 12 weeks to introduce you to the world of environmental studies – we limit our scope to these four issues.  Although we change topics every three weeks, our approach to each topic will remain the same.  One of the primary objectives of this course is to help you develop a method for thinking about environmental concerns – an interdisciplinary approach to problem solving.  At the end of the semester you will have gained some understanding of the complexity of environmental policy-making and the importance of approaching environmental problems from multiple perspectives.  Hopefully, you also will have developed a better sense of where your strengths and weaknesses are concerning your particular approach to thinking about the environment.

Required Reading:  There are NO textbooks for this class.  All of the readings are accessible on this website and are listed below in the course schedule section.  

Course Requirements:

Resource log**                             10 points

https://managementtools.wlu.edu/Forms/Authenticated/Default.aspx?14

Class and Blog Participation =   10 points - In order to facilitate class discussion, I reserve the right to give unannounced quizzes on the day's  assigned reading.

This is the class blog ----  http://energyexternalities.blogspot.com/

4 one-hour exams =                      80 points

Daily Schedule and assigned readings:

                                              CLASS SCHEDULE ~ Readings and dates may change.  Exam dates will not.

Other good sites and reading material

Poverty

Environmental Ethics

Ecology Hall of Fame

The Global Roundtable on Climate Change

Climate News  - Chicago Climate Exchange

Here are a few blogs I read (and will draw from in class for examples) on a daily basis.

Environmental Economics Blog

http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/

http://commontragedies.wordpress.com/

http://telstar.ote.cmu.edu/environ/m3/s1/index.shtml