Class Syllabus - ENV 110 (sections 02 and 03)

Introduction to Environmental Studies

Winter Term 2008 Professor Kahn

NOTE: THIS SYLLABUS IS STILL PRELIMINARY AND WILL HAVE NEW MATERIAL IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS

Contact information:

My office is Holekamp Hall 306. My office phone is 458-8036, my cellphone is 460-1421, and my e-mail is kahnj@wlu.edu . I am almost always in my office from 9:00 to 6:00, but I usually run during the noon hour. My official office hours are Monday and Friday from 9 to 11, but feel free to come by whenever. During critical times of the semester, I will also hold evening office hours. These will be announced in class.

Course objective:

The principle objective of this course is for the student to develop an interdisciplinary perspective towards understanding the causes, consequences and solutions to environmental problems. An essential part of this is the ability to integrate the tools that you have developed in other disciplinary courses into an interdisciplinary approach. We will also focus on developing your "executive summary" writing and oral presentation skills.

Your success in achieving these critical goals will be assessed in variety of ways.

Class participation(20%). I will not only expect you to keep current on your reading, but integrate diverse concepts during class discussion. I am not looking for evidence that you have read the material, I am looking for evidence that you are pursuing interdisciplinary thought paths.

First paper (20%): This paper is due February 7 and requires you to choose a book on the environment in the popular press (such as Jared Diamond's "Collapse"). You are then to summarize the central argument of the book and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence that the author provides to support the argument. You should also talk about how the book can or cannot contribute to a greater understanding of the causes of and solutions to environmental problems. It must be typed in 14 point Times New Roman font and submitted as a hard-copy. You are limited to four pages.

Second paper (20%): Choose an environmental problem and summarize the causes, consequences and solutions to the problem. Where are we lacking understanding of this problem? What types of research are needed to better understand the problem? Are the current (or proposed) solutions based on an interdisciplinary knowledge base? It must be typed in 14 point Times New Roman font and submitted as a hard-copy. You are limited to four pages.

Take home exam (20%): The take home exam will be based on the case studies presented in class.

Group oral presentation (20%): You will be assigned a group and the group will need to present a case study of human dependence on ecological services, how human activity has impacted the ability of the ecosystem to produce ecological services, and potential policy remedies. You may not discuss a case study that was part of the class lecture.

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Class outline

(underlined readings are hyper-linked, readings in black font

are available in the Environmental Studies Lab (Holekamp 213):

Topic 1: Perceptions on the relationship between humankind and the environment.

Jan 10: Readings: