EST 366
Attitudes, Values and the Environment
Spring 2001
Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:30 am - 12:50 pm
212 Marshall Hall
Dr. Valerie A. Luzadis Graduate Assistant: Joseph Dadey
307 Bray Hall; Telephone: 470-6693 B7 Marshall Hall
e-mail: vluzadis@mailbox.syr.edu Phone - 470-4725 (o); 428-0969 (h)
Office hours: Appointments preferred; e-mail: jfdadey@mailbox.syr.edu
M, F 1:00-2:00 pm Office hours: T, Th: 1-2:30 pm
Description
This course is designed to help students begin to articulate their environmental values and ethics. Two distinct approaches are used to achieve this goal: a humanities perspective, and a social science perspective. A review of many of the world's religions focuses on understanding of how each relates to the natural world and how these beliefs manifest themselves in attitudes and behaviors toward the environment. This is followed by examination of a study of environmental values in American culture, exploring attitudes, cultural norms and the relationships among science, religion, and policy. The nature of this subject lends itself to exploration through questions, and this course will proceed by asking questions and thinking critically about how we relate to our natural world and make everyday decisions that influence it.
Key learning objectives for the course:
1. To facilitate your ability to positively state your own views incorporating course information.
2. To facilitate your ability to constructively critique your own and others’ ideas.
3. To provide you with the opportunity to be open to perspectives very different from your own.
Structure
Students will be asked regularly to write and discuss their thoughts about the course readings and in-class discussions. Thus, the readings and participation in class are crucial. The format of the course revolves around discussions of the readings. There are no formal lectures. The focus of the classroom meetings is to help each student to have a clear understanding of the readings, how they relate to development of environmental values and attitudes, and to think critically.
The primary requirements for the course are listed below and provide the basis for evaluation.
1) Respectful, constructive participation in class discussions
2) Reading and comprehending assigned materials
3) Thinking critically
4) In-class writing assignments
5) Keeping a course journal
6) Completion of one small project
7) Completion of a final exam
Requirements and Performance Criteria
Class Participation
Much of the learning process will take place through guided discovery discussions during the class meeting times. Therefore, attendance and active participation is required. We will operate using a “barn- raising” approach in which we all work together to explore questions and answers to help each other to build ideas. We will follow the basic rules of civil discourse using the principles of respect, trust, and active listening.
The performance criteria for this requirement are regular attendance and active, constructive participation in class.
Required Reading
Botzler, Richard G. and Susan J. Armstrong. 1998. Environmental ethics: divergence and convergence. McGraw-Hill: Boston, MA.
Callicott, J. Baird. 1994. Earth’s insights: a multicultural survey of ecological ethics from the Mediterranean Basin to the Australian Outback. University of California Press: Berkeley, CA.
Kempton, Willet, James S. Boster, and Jennifer A. Hartley. 1995. Environmental values in American culture. The MIT Press: Cambridge, MA.
The reading due for each day in class is listed on the course schedule. Since there are no class lectures, it is essential to your learning process that you complete readings prior to the due date. Class discussions will build on the readings.
The performance criteria for this requirement is completion and understanding of the reading and will be indicated by your active, knowledgeable participation in class discussions; development demonstrated through your journal entries, and through in-class writing exercises.
Critical Thinking
Successful, effective education requires critical thinking. College President Neil Murphy's Inaugural Address (http://www.esf.edu/inaugural/address.html) highlighted the importance of critical thinking skills. "Without such experience we have students who have command of the facts, understand the theory, but fundamentally don't know how to use the tools." Critical thinking encompasses applying knowledge, modeling, reasoning, analyzing, synthesizing, and being creative. It necessitates being open minded, inquiring and following through to another level of understanding. It involves questioning assumptions, challenging the status quo and making new assumptions to help formulate innovative and improved ideas of how the world works. Throughout this course, you will be challenged to improve your critical thinking skills, in class discussions and in graded exercises.
The performance criteria for this requirement are: 1) to improve your level of critical thinking throughout the semester; 2) to reflect this growth in your in-class writings and your journal; 3) completion of regular entries in your course journal.
In-class Writing
There will be a series of in-class writing assignments to help you to pull together key ideas from the reading and to develop and demonstrate your critical thinking skills. The format will vary, sometimes it will entail choosing 2 of 3 or more questions on which you will write for 30-40 minutes. The format may require you to read and critique or compare a paper to the course readings. These writings will be collected to be graded and then discussed in class. The basis for the writing will be the facts and ideas learned through the readings and class discussions.
The performance criteria for this requirement are: 1) how well you construct your argument; 2) how well you support your argument; 3) the extent to which you use material from this course to support your argument.
Course Journal
The goal of the journal is for it to be a substantive source of information summarizing the course material and your learning process. This will end up being your “Cliff Notes” for EST 366. It is not something you could write during the class meetings, rather it is to be a distillation of class reading notes and synthesis of ideas from discussion and reading. The format of the journal must be a 3-ring binder to allow easy addition of pages. We strongly suggest that you use a small sized binder for ease in carrying outside, 5.5 x 8.5 is ideal, 3.5 x 6 is too small for some of the directed activities. The suggested binders are available at the Orange Student Bookstore.
We envision three entry types.
1. Directed reading summaries and activities as assigned.
These may include using both left and right brain approaches to summarizing course readings. For instance, you could be asked to sketch or diagram something, or possibly to attempt to capture the essence of it in haiku.
2. Reflections on selected essays and nature.
You will be asked to read four essays to reflect upon each after spending some time in nature. Based on the ideas of Satish Kumar, being in nature is essential to understanding one’s own attitudes, values, and ethics about the natural environment. For these entries, you will be asked to first read an essay that has been influential in environmental science and values, and then to spend at least one and half hours of quiet time in a natural setting. At the end of that time, reflect upon the essay you read earlier. The idea is to let the meditative aspects of quiet time in nature to help you to access new ideas about the world. The quiet time in nature could be walking, cross-country skiing, or ice fishing, but probably not a snowball fight or tobogganing or active engagement with others.
Since each person has a different relationship with nature and different level of desire to be outside during a Syracuse “spring” semester, these essays will not be given specific assignment dates. Instead, you are required to complete all four, individually, before the end of classes on May 1.
The four essays are included in Botzler and Armstrong (1998). They include:
Reading 38 - Turner, Frederick. The Invented Landscape
Reading 45 - Leopold, Aldo. The Land Ethic
Reading 56 - Hardin, Garrett. Tragedy of the Commons
Reading 53 - Spretnak, Charlene. States of Grace
Many of you, especially juniors and seniors, may have read some of these before. That’s okay, but read it again, for this purpose. I think you will find the need to do so, to be able to adequately reflect in your journal.
3. Other entries for your own use.
This might include the “must know” points for each chapter. For instance, if you were going to talk about this with someone who had never heard of the culture, what would you share, and what aspects absolutely must be included in order for the description to be complete. Given that some of your directed entries to the journal are likely to be something other than traditional word summaries of chapters, this is the place to do this. This entry type will be extremely helpful in your preparation for in-class writing exercises.
The performance criteria for the journal are: 1) completion of required entries such that they convey to the reader the God-Human-Nature relationship and the key points that distinguish this from other cultures or traditions (for Callicott); 2) completion of the reflections on the four essays showing critical thinking skills and strong development of ideas; 3) number and quality of other entries, reflecting course material and critical thinking development.
Small Project
You will be asked to conduct an interview with one person and write it up as a case study of this person’s environmental attitudes and values, specific to a main theme question and prompting topics as decided in class. The case study should be 2 to 4 pages in length, typed, double-spaced, 12 point font. The write-up should be an essay describing the citizen, interpreting their responses, and using their responses as support (both by paraphrasing and with the occasional quotation). It should be similar to the citizen case studies in Kempton et al. (1997) Appendix D. More specifics will be shared in a handout.
The performance criteria for the interview are: 1) effectively communicating the interviewee’s attitudes and values as per the main theme; 2) effectively linking the interviewee’s positions to the course material; 3) timely completion of the project following instructions.
Final Exam
The final exam will be an open book, take home exam given on the last day of class with the due date to be announced. Performance criteria will be given when the exam is handed out.
Evaluation
In-class Writing - 25%
Course Journal - 25%
Class Participation - 10%
Project - 10%
Final Exam - 30%