Credit Hours: 3 -- Course Prerequisites: Junior Status  
Office Location: Administration Building 138   
E-mail: shadjiyannis@shawnee.edu   
Tel. #: (740) 351-3445 -- Fax #: (740) 351-3153      

General Education Program (GEP): This course satisfies the Social Science component of the GEP. Please refer to your catalog for a full description of the course requirements and the purpose of the GEP (or click here to view online)

For Students with Disabilities: If you have a specific physical, psychiatric, or learning disability and require accommodations, please let me know early in the quarter so that your learning needs may be appropriately met. By law, it is your responsibility to provide documentation of your disability to the Office of Disability Services, located in the Student Success Center , Massie Hall, (Ph) 351-3594, PRIOR to receiving services.

Attendance and Make-Up Policy: Attendance is essential to the student’s understanding of the material upon which they will be examined and rewarded with a better grade. Students have up to two days from the time a missed exam is scheduled to take a make-up exam. An Excused Absence Form obtained from the office of the Vice President for Student Affairs must be provided in order to be able to take the make-up exam. Make-ups may be granted only for documented personal health or other care giver emergencies.  The make-up exam may differ from that given to the rest of the class. 

Warning on Academic Dishonesty: There is no acceptance under any condition for academic dishonesty, whether it is plagiarism or other forms of cheating. Plagiarism is defined, according to Webster’s College Dictionary, as “the unauthorized use of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one’s own.”  To avoid plagiarism it is necessary to place anything that is not yours in quotation marks and provide a citation for its source. Students caught plagiarizing or cheating will receive an F in the course. They will also face disciplinary action which could lead to probation, suspension, or dismissal from the university.  For details on SSU’s academic misconduct policies consult your student handbook at http://www.shawnee.edu/pub/sah/StudentHandbook.pdf

Upon completion of this course students will be more knowledgeable of the fundamental relationship between humans and their environment. Students will also acquire: the conceptual tools necessary to achieve both a personal and an environmental well-being; the ability to discern connections among seemingly non-connected human actions (e.g. global economic and diplomatic relations, urban planning, alternative energy research and development, and a trip to the local mall) and the natural world; and the ability to utilize interdisciplinary approaches to the study of human behavior. But more important this is not a course designed to save the planet for its own sake; it is rather presumptuous to think that the planet can be saved or destroyed by our actions. Rather it is a course designed to create improved awareness about the need to help maintain a particular environment best suited for humanity. The leading questions here are: 

• Could a changing environment negatively affect humanity’s ability to flourish and prosper?

• And could a changed environment negatively affect humanity’s long-term survival prospects as a species?

A series of subordinate questions arise as a result. They are:

• In what ways is the environment changing?

• What is causing the changes?

• Can these changes be prevented or reversed?

• What is the nature of the relationship between the environment and humanity’s well being?

1)   Natural Science: The 1st and 2nd Laws of Thermodynamics, Chaos theory, and the Gaia Hypothesis

2)   A Sense of Time: The Origin Issue and a historical overview of environmental degradation at the local and regional level; a discussion of specific case-studies pertaining to environmental explanations for the rise and fall of past civilizations; future generations. Some discussion on the history of American environmentalism.

3)   The Dominant Social Paradigm: An examination of the many values and norms used by contemporary social science “exemplars” in regards to the course’s theme and in light of the no-escape and the “tragedy of the commons” principle

4)   The Institutional Setting: formulating and implementing policies toward the environment; pluralist societies; and “business as usual”

5)   What Can Be Done: The socio-economic obstacles and the “technological fix remedy”

6)   Energy sources and land usage, and trends in global population growth

7)   Solid and toxic waste, the greenhouse effect, water pollution and treatment, and the ozone layer

8)   The national versus the international interests: a common future or continued discord?

9)   In search of a New Dominant Social Paradigm: toward a sustainable global economy and politics in the human interest

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The student will:

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The pedagogy includes text readings, class lectures and discussions, in-class film presentations, web-based interaction, a term paper finalized following multiple drafts, current events readings and analysis, and a short oral presentation by each student. 

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Students will be evaluated by two in-class essay-type exams (each worth 30% of the total grade), a book review (worth 20%), an in-class oral presentation of the review (10%), and by class attendance, scholarly behavior, and participation in discussions (10%). Students are encouraged to: 1) read assigned material in advance of the class; 2) evince grammatically correct writing; 3) voice questions and participate in discussions in and out of class; 4) attend on a regular basis; and 5) visit, peruse, interact, and contribute to the course’s cyber pages. The grading scale would be: 90-100= A; 80-89= B; 70-79= C; and 60-69= D

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Table of Contents

I. INTRODUCTION. 

1. Introduction.

2. Human Systems, Environment, and Social Science.

II. THE EARTH'S VITAL SIGNS AND THE HUMAN FOOTPRINT.  

3. The Resources of the Earth: Sources and Sinks.

4. Global Climate Change, Scientific Uncertainty, and Risk.

5. Population, Environment, and Food.

6. Energy and Society.

III. A SUSTAINABLE WORLD?  

7. Alternative Futures: Sustainability, Inequality, and Social Change.

8. Transforming Structures: Markets, Politics, and Policy.

9. Environmentalism: Ideology, and Collective Action.

10. Globalization: Trade, Environment, and the Third Revolution.

This text features

Climate problems and policy, “greenhouse diplomacy,” current energy issues, ecological modernization, and emissions trading. Looks at current perspectives in environmental sociology and ecological economics to understand environmental problems.

Coverage of environmental movements—e.g., environmental racism, eco-theology, and a revived interest in “voluntary simplicity.” Examines current data about environmental conditions, and the policy and movements that address them

A global perspective. Considers environmental attitudes in America and around the world.

Connections among a broad range of environmental issues are a focal point throughout the text and the author examines these issues in relation to the human causes of environmental/ecosystem change. Establishes the relevance of the social sciences for understanding the causes of environmental change and finding a solution for environmental problems.

Societal and scholarly paradigms—How they shape contemporary dialogue on environmental problems. Investigates nature as a social construction and, in doing so, underlines the various assumptions people have about the way the world works.

Joint impacts of the current trends affecting the environment—Explores different scenarios for the future in relation to these trends. Provides a basis for thinking about the transformations that today's students will be living with as middle–aged people.

“Personal Connections”—At the end of every chapter. Helps students to see the personal implications of big problems.

Vignettes—At the beginning of each chapter. Engages students in the issues of each chapter.

For the first seven weeks the reading outline is: Chapters 1, 4, 5, 6, 7. For the second seven weeks the reading outline is: Chapters 2, 3, 8.

Also, during the first two weeks each student will pick an additional book on any subject related to and relevant to the course’s theme, to read and then write a book review and orally present info about the book in class. The review is due week 12 day 1. No late work will be accepted. The book review should contain a critical evaluation of themes, approaches, and/or conclusions in addition to containing a descriptive summary of the book. Click here for general instructions for a successful book review. The short and informal oral presentations will occur during weeks 12 and 13 (or as needed)

(in sequence): The Miracle Planet (part 6); Earth and the American Dream; After the Warming (parts 1 and 2)

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