Philosophy 480/680 ö Advanced Environmental Ethics: - Fall 2001
ÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊÊ Environmental Philosophy and
Environmental Activism
Dr. Michael P. Nelson
Office: 416 CCC (346-3907)
Office Hours: 1-1:50 MTR, and by appointment
OBJECTIVE
This course will be an in-depth exploration of the connections between more theoretical environmental philosophy and various forms of environmental activism.
Purchase:
Don E. Marietta Jr. and Lester Embree, eds.,Ê Environmental Philosophy and Environmental Activism (Rowman and Littlefield, 1995).
Eric T. Freyfogle, ed., The New Agrarianism: Land, Culture, and the Community of Life (Island Press, 2001).
Other readings will be distributed by your instructor or placed on e-reserve in the library.
REQUIREMENTS
Students will be expected to participate regularly and take an active role in classroom discussions.Ê Students will also be responsible for more formal presentations in class and leading classroom discussions.
Students will be expected to prepare writing assignments on a regular basis.Ê The majority of the grade will be determined by a substantial term paper (i.e., roughly 10-15 pages).
Students will be expected to do all of the reading and attend all of the classes.Ê Failure here will result in failure in the above requirements.Ê (Note: any student missing more than 3 sessions of the class will automatically receive a failing grade for the class)
Attendance and Participation = Approx. 25%
Small Writing Assignments = Approx. 25%
Term Paper = Approx. 50%
Because
this is a writing emphasis class, your work will be evaluated both for content
and for writing effectiveness.Ê For help
with philosophical writing I will distribute a handout ãWriting a Philosophy
Paperä.Ê Roughly there are three levels
of philosophical writing.Ê I will expect
your daily papers to be at a beginning level.Ê
Your final paper will be at the intermediate level.Ê Advanced writing generally occurs at the
graduate and professional levels for the purpose of publication.
SCHEDULE AND MISC.
There is no definite reading schedule.Ê We will first work through the essays in Env. Phil. and Env. Activism and then those in The New Agrarianism.
During the 2001-2002 school year I am organizing a speakers series on ãCommunity-Based Conservation Efforts in Wisconsinä.Ê A few of our class sessions will be taken by guest speakers in that series.Ê Details forthcoming.
I have also arranged a field trip on Friday, October 19th for the class.Ê You will have the opportunity to tour the Aldo Leopold reserve and Shack and we may hit the International Crane Foundation as well.Ê Details forthcoming.
GRADING SCALE
Conversion from numerical to letter grade: 95-100=A; 90-94=A-; 87-89=B+; 84-86=B; 80-83=B-; 77-79=C+; 74-76=C; 70-73=C-; 67-69=D+; 63-66=D; 0-62=F.