Summer 2003 M,T,W,Th,F 2:00-3:50
Instructor: John Hausdoerffer Office Hours: M-F 1:00-2:00
jhausdoerffer@western.edu Office: 110B Kelly Hall
This course will examine American environmental ethics from multi-cultural perspectives and positions. I have two interrelated goals for this course. First, we will discuss the central questions of traditional environmental ethics: does nature have intrinsic value, worthy of serious ethical concern? Have the core values of Western society philosophically promoted an exploitive anthropocentric (human centered) ethic, or have they fostered stewardship and respect for the non-human? If the former, then is a biocentric ethic (one that prioritizes the non-human) the best alternative to anthropocentrism, or is there an ideal ethical space in between, a sustainable human place in nature? These questions reflect a tradition of thought that views civilization and humans as somewhat distinct from the natural world that they inhabit and from which they sustain themselves. This traditional ethics aims to conceptualize ideal relationships between humans and nature.
The second, and primary, purpose of this course is to complicate these traditional questions of environmental ethics with those of cultural studies. Cultural history and theory suggest that all cultures have used and changed the environment. Such a statement suggests that nature (more than we may realize) has included, and does include, culture. If cultural studies challenge the idea of a pristine nature separate from culture, then we must reassess what nature is, and why and how we should value nature. Again, questions will drive our study: To what extent should the historical omnipresence of culture in nature shape our definitions of nature? Is wilderness a myth? What constitutes an environment worthy of protection? Are environmental issues synonymous with issues of native rights, social justice, and gender equality, or do environmental issues arise out of different relationships than those of race, class, and gender? Have mainstream environmental movements to preserve nature helped or hindered ÒsubalternÓ social movements? What might a culturally complex and historically accurate environmental ethics look like? This course will introduce you to the expanding interdisciplinary fields of environmental ethics, environmental history, Native American studies, environmental justice, and eco-feminism in understanding and exploring these questions.
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REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS are available for students who have a documented disability. Please notify the instructor during the first week of class of any accommodations needed for this course. Late notification may cause the requested accommodations to be unavailable. All accommodations must be approved through the Learning Assistance Center: 943-7056.
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Requirements: I will divide your grade into three categories:
100 poss. points =100%
1. Class Discussion
I take participation seriously. Your discussion grade will assess the extent to which your contributions reflect reading preparation, stimulate discussion, and show respect towards the ideas of fellow students. If you have little experience with classroom participation, or if you are painfully shy, PLEASE come by my office and talk with me. DonÕt panic! I can help you think about cultivating an active role in class that fits your strengths and pushes your limitations.
Each of you will be responsible for posing the
opening discussion question for ONE reading. After posing your question (either the
day before or on the day of the discussion of your selected reading), you will
facilitate the discussion until you feel your question has been adequately discussed
or until you feel a new question has been raised. Your job is to get us started in discussing how the text
helps us understand the complexity of environmental ethics. Craft the question in a way that will
best promote lively, fun, yet serious discussion of the assigned reading. Get creative; enjoy this opportunity to
shape your classmatesÕ education!
2. Readings
Quizzes: I will issue these randomly. I will center quizzes around a question
based on the reading(s) assigned for the day of each random quiz. If you have read carefully, have taken
some basic notes from your readings (jotting down key points of the author and
your own key observations/questions), and look them over before class, you will
do just fine.
á 0=No entry.
á 1-2=You answered the question.
á 3=Your answer reflects that you read the assignment.
á 4=You answered the question in a way that reflects careful reading.
á 5=You answered the question, used the readings to support your answer, and pushed your own, the textÕs, and the groupÕs ideas on the topic in thoughtful directions.
3. Service journal.
As you can see below in the course schedule, we will visit several (two or three) Òservice sites,Ó where we will participate in a community project devoted to cultural and environmental improvement. I want you to reflect on each experience. Discuss how it helps you in contemplating major course-themes found in readings, discussions, and mini-lectures. Write in it as we go. Each entry must be at least two pages, and can extend as far as your mind, experience, and pen take you. Turn in your journal two class periods after a service experience.
4. Presentation/Paper.
This is a two-step paper requiring complex
connections and critiques. First,
as a reflective piece, I want you to articulate how cultural studies (the
readings, lectures, and discussions of this course) have caused you to
reconsider the basic assumptions and philosophies of your own environmental ethic. Secondly, I want you to select and explain one current environmental issue or organization. Analyze and critique the issue or
organization from the perspective of your articulated environmental ethic. Essentially, I want you to answer the
following: What aspects of existing approaches to your environmental issue
might your environmental ethic support?
What aspects might your environmental ethic challenge? Given that, how do you think your issue
or organization should change from here?
We will talk more about possible issues or organizations as the semester
progresses.
This
research project will manifest itself in two forms: a fifteen-minute
presentation, followed by five to ten minutes
of Q&A, and a 6-8-page paper. We will devote the final week of class
to sharing and discussing your findings.
The paper will be due at the beginning of the final day of class.
COURSE SCHEDULE (tentative)
Week 1 (5/27-5/30): What is Environmental Ethics?
á
Tue:
Introductions.
á Wed: Read Ursula LeGuinn, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas. Read Aldo Leopald, from A Sand County Almanac.
á Thur: Read Genesis 1-3; Read from Ishmael; Read ÒIroquois Creation Story.Ó
á Fri: Maybe visit Dr. StigerÕs Tenderfoot Site? Read Shepard Krech III, ÒThe Ecological Indian: IntroductionÓ; Read Cronon and White, ÒIndians in the Land.Ó
Week 2 (6/2-6/6): Indian Cultures and the Environment.
á Mon: Read Cronon, ÒThe Trouble with Wilderness.Ó Read Winona LaDuke, All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life. ÒIntroduction.Ó
á
Tues: Read Winona LaDuke, All Our Relations: Native
Struggles for Land and Life. Chapters 1 and 3.
á
Wed: Read LaDuke, Chapters 5 and 7.
á
Thur: Read LaDuke, Chapters 8-10.
á
Fri: Service:
Conservation work at HartmanÕs Rocks.
Week 3 (6/9-6/13): Environmental Justice.
á
Mon: Read from The Environmental Justice Reader [EJ]. Pp. 2-26; 58-77.
á
Tues: Read EJ, Chapters 4 and 5.
á
Wed: Read EJ, Chapter 6. Library visit for final presentations/papers.
á
Thur: Read EJ, Chapters 9 and 11.
á
Fri: Read EJ, Chapters 15 and 18.
Week 4 (6/16-6/20): Partnership Ethics.
á
Mon: Read Carolyn Merchant, Earthcare: Women and the
Environment [EC]. ÒIntroductionÓ and Chapter 1.
á
Tue: Read EC, Chapters 2 and 3.
á
Wed: Read EC, Chapters 4 and 5.
á
Thur: Read Chapter 7 and ÒConclusion: Partnership Ethics.Ó
á
Fri: Service: Organic
Farm in Crested Butte. (Afternoon
of the 16th? Morning of
the 20th?)
Week 5 (6/23-6/26): Rethinking a Culturally Complex Environmental Ethic.
á
Mon-Thur: Student
Presentations! In any successful
course, students should become teachers of each other, their communities, and
their instructor by the end of the semester. I have yet to be proven wrong, and I look forward to the
conversations your presentations spark.
Fifteen minutes per presentation, with 5-10 minutes for
questions/conversation.
o
Hand in final papers at the beginning of class,
6/26. Students presenting on 6/26
may hand in papers no later than 10:00 AM on 6/27 in my office. I WILL NOT ACCEPT LATE PAPERS, EXCEPT
UNDER EXTREME AND DOCUMENTED CIRCUMSTANCES.