Download Geography 12: Environmental Conservation

Geography 12: Environmental Conservation
Course Syllabus • Spring Semester 2005 • Wilson 128
Tuesday & Thursday 12:30 – 1:45 pm
Instructor: David Havlick
Office: 325 Saunders Hall
Office Hours: 2:00-3:20 Tues./Thurs. and by appointment
Email: [email protected]
Home Phone: (919) 383-2606
Introduction:
Why would a twenty-four year old woman live for more than two years on a small piece of plywood,
nearly two hundred feet up in the limbs of a redwood tree in California? Where does your food come
from and how is it produced? Is there anything wrong with driving a Hummer?
Each of these questions points in some way to the topic of environmental conservation. Working
through a foundation of environmental science, this course examines how people live in the world,
looks at how values intersect with science and other forms of knowledge to spur conservation, and
challenges us to think about what we can do to understand and, perhaps, contribute to this effort.
This is also a course in geography, so we will focus on particular places and practices, consider a
range of interactions between humans and the environment, and routinely attend to questions of scale,
pattern, and process. The success of this class will depend substantially upon each of you as active
participants: in coming to class regularly, completing assigned readings in advance, speaking up in
class, asking questions, and thinking critically and inquisitively about the places, people, and issues
we encounter.
Grading:
There will be two exams during the semester, and a final exam. The latter third of the course will
emphasize small group projects and a series of debates on particular issues such as global climate
change, forest policy, and energy production. We will also have a number of short 350-word response
papers and in-class exercises, all of which will go toward the participation component of your course
grade. The breakdown for grading is as follows:
1st exam:
2nd exam:
Group debate:
Final Exam:
Participation:
20%
20%
20%
25%
15%
Course Texts:
White, Richard T. 2005. Environmental Science, 9th edition (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Prentice Hall). Available at campus bookstore, on 2-hr reserve at the UL, or web-based version.
Orr, David W. 2004. Earth in Mind: On Education, Environment, and the Human Prospect, 10th
Anniversary Edition (Washington, D.C.: Island Press).
Class Schedule:
We will keep as close as possible to the following schedule, though expect some changes to come as the
term progresses and we try to accommodate guest speakers or other circumstances.
Date
Subject
Jan 13
Introductions, course overview
Jan 18
The role of education, personal values
Jan 20
Principles of ecology
Jan 25
Nutrient cycles
Jan 27
Conservation biology and biodiversity
Feb 1
Population
Feb 3
History of environmental conservation
Feb 8
FIRST EXAM
Feb 10
Transportation and Cities
Feb 15
Food paths
Feb 17
Water
Feb 22
Air quality, global climate change, ozone
Feb 24
Energy
March 1
Environmental ethics
March 3
Restoration ecology
March 8
Conservation activism
March 10 SECOND EXAM
March 15/17
** spring break **
March 22 Building design
March 24 UNC campus conservation
March 29 Forest Policy Debates
March 31 Atmospheric Debates
April 5
Animal Debates
April 7
Energy Debates
April 12
Food Debates
April 14
Transportation and Campus Communities
April 19
Wilderness Debates
April 21
Ecological economics & ecological modernization
April 26
Success Stories
April 28
Earth in Mind: final chapters and review
May 10
9:00 a.m. FINAL EXAM
Assignments/Readings
What is environmental conservation?
Ecological footprint, Orr: chapters 1-5
White: 29-48
White: 65-81, 90-104
E-reserve
White: 124-147
E-reserve: Leopold; NEPA
White: 635-659; Toor & Havlick: 1-12
E-reserve: Manning; White: 236-247
White: 189-202; Orr: chs. 5-8
White: ;Energy audit
White: 325-345; E-reserve: New Yorker
Orr: chs. 9-12
E-reserve: Pollan
E-reserve: Berry
Orr: 13-16
Cynthia Shea
Orr: 17-19
Orr: 20-21
Orr: 22-finish