Integrative Seminar in Environmental Studies, Spring 2008, O'Donnell

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Calendar

last update: April 11, 2008

Week 1  (Jan 14)

- Read the syllabus requirements. 

- Read notes on the service activity/ project. 

- Begin reading The End of Nature by McKibben

 

Week 2  (MLK Day--No class!)

- Arrange to meet with me this week to review of a draft of your syllabus, and to pin down service/ project arrangements.

- Read The Government Sanctioned Bombing of Appalachia, by Antrim Caskey, AlterNet.org, Tuesday 09 October 2007.

- Don't miss Dave Cooper, Thurs Jan 24, 7:15-8:15pm, Ball Hall (art building) auditorium (rm 127), presenting the Mountaintop Removal Road Show, a slide presentation about the ongoing destruction of the Appalachian mountains through radical strip mining. 

 

Week 3  (Jan 28) 

- Syllabus due.  Email as an attachment, to be posted on the web. 

- Also, the following writing assignment is due:  Wrote a short memo to me and to your classmates, explaining your interest in environmental studies courses.  What classes have you taken?  Why are you interested in the topic? What area of environmental studies interests you?  Be prepared to present to the class. 

- Finish reading McKibben.  Be prepared to discuss. 

- Also, click here to read the NPR article about Censoring Science: Inside the Political Attack on Dr. James Hansen and the Truth of Global Warming, by Mark Bowen, Dutton 2007. 

- Don't miss this:  Weds Jan 30, 8-9pm, Brown Hall (science building) auditorium (rm 112).  Global Warming: The 2% Solution, a live, interactive webcast produced with the support of the National Wildlife Federation. 

 

Week 4

- Read - Our oceans are turning into plastic...are we? by Susan Casey.  Online, from Best Life Magazine, Feb 20, 2007. 

- Read the first section (to p97) of Big Coal by Jeff Goodell.

 

Weeks 5 and 6:  NO CLASS MEETING - Continue reading Big Coal.  Begin readings for your customized syllabus.  Work your service hours.

 

Week 7

- Finish Big Coal. 

- Read "Coal Company Hit With E.P.A.’s Largest Civil Penalty [about Don Blankenship and Massey Energy]" by Ian Urbina, NY Times online, January 17, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/17/us/17cnd-mine.html

- Also, the following writing assignment is due:  Wrote a short memo to me and to your classmates, reporting on your outside readings and your service project. 

March 10 to 14:  SPRING BREAK!

 

Week 8

- No class meeting.  

Week 9

- Class meets.  Prepare to present on your readings and service. 

Week 10

- No class meeting.   

Week 11

- No class meeting.   

Week 12 (Apr 7)

- Drafts of major writing project due.  Bring to class 2 extra copies of the draft, for writing groups.

Week 13

- No class meeting.  . 

Week 14

- Final writing projects due.  Presentations to other class members.  We'll have class at AMICA, Jim's farm.  We'll meet outside the front of Burleson Hall--or inside on the first floor if it's raining--at 3:30 and carpool over.  We'll have power point presentation equipment set up.  We'll do presentations; you'll turn in your final writing projects; then Jim says he'll build a fire and have some treats if anyone wants to hang out and socialize at the farm in the evening.  Yeah!

 

No final exam period.