ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY

 

ENVR 880

 

 

Basic Course Information:

Instructor:                      Dr. Robert J. Brulle

Office Location:              PSA Building, Room 303

Office Hours                  Mon, Tues 4:00 - 6:00 P.M. or by appointment

Telephone:                    Office:  (215) 895-2294

Email:                           brullerj@drexel.edu

 

Overview:

 

This course will examine the relationships between human society, including economic and political institutions, cultural beliefs, and individual behaviors,  and the natural environment.  Through a historical perspective, the role that social organizations play in either fostering an ecologically sustainable society, or in accelerating ecological destruction will be examined.  The course will start with a consideration of the transition from hunter‑gatherer societies to agricultural societies, and then to industrial societies, and how these transitions effected the impact of human society on the natural environment.  After this introduction, the course will focus on the dynamics of the current global industrial society and the social processes that impact on the process of ecological degradation.  The course will conclude with a consideration of the possibilities for developing an ecologically sustainable society.

 

Course Requirements:  This course has two requirements as follows:

 

1.  Class Participation:  The key to success for this course is active participation by all involved.  What is sought is to develop a cooperative atmosphere of mutual learning.  The class should be seen as the cumulative development of a group conversation.  Active and meaningful participation in the class discussions is thus required. We want to be able to use the time together as a group to share and critique ideas.  Accordingly, the students should use the time between classes to read and become conversant with the material.  A key part in learning new ideas is through their use.  Each student will prepare a one page (single spaced) written summary of the assigned readings prior to class.  Each summary will consist of a brief description of ideas presented, and what the particular reading adds to the overall conversation in the course.  Students will be assigned responsibilities for readings at the first class session.  Participation in class will constitute 40% of the course grade.

 

2.  Take Home Examinations:  This course requires completion of three short take home examinations in response to written questions provided by the instructor.  These questions will be designed to focus your application of the concepts covered in class.  You are expected to work independently.   The three papers will count for 60% of the course grade.  Each paper will focus on a specific issue covered in class, and will be approximately 1,500 words in length.

 

 

Required Texts:

 

Beck, Ulrich, 1992, Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity, Sage: Newbury Park, CA

 

Diamond, Jared 2005  Collapse:  How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, New York: Viking Press

 

Ernst, Howard R. 2003. Chesapeake Bay Blues:  Science, Politics, and the Struggle to Save the Bay. Oxford: Rowman and Littlefield

 

Ponting, Clive, 1991  A Green History of the World:  The Environment and the Collapse of Great Civilizations. New York:  St. Martins Press

 

Wackernagel, M. and Rees, W. 1996  Our Ecological Footprint:  Reducing Human Impact on the Earth.  New Society Publishers

 

The additional required readings are available on the Hagerty Library electronic reserves.


 

Course Schedule

 

Week 1 September 27, 2005  Course Overview

 

Week 2 October 4, 2005  The Ecological Impacts of Pre-Industrial Societies Part 1

Stern, P.  1993. A Second Environmental Science:  Human-Environment Interactions  Science Vol. 260 1897-1899

 

Ponting: Chapters 1-6

 

Week 3 October 11, 2005  The Ecological Impacts of Pre-Industrial Societies Part 2

Diamond, Chapters 1-9

 

Take home exam #1 assigned, due October 18th.

 

Week 4  October 18, 2005  The Development and Ecological Impacts of Industrial Societies

Ponting, Chapters 7-14

 

Diamond, Chapters 10-13

 

Week 5  October 25, 2005  Industrial Societies, Social Organization and Ecological Degradation Part I 

Ponting, Chapters 15 & 16

 

Diamond, Chapters 14-16

 

Dunlap, R.E. 1993  "From Environmental to Ecological Problems"  707-738 in Calhoun and Ritzer (eds.), Social Problems

 

Week 6  November 1, 2005  Industrial Societies, Social Organization and Ecological Degradation Part II

Schnaiberg, A. and Gould, K.A.1994 Environment and Society. New York: St. Martin's Press  pp. 45-91

 

Ernst, Chesapeake Bay Blues

 

Week 7  November 8, 2005  The Ecological Footprint of Modern Societies

Wackernagel & Rees  Our Ecological Footprint

 

York, R, Rosa, E. and Dietz, T. 2003  Footprints on the Earth: The Environmental Consequences of Modernity, American Sociological Review Vol 68: 279-300

 

Take home exam #2 assigned, due November 15th.

 

Week 8  November 15, 2005  The Development of a Risk Society

Beck, Ulrich, 1992  Risk Society:  Towards a New Modernity  Parts I & 2

 

Week 9  November 29, 2005  Social Change for an Ecologically Sustainable Society

Beck, Ulrich, 1992  Risk Society:  Towards a New Modernity  Part III

 

Ponting Chapter 17

 

Dobson, A. 1998. Strategies for Green Change, pp. 539-555 in Dryzek and Schlosberg 1998 Debating the Earth

 

Week 10  December 6, 2005  The Death of Environmentalism?

Shellenberger, M, and Nordhaus, T. 2004. The Death of Environmentalism:  Global Warming Politics in a Post-Environmental World.  El Cerrito CA: The Breakthrough Institute

 

Brulle, Robert J. And Jenkins, J. Craig 2005.  The U.S. Environmental Movement:  Crisis Or Transition?.  Paper presented at the conference: Double Standards And Simulation: Symbolism, Rhetoric And Irony In Eco-Politics, Bath, UK,  September 2005

 

Take home exam #3 assigned, due December 13th via email to brullerj@drexel.edu