Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:45 a.m. - 10:45 a.m., and by appointment

Please Note: It is my pleasure to do what I can to help you meet your goals in this class. If you find yourself having trouble, please send me e-mail, use my office hours, or set up an appointment to see me.

Peer Mentor: Mandy Macalister (macalister@vandals.uidaho.edu)

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Description from Catalog: Through class discussion, writing, field trips, community service-learning opportunities, music, art, readings, and film, students in this course explore how residents of the planet are connected to each other and the environment. For this course, the earth is viewed as a system impacted by human and natural forces and shaped by public policies and the acts of ordinary citizens. Central questions of the course concern the sustainability of the earth system, major threats to the system, and each individual’s role in maintaining its health.

Prof. Sowards’ Further Description (in addition to the previous paragraph):

Perhaps the critical question facing human societies at the dawn of the twenty-first century is: How do we collectively and individually relate to the natural environment in a sustainable way so that future generations do not inherit an impoverished world? In a time of great change and uncertainty, it is necessary for us to understand how the earth functions with its biophysical systems and how socio-political systems interact with those systems. This course is designed to give students the opportunity to begin comprehending this complexity by examining multiple perspectives and academic traditions. Only through understanding these interlocked systems and the problems facing them can be we begin to fashion solutions for them.

The course goal is three-fold: (1) begin to understand the complex social and environmental systems globally and locally; (2) begin to understand and articulate emerging solutions to global and local problems related to sustainability; and (3) improve critical thinking skills so that we can read and communicate at the college level.

REQUIRED BOOKS

The following list constitutes the required books for this course. They are available for purchase at the University of Idaho Bookstore. It is possible, even likely, that you could find some of the books cheaper through online or local booksellers.

Glenn Adelson, James Engell, Brent Ranalli, and K. P. Van Anglen, eds., Environment: An Interdisciplinary Anthology (Adelson in reading schedule)

James Gustave Speth, Red Sky at Morning: America and the Crisis of the Global Environment, with new afterword on climate change (Speth in reading schedule)

Bill McKibben, Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future (McKibben in reading schedule)

Jean Hegland, Into the Forest: A Novel (Hegland in reading schedule)

Strunk and White, The Elements of Style, fourth ed. (we will not be reading this, but it should be used often as a writing reference)

Please Note: These readings may include mature themes. Even more likely, they may advocate things with which you disagree, sometimes vehemently. We are all adults, so discussing them respectfully and maturely are crucial components of this course.

Further Note: Some of the readings are very complicated and difficult. Our task is not always to understand them fully. Instead, it is often just as important to be exposed to challenging texts and ideas and struggle with comprehending them. We may discover a year or two or ten later that we now understand that information or perspective. You may find yourself struggling mightily—we all will be at times—so take heart and be persistent and more than likely it will eventually come together and make sense. If not later in the semester or year, then perhaps when you are a graduating senior or a second-year law student or as you make your first million.

ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING

Preparedness (20%): Just as you don’t get paid for your job simply by showing up, you don’t get credit by just being in the classroom. I expect you to come to class ready to work. That means you will have read the assignment carefully and critically and will be prepared to offer your thoughts, ideas, and questions about the reading. Because my experience has taught me that many students will not do that without inducement, a significant part of your grade will be determined by your preparedness. This will be judged in several ways, including:

Attendance will be taken daily. I expect you to attend all classes; after four unexcused absences, your preparedness grade will suffer.

Participation will be evaluated by contributions to discussions, attendance, and in-class assignments, through general observations by professor, peer mentor, and peers. We have all been in classes where someone speaks almost constantly, seemingly just to hear her or his own voice. Talking a lot is not necessarily a surefire way to get high grades here (although never speaking is not a positive alternative either). Good participation requires thoughtful listening, intelligent questioning, and careful responses.

Other work done in class may be collected. Such work may be individual or collaborative assignments and is likely not to be given a letter grade but a meets / fails to meet / exceeds expectation grade.

Quizzes will be used to test student comprehension of reading material, lectures, films, and discussions. They are likely to be unannounced. If you miss a quiz, you will not have the opportunity to make it up unless you made prior arrangements with me. If we have at least five quizzes, I will drop the lowest score; if we have at least eight, I will drop the lowest two.

Reflective Reading Notes (initial notes 10% + revised notes 10% = 20%): The vast majority of what you learn in this class and others at UI begins with reading. The next step is thinking about and reflecting on that reading. Becoming a good critical reader, then, is a central task for success in this class and college generally. To encourage thoughtful reading, I require that you bring to class reading notes on days when you are reading from the Adelson, Speth, or McKibben books (this will constitute about 22 class days, give or take a couple depending on potential changes). Many days there will be multiple reading selections, and your notes should attempt to address all; however, you may explore one in more depth.

These notes should include both summary and reflection. That is, you should note the main arguments and information the author(s) presented and your thoughts about what they mean, how they connect to other readings and themes, or whether you found the argument important / interesting / misguided / incomplete / etc. Ideally, the reflection will constitute about half the notes. Less than a quarter of the notes being reflection will be considered insufficient. Your reflection must be more than you simply stating your initial opinion about the reading; that’s reactive, not reflective.

You may turn in the notes in a variety of forms, including an outline, an essay, a sheet of paper where the left side is summary and the right side reflection, bullet points, or some other method that works for you. But they must be typed, double-spaced and should be between 250 and 500 words (which is what one to two pages of typed double spaced text would be). That’s not long, so you will want to practice getting to the point quickly.

Initially, you will receive a grade of meets / exceeds / fails to meet expectation, along with a few comments. Most likely, there will be times when you fall behind or skip class or simply be at a loss for words. I recognize this and will provide a little latitude. In determining the initial overall grade for reading notes, I will figure it based on the best 75 percent, instead of a full 100 percent. For instance, assuming there are 20 days when notes are collected, I will assess them as though there were 15. (This means you can not turn in reading notes 25 percent of the time without any penalty. However, you will want the rest to be of the highest quality.)

Using the initial evaluative measures as a base, you will revise your reflective reading notes. At the end of the semester, you will turn in a selection of approximately eight of your revised reading notes (approximately 12 pages), along with the original marked up copies. These eight (you may turn in up to ten) will represent, in your estimation, the most interesting and insightful ideas you have explored from the readings. I will read and evaluate your ability to summarize the material and the clarity of your thoughts about it. (Hint: revising notes once immediately after they have been returned to you and then once more at the end of the semester as you prepare to turn in the whole set will save you time and improve your grade.)

Evening / Weekend Events (10%): This course is four credits, and the university expects you to engage in course activities (besides reading, writing, and studying) for 15 hours outside of class over the course of the semester. Some of these activities you will do on your own (e.g., listen to a relevant speaker) and some we will do as a class (e.g., field trips or view and discuss a movie). I will arrange three events for the class; you will be responsible for three more independently. (These events are still being scheduled; I will provide details as soon as they become available.) For all activities you will write up a short synopsis of the content of the speaker or movie or whatever the activity or event was, and then reflect on how it connects to the themes of our course. These papers should be typed, double-spaced, and approximately two pages.

Major Threats Paper (15%): During Unit IV (Major Threats), you will focus on one threat to research in greater detail. You may choose to either research the cause of the problem or the solutions being created. You will use the assigned readings in Adelson and Speth as beginning points but also be required to find other sources in the library and online. You will turn in a four- to five-page paper at the end of the unit that explains your findings. More details will be forthcoming, and we will schedule time to familiarize you with the research capacity of the UI Library.

Living Deliberately Project (15%): During Unit V (Living Ethically), you will participate in the Living Deliberately Project. More details will be forthcoming, but the essential premise is that you pay closer attention to how your daily lives affect the environment. You will choose a few areas to concentrate on, and each week adopt increasingly more stringent and deliberate living behaviors. For example, one area may be food, and you will experiment living with a vegetarian or vegan diet (presuming of course that you are not already a vegetarian or vegan) for two days in week one, four days in week two, and six days in week three. Another example might be reducing energy use by lowering the thermostat in your apartment or dorm room a few degrees each week. Each week you will turn in a journal that describes what you have done, how others have reacted to your experiment in simpler living, and how it connects to course themes and reading.

Final Exam and Into the Forest Paper (20%): You will have a take-home final exam, due during the scheduled final exam period. There are two parts. One part will ask a question, or questions, about Into the Forest. The other part will be a broader question, or questions, about all of the course’s content. Details will be handed out after Fall Recess.

COURSE OBJECTIVES / LEARNING OUTCOMES

The University of Idaho has adopted the following undergraduate learning outcomes:

Learn and Integrate: Through independent learning and collaborative study, attain, use and develop knowledge in the arts, humanities, sciences and social sciences, with disciplinary specialization and the ability to integrate information across disciplines.

Think and Create: Use multiple thinking strategies to examine real-world issues, explore creative avenues of expression, solve problems and make consequential decisions.

Communicate: Acquire, articulate, create and convey intended meaning using verbal and non-verbal methods of communication that demonstrate respect and understanding in a complex society.

Clarify Purpose and Perspective: Explore one's life purpose and meaning through transformational experiences that foster an understanding of self, relationships and diverse global perspectives.

Practice Citizenship: Apply principles of ethical leadership, collaborative engagement, socially responsible behavior, respect for diversity in an interdependent world and a service-oriented commitment to advance and sustain local and global communities.

At the conclusion of CORE 125, students should be able to:

Synthesize assigned materials from multiple perspectives to build a broad familiarity with sustainability issues locally and globally.

Use multiple sources critically to arrive at independent interpretations.

Read critically, pose intelligent questions, listen attentively, and write coherently.

Recognize issues of sustainability and individuals’ and society’s relationship to both the problems and potential solutions.

Use new knowledge appropriately and responsibly, now and in the future, as part of an educated citizenry.

POLICIES

Late Work Policy: Your grade drops one full grade for each day your work is late. Furthermore, you must be in class the day it is due to turn in work. If you do not come to class, your work will be counted as one day late unless you have made prior arrangements. With legitimate, documented excuses or for absences arranged ahead of time, exceptions can be made.

Grade Challenges: I am willing to entertain grade challenges provided they are submitted in writing and that you wait 48 hours after the assignment is returned before you hand in your objection. You will then need to set up an appointment with me to discuss the assignment and grade. Also, you must initiate this process within one week of the time the assignment was returned to the class. After re-evaluating a grade and meeting with you to discuss the assignment and evaluation, I may change it.

Plagiarism: To plagiarize is to present someone else’s work as your own. To present someone else’s work as your own means to use someone else’s information, ideas or writing without explicitly acknowledging with quotation marks and/or citations that the ideas and/or writing are not your own. You may be plagiarizing even if you are not directly quoting. Plagiarism is a serious offense and I will give a 0 to the first assignment in which a student plagiarizes. If a student plagiarizes again, I will fail that student in the course. Further actions may be warranted, including reporting the offense to the Dean of Students. If you have ANY questions or confusions about plagiarism, please let me know before you turn in your work. It is essential to be using others’ ideas and information; however, you just must provide credit where credit is due. You may find additional information about Academic Honesty (and dishonesty) as part of the Student Code of Conduct: (http://www.students.uidaho.edu/default.aspx?pid=56182).

Accommodations: Reasonable accommodations are available for students who have a documented disability. Please notify me during the first week of class of an accommodation(s) needed for the course. Late notification may mean that requested accommodations might not be available. All accommodations must be approved through Disability Support Services located in the Idaho Commons Building, Rm. 333, 885-7200, or dss@uidaho.edu.

EXPECTATIONS

Students will:

attend all classes.

finish assigned readings and work on time and be prepared to answer questions and discuss reading content.

spend time contemplating the basic issues discussed in class and in the reading.

treat peers and professor with respect.

engage in appropriate academic classroom behavior (e.g., arrive on time prepared to take notes, do not engage in social conversations or other disruptive acts, keep wireless phones off and out of sight, do not navigate the Internet or read/write e-mail during class on notebook computers—if this becomes a problem, no computers will be allowed in the class).

take independent steps to solve any confusion due to missed class (or other reasons) by using appropriate methods.

devote ample time to the course content despite work, social and other class obligations.

not cheat or be prepared to accept the consequences which will result in 0 points for the assignment and a second time will result in an automatic failure in the course. (Further discipline may be appropriate.)

The instructor will:

arrive in class on time and be prepared to make effective use of the students’ time.

treat students and their opinions with respect.

be available to students during office hours and at other times arranged by mutual agreement.

return e-mail and other communications within 24 hours during the work week unless I am out of town.

make every reasonable effort to assist students in attaining their academic goals.

assess student performance in as objective and accurate manner as is possible and as quickly as possible (no longer than two weeks).

challenge students to learn as much as possible.

SCHEDULE

Because of the complexity of this subject and the nature of the Core Discovery program, we will develop and elaborate on this schedule as the semester progresses. Although I have a pretty clear idea how I want the course to evolve and what the assigned readings will be, I would prefer there be some flexibility to allow us to explore other issues that arise and seem pertinent to the course.

Below shows the units and themes we will be exploring (these are not subject to change). More detailed reading and assignment schedules will be posted to the website as the class moves forward. Also, the reading assignments are to be complete before you come to class on the day they are assigned. It is always helpful to have the assigned reading with you in class.

Barebones Outline of Course

(main text for unit is in parentheses; there will be overlap in the reading, though)

I. Introduction to College, the Core, and Critical Thinking

II. Thinking Systematically about Sustainability

III. Understanding the Problems: What are they? How did we get here? What is at stake? (Speth)

IV. Major Threats: Climate, Food, Fuel (Adelson)

V. Living Ethically (McKibben)

VI. Imagining Alternative Lives (Hegland)

WEEK ONE: Introduction to College, the Core, and Critical Thinking

Tuesday, August 26

Read: Syllabus; Core Discovery Objectives, online at: http://www.students.uidaho.edu/default.aspx?pid=92805

Thursday, August 28

Read: Adelson, 9-10; Naomi Rockler-Gladen, “High School versus College Life,” online at: http://collegeuniversity.suite101.com/article.cfm/high_school_versus_college

WEEK TWO: Thinking Systematically about Sustainability

Tuesday, September 2

Read: Adelson, 1-5; 13-16

Due: Bring to class a typed definition of “sustainability” and include the source(s) you consulted to define it

Thursday, September 4

Read: Adelson, 353-61, 554-59, 704-09

WEEK THREE: Understanding the Problems, week 1

Tuesday, September 9

Read: Adelson, 365-72; James Howard Kunstler, “The Long Emergency,” Rolling Stone (March 24, 2005), online at: http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/7203633/the_long_emergency

Thursday, September 11

Read: Adelson, 237-44; Speth, ix-xv, 1-22

WEEK FOUR: Understanding the Problems, week 2

Tuesday, September 16

Read: Speth, 23-73; Adelson, 774-76, 798-801

Thursday, September 18

Read: Speth, 75-97; Adelson, 732-34 (optional), 476-78 (optional); 449-53, 468-72 (Groups A, D, F), 472-76 (Groups B, C, E)

WEEK FIVE: Understanding the Problems, week 3

Tuesday, September 23

Read: Speth, 98-116, Adelson, 551-53

Thursday, September 25

Read: Speth, 117-47, Adelson, 573-80

WEEK SIX: Understanding the Problems (and Prospects for Solutions), week 4

Tuesday, September 30

Read: Speth, 149-90; Adelson, 748-53 (Groups A, C, E), 753-58 (Groups B, D, F)

Thursday, October 2

Read: Speth, 191-201; Adelson, 608-12

WEEK SEVEN: Major Threats: Climate Change

Tuesday, October 7

Read: Speth, 203-29; Adelson, 518-30; Visit Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change website (http://www.ipcc.ch/) and search around to see what the IPCC does

Thursday, October 9

Read: No Reading. Meet ~~in Library Classroom 212A~~. Instead, meet at the Information Desk just inside the main doors.

WEEK EIGHT: Major Threats: Climate and Energy

Tuesday, October 14

Read: Adelson, 17-21; 22-25 (optional); 25-33 (Groups A, C, E); 34-49 (Groups B, D, F); 49 (all)

Thursday, October 16

Read: Adelson 795-98; 507-17; 492-506

WEEK NINE: Major Threats: Energy

Tuesday, October 21

Read: Adelson, 83-90; 107-116; 90-106 (optional)

Thursday, October 23: No class meeting; Work on paper. Prof. Sowards in Salt Lake City for Western History Association meeting

WEEK TEN: Major Threats: Food Security

Tuesday, October 28

Read: Adelson, 426-434 (all); 434-39 (Groups B, C, D); 274-79 (Groups A, E, F); listen to “The End of Food” interview with Paul Roberts at: http://www.thetakeaway.org/archives/2008/06/12/3; Read Rome Declaration and Plan of Action at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/w3613e/w3613e00.htm

Thursday, October 30

Read: No Class; Work on Paper. Professor Sowards and Mandy will be in the classroom to offer help.

WEEK ELEVEN: Living Ethically, week 1

Tuesday, November 4

Read: None

Due: Major Threats Paper

Thursday, November 6

Read: McKibben, 1-45; Adelson, 152-57; 777-81

Due: Living Deliberately Week 1 Journal

WEEK TWELVE: Living Ethically, week 2

Tuesday, November 11

Read: McKibben, 46-94; visit and examine: http://100milediet.org/; review food readings from Oct. 28

Thursday, November 13

Read: McKibben, 95-128; Adelson 567-71; 805-06

Due: Living Deliberately Week 2 Journal

WEEK THIRTEEN: Living Ethically, week 3

Tuesday, November 18

Read: McKibben, 129-76

Thursday, November 20

Read: McKibben, 177-232; Adelsom, 157-61; 253-61

Due: Living Deliberately Week 3 Journal and Overall Reflection

FALL RECESS: NOVEMBER 24-28

WEEK FOURTEEN: Alternative Lives

Tuesday, December 2

Read: Hegland, first half; Adelson, 282-88; 571-73

Thursday, December 4

Read: Hegland, second half; Adelson, 446-48

WEEK FIFTEEN

Tuesday, December 9

No Classes: Individual Meetings or Make up for missed / canceled classes

Thursday, December 11

No Classes: Individual Meetings or Make up for missed / canceled classes

Core 125 Final, scheduled at Thursday, December 18, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon

Turn in your papers to my office (Admin. 319) before 12:00 noon