Berube Spring 2012
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COM 498: Special Topics in Communication Debating Environmental Hazard
Spring 2012
Location & Meeting times – MW 1:30-2:45 PM – SAS 1108
David M. Berube (burrrr-ruby), Ph.D., Instructor of record
Prof., Communication (call me Dr. Berube).
drdmberube@gmail.com
(O) 919.515.0410
Office: Winston 102
Mailbox: Communication Department, 2nd Floor, Winston
Office hours: Tues 10AM – 12PM and Thurs 10AM to 12PM
Course information: http://moodle.wolfware.ncsu.edu/
REQUIRED TEXTS
Carson, R. (2002). Silent Spring. Boston,
MA: Houghton Mifflin/Mariner
Books.
Time. (2006). Nature's Extremes: Inside the
Great Natural Disasters That Shape
Life on Earth. NY: Time. ISBN-10:
193340504X. (Only $12 at
Amazon.com).
REQUIRED ARTICLES AND
CHAPTERS (on Moodle reserve)
Adelman, L. & Cheikes, BA. (2007). An Empirical Evaluation of Structured
Argumentation Using the Toulmin Argument Formalism. IEEE
Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics—Part A: Systems and
Humans. 37(3). May. 340-347.
Brockreide, W. & Ehninger, D. (1960). Toulmin on argument: An
interpretation and application. Quarterly Journal of Speech. 46(1).
February. 44-53.
Brockreide, W. (1972). Arguers as Lovers. Philosophy & Rhetoric. Winter.
5(1). 1-11.
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Burton, I, Kates, RW & White, GF. (1993). Individual Choice. The
Environment as Hazard. NY: The Guilford Press. 95-124.
Burton, I, Kates, RW & White, GF. (1993). Is the Environment Becoming
More Hazardous. The Environment as Hazard. NY: The Guilford
Press. 1-30.
Eshghi, K. & Larson, RC. (2008). Disasters: lessons from the past 105 years.
Disaster Prevention and Management. 17(1). 62-82.
Harley, CDG. (2011). Climate Change, Keystone Predation, and
Biodiversity Loss. Science. November 25. 334.
Hobson, K. & Niemeyer, S. (2011). Public responses to climate change: The
role of deliberation in building capacity for adaptive action. Global
Environmental Change. 21. 957-971.
Kitcher, P. (2010). The Climate Change Debates. Science. 328. 4 June.
1230-1234.
Krebs, JR, Wilson, JD, Bradbury, RB & Siriwardena, GM. (1999). The
Second Silent Spring. Nature. August 12. 400. 611-612.
Pawson, E. (2011). Environmental hazards and natural disasters. New
Zealand Geographer. 67, 143-147.
Randalls, S. (2011). Broadening debates on climate change ethics: Beyond
carbon calculation. The Geographical Journal. 177(2). June. 127-137.
Rowland, RC. (1987) On defining argument. Philosophy & Rhetoric. 20:3.
140-159.
Sonnett, J. (2010). Climates of risk: A field analysis of global climate
change in US media discourse, 1997-2004. Public Understanding of
Science. 20(6). November. 698-716.
Wheeler, S. (2011). A new conception of planning in the era of climate
change. Berkeley Planning Journal. 23(1). 18-26.
SCHEDULE
Reading assigned for that week’s class.
Date
01/09
01/11
Topics
Course introduction.
Public debates on
environmental hazards.
Introduction to argument
Assignments
Read and Rowland
“Defining Argument” and
Brockreide “Arguers as
Lovers”. Reaction Paper
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#1 due.
01/16
01/18
No class
Toulmin model of
argument.
01/23
Toulmin exercise class
01/25
1st CASE STUDY –
Rachel Carson – Carson
video.
Lecture – Rachel Carson
making claims and
rebutting claims and
making counterclaims
Watch “Year of
Tornadoes”
Lecture - Researching
arguments on
environmental hazards.
01/30
02/01
02/06
02/08
Lecture - Risks and
hazards: An introduction.
02/13
2nd CASE STUDY –
Watch “Inside Hurricane
Katrina”
02/15
Lecture - Examining the
levels of hazards (setting
context).
3rd CASE STUDY –
Tsunami and Fukushima
– Watch NOVA’s
“Japan’s Killer Quake”
02/20
Read Brockreide and
Ehninger “Toulmin on
Argument” Reaction
Paper #2 due.
Read Adelman “An
Empirical Evaluation of
Structured Argumentation
Using the Toulmin
Argument Formalism”.
Reaction Paper #3 due.
Read the book Carson’s
Silent Spring. Reaction
Paper #4 due.
Read Krebs “Second
Silent Spring”. Reaction
Paper #5 due.
Read Fisher “Narration as
Human Communication”.
Reaction Paper #6 on
Fisher and the video
“Year of Tornadoes” due.
Read Pawson
“Environmental hazards
and natural disasters” and
Burton “Is the
Environment Becoming
More Hazardous”.
Reaction Paper #7 due.
Read Burton “Individual
choice” and Esghi
“Disasters: lessons from
the past 105 year.”
Reaction Paper#8 due.
Reaction Paper #9 on
“Inside Hurricane
Katrina” due.
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02/22
Watch 60 Minutes
“Catastrophe”
02/27
Lecture - Making sense
of serial hazards.
Fukushima and the
Nuclear Variable:
Materials from NRC
Interactive DVD.
No class – Spring Break
No class – Spring Break
4th CASE STUDY –
Anthropogenic Climate
Change – Lecture and
Discussion: Introduction.
02/29
03/05
03/07
03/12
03/14
Lecture and Discussion:
The Public and Climate
Change/Warming.
03/19
03/19 - Lecture and
Discussion - Dissecting
and analyzing the public
sentiment of climate
change.
Gore – Video selections
from “Inconvenient
Truth”
Lecture and Discussion Strategic and tactical
choices in "An
Inconvenient Truth."
Video – National
Geographic – “6 Degrees
Could Change the
World.”
Lecture - Debating
Climate Change: An
03/21
03/26
03/28
04/02
Reaction Paper #10 on
“Japan’s Killer Quake”
due.
Read Harley “Climate
Change, Keystone
Predation, and
Biodiversity Loss”.
Reaction Paper #11 due.
Read Sonnett “Climates
of risk: A field analysis of
global climate change in
US media discourse,
1997–2004” and Hobson
“Public responses to
climate change: The role
of deliberation in building
capacity for adaptive
action.” Reaction Paper
#12 due.
Reaction Paper #13 on “6
Degree Could Change the
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04/04
04/09
Argumentative History.
Discussion Observations and
reservations on debating
climate change.
Lecture - Communicating
to the public: Some
considerations.
04/11
Informal in-class
debate/discussion on
climate change.
04/16
04/18
04/23
04/25
Informal in-class debates.
Informal in-class debates.
Class oral presentations.
Class oral presentations.
World” due.
Read Kitcher “The
Climate change debates.”
and Wheeler “A new
conception of planning in
the era of climate change”
Reaction Paper #14 due.
Read Randalls
“Broadening debates on
climate change ethics:
Beyond carbon
calculation.” Reaction
Paper #15 due.
DISCLOSURE – ASSIGNMENTS
ADVICE:
1. Start thinking about your final project as soon as possible. Begin
collecting materials. You will notice the oral presentations as well
as the final project come at the end of the class. Plan
appropriately.
2. Take the reaction papers seriously; they add up. RPs are due
before the class not after.
REACTION PAPERS RP (30 points)
One (1) brief (i.e., two typed pages maximum) reaction paper as assigned. In
these brief papers, you will be asked to answer assigned questions on a reading or
a video (2 points each, one each assignment; 15 total points). Questions released
before the assigned reading on the last slide of the Power Point from the previous
week. They are due before the class immediately following the one in which they
were assigned. Late RPs are not accepted unless you can demonstrate a bona fide
reason consistent with NCSU’s absence policy.
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ORAL REPORTS (15 points) see 11/23 and 11/30
This is a brief oral report including Power Point and handouts. You will select an
article assessing communication about an environmental hazard. While the class
mostly discussed natural hazards, you are encouraged but not required in this
assignment to discuss a technologically related hazard.
Get this approved by Berube. DO NOT DO YOUR ORAL REPORT on your
final project (see below). DO NOT WRITE A PAPER FOR YOUR ORAL
REPORT (shoot for 10 mins.; only 10 mins.). We have scheduled two full days
for these (15 points).
In addition to the oral report, you will provide for each class member a copy of a
one-page outline or summary or abstract of the article and another page of
references or recommended readings (5 points each) [note the handouts and
suggested readings are nearly as important as the oral report].
MAJOR PROJECT (40 points) This is your take-home final examination alternative
and it is due at scheduled final examination day and time.
Select a hazard category from the Time book and from that category select either
an event such as the 2008 Kashmir earthquake or a phenomenon we did not cover
in class, such as fires and from the set of fires select an event such as 2003 San
Joaquin Valley fires. Though we covered the hurricane and flooding from
Katrina, you may select another hurricane or flood if you are so inclined.
Get this approved by Berube. You will list the public communication issues
associated with information sharing/seeking AND with hazard awareness and
crisis avoidance. Reviewing the event you will evaluate the amount and quality of
communication about the hazard using some of the principles we discussed in
class.
Final version of the course paper (10 pp. of text excluding cover and references)
using University of Chicago or MLA formatting and citation style.
PARTICIPATION (15 points).
You are expected to participate in discussions especially on 4/11 and 04/16. You get no
participation points for attending.
GRADING
Grading will be assigned on an un-curved, percentage basis; because there are 100 total
course points, earning 90 or above will give the student an A, etc. Scale follows:
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A+
A
AB+
B
B-
97-100
94-96
90-93
87-89
84-86
80-83
C+
C
CD+
D
F
REACTION PAPERS
ORAL REPORTS
MAJOR PROJECT
PARTICIPATION
30 points
15 points
40 points
15 points
TOTAL
100 points
77-79
74-76
70-73
67-69
65-66
0-64
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ADDENDUM
COMPUTERS, PHONES, IPODS, IPADS…..
Any student found doing anything on a computer or phone that has nothing to do with the
class during class will be expelled from the class and marked absent. Any student who
recommits will receive a full letter grade penalty.
ALL phones will be turned off during class and tablets and computers should remain
closed unless you are taking notes. DO NOT connect to the internet during class unless
told to do so by the instructor.
ABSENCE POLICY
Per University regulations, excused absences must fall into one of two categories: sanctioned
anticipated situations and documented emergency situations. Anticipated situations (e.g.,
participation in official University functions, court attendance, religious observances, or military
duty) must be submitted in writing at the beginning of the semester or one week prior to the
anticipated absence. Emergency absences (e.g., student illness, injury or death of immediate
family member, must be documented by the Student Organization Resource Center 515-3323)
within one week following the emergency. Make-up work will be allowed only in situations
where absences were excused. Please consult the following website for further information on
University attendance regulations:
http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/academic_affairs/courses_undergrad/REG02.20.3.php
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Strict standards of academic honesty will be enforced according to the University policy on
academic integrity found in the code of student conduct. NC State Students are bound to an honor
code, which states: “I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this test or
assignment." It is my understanding and expectation that a student's signature on any test
or assignment means that you have neither given nor received unauthorized aid. Please
consult the following website for further details:
http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/student_services/student_discipline/POL11.35.1.php.
AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA)
Reasonable accommodations will be made for students with verifiable disabilities. In
order to take advantage of available accommodations, students must register with
Disability Services for Students at 1900 Student Health Center, Campus Box 7509, 5157653. For more information on NC State's policy on working with students with
disabilities, please see
http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/academic_affairs/courses_undergrad/REG02.20.1.php
INCOMPLETE AND LATE ASSIGNMENTS
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Points earned for incomplete assignments will be reduced in proportion to the degree to which the
assignment was completed. Assignments received later than due date will not be accepted unless
in accordance with the excused absence policy as referenced above.
INCOMPLETE GRADE POLICY
Students will not be given a temporary grade of IN (incomplete) unless they have attended classes
regularly for most of the semester, have completed at least 60% of required work, have missed
required work as a result of factors beyond their control, and have submitted satisfactory
documentary evidence. An IN grade not removed by the end of the next semester in which the
student is enrolled or by the end of twelve months, whichever is earlier, will automatically
become an F (unless the student can present a compelling, well-documented case for the
extension). For the NC State policy on grading and IN grades, see
http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/academic_affairs/grades_undergrad/REG02.50.3.php.
CREDIT ONLY POLICY
Requirements for Credit-Only: In order to receive a grade of S, students are required to
take all exams and quizzes, complete all assignments, and earn a grade of C- or better.
Credit-Only courses can only be included under the Free Elective category of the
student’s curriculum. Conversion from letter grading to credit only (S/U) grading is
subject to university deadlines. Refer to the Registration and Records calendar for
deadlines related to grading. For more details refer to:
http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/academic_affairs/courses_undergrad/REG02.20.15.php
AUDIT POLICY
Requirements for Auditors: Auditors must consult with the instructor. For details refer
to:
http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/academic_affairs/grades_undergrad/REG02.50.3.php
ANTI-DISCRIMINATION STATEMENT
NC State University provides equality of opportunity in education and employment for
all students and employees. Accordingly, NC State affirms its commitment to maintain a
work environment for all employees and an academic environment for all students that is
free from all forms of discrimination. Discrimination based on race, color, religion,
creed, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or sexual orientation is a
violation of state and federal law and/or NC State University policy and will not be
tolerated. Harassment of any person (either in the form of quid pro quo or creation of a
hostile environment) based on race, color, religion, creed, sex, national origin, age,
disability, veteran status, or sexual orientation also is a violation of state and federal law
and/or NC State University policy and will not be tolerated. Retaliation against any
person who complains about discrimination is also prohibited. NC State’s policies and
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regulations covering discrimination, harassment, and retaliation may be accessed at
http://www.ncsu.edu/policies/campus_environ/non-discrimination/REG04.25.4.php.
STUDENT RESOURCES
Writing and Speaking Tutorial Services: http://www.ncsu.edu/tutorial_center/writespeak/
Academic Policies: www.ncsu.edu/policies/sitemap.php#acad-pols_regs
University Career Center: http://www.ncsu.edu/career/
Adverse Weather: Complete information about adverse weather policies is available at
http://www.ncsu.edu/human_resources/benefits/leave/adverseweather.php
Check email, news, the NCSU home page, or call 513-8888 for the latest information.