Environmental Communication
COMM 5360-090
Summer 2014- Online
Instructor: Kathleen Hunt
Email: You may email me through Canvas (Kathleen.hunt@utah.edu) or email me at
kphunt@gmail.com (if using this address, please include COMM 5360 in the subject line)
Communication Plan: It is my promise to you that I will always answer your emails as quickly
as possible. I do not, however, answer emails after 9pm or on Saturdays. While I do not have
regular office hours, I am available by appointment for meetings in person. My office is located
at LNCO 2960.
Required Materials
Corbett, J. (2006) Communicating nature: How we create and understand environmental
messages. Island Press.
Readings (PDFs) linked on weekly Canvas pages
*This is an ONLINE course. You MUST have regular access to a computer with an the internet
connection, on which you can watch/listen to videos (with a program such as QuickTime Player
or iTunes). This course will require you to view lectures and other videos through Canvas that
will have both audio and video elements.
What are you getting yourself into?: Course Description
The core learning objective of this course is for students to understand the social construction of
the environment and environmental issues through media and other communication processes, as
well as how individual and societal choices are shaped in/though those processes. Specifically,
this means our course is designed to explore a wide range of topics related to environmental
communication, so that students can develop an understanding of how communication shapes
individual and societal choices, as well as the state of the natural world itself. Environmental
communication doesn’t just convey physical things (water, desert, fish), but the meanings and
values we attach to them, which affects their destiny. Through class discussions and assignments,
you will be asked to think about “environmental communication” very broadly, including all the
ways we communicate about the natural world – words, pictures, and practices, both direct and
indirect, and at individual (yes, you!), organizational, and societal levels.
What can you Expect to Learn?: Course Objectives
This course is principally designed for students to explore the social construction of the
environment and environmental issues through media and other communication processes, as
well as how individual and societal choices are shaped in/though those processes.
By the end of this semester, students will have learned the following:
1. The student will learn what environmental communication is.
2. The student will recognize environmental communication as it occurs in their everyday life.
3. The student will analyze environmental communication messages.
4. The student will critique environmental messages for their implications for environmental
practices.
What are your Rights and Responsibilities?: University Policies
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990: The University of Utah seeks to provide equal
access to its programs, services, and activities for people with disabilities. If you need
accommodations in this class, reasonable prior notice should be given to the Center for Disability
Services, 162 Olpin Union Building, 801-581-5020 (V/TDD), http://disability.utah.edu/. CDS
will work with you and the instructor to make arrangements for accommodations. All written
information in this course can be made available in alternative format with prior notification to
the Center for Disability Services.
Withdrawal: Check the University of Utah academic calendar for the last day to withdraw
without tuition penalty.
Academic Honesty: [for full policy: http://www.regulations.utah.edu/academics/6-400.html]
Section V. A. Students must adhere to generally accepted standards of academic honesty,
including but not limited to, refraining from cheating, plagiarizing, research misconduct,
misrepresenting one’s work, and/or inappropriately collaborating.
Section V. B. A student who engages in academic misconduct … may be subject
to academic sanctions including but not limited to a grade reduction, failing grade,
probation, suspension, or dismissal from the program or the University, or revocation of
the student’s degree or certificate.
Do not turn in work for this class that you have turned in for other classes. You do not have my
permission to submit work from this class to fulfill requirements in other classes. Plagiarism is
submitting someone else’s work as your own as well as quoting others without giving
credit. Any quotation or paraphrasing of sources must be cited in text. Plagiarism can result in
an E for the assignment, an E for the course, and other disciplinary measures. If at any time you
are unsure whether your actions constitute academic misconduct, please see Katie in order to
clarify the matter.
Content Accommodation: The University recognizes that students’ sincerely-held core beliefs
may make it difficult for students to fulfill some requirements of some courses or majors. It is the
student’s obligation to determine, before the last day to drop courses without penalty, when
course requirements conflict with the student’s sincerely-held core beliefs. If there is such a
conflict, the student should consider dropping the class. A student who finds this solution
impracticable may request a content accommodation from the instructor. Though the University
provides, through this policy, a process by which a student may make such a request, the policy
does not oblige the instructor to grant the request, except in those cases when a denial would be
arbitrary and capricious or illegal. Details on the university’s accommodation policy are
available at this link: http://www.admin.utah.edu/facdev/accommodations-policy.pdf.
Please be assured that all the material that I present, assign, or require you to encounter and
address has been selected for its overall value and its operationalization of concepts we are
engaging. No content accommodations will be made. It is your responsibility to review the
syllabus, readings, assignments, and materials to be sure that this is a course you wish to take.
Grade Disputes: It is my goal to foster an environment of open dialogue; if you do not
understand the reasoning behind a grade you receive, and can discuss it without anger or defense,
do not hesitate to contact me. After receiving a grade in class, please allow 24 hours before
contacting me; use this time to fully examine the assignment and your grade. You have a 7-day
period to dispute a grade after it is received. Contacting Katie does not guarantee a grade
change.
What will you do this Semester?: Course Assignments
Our course content is organized into weekly Canvas pages, consisting of a recorded lecture,
readings, and action items (including weekly application tasks, quizzes, and assignments).
Weekly materials will become available each Sunday; ALL Action Items listed for a week are
due by Friday (larger assignments will have separate due dates). I do not accept late
submissions.
1. Quizzes: Weekly comprehension quizzes are intended to make sure you are appropriately
absorbing course content.
2. Discussion Posts & Application Items: As part of the Action Items for each week, you will be
asked to complete various online tasks (including, for example, discussion posts, short
reflections, and other brief write-ups).
3. Ideology Paper: You will learn about, and practice analyzing, environmental belief systems is
through a personal interview with one of your classmates. This assignment allows you to get to
know someone in your class, while practicing critical thinking and analytical writing skills. You
will receive specific instructions for this assignment through Canvas.
4. Media Case Study Analysis: Environmental messages proliferate through the media. Twice
this semester, you will be asked to complete a case study analysis that unpacks media messages
related to the environment. The first Media Case Study Analysis will be completed as a class,
with an artifact selected by your instructor; for the second, you may choose an artifact of interest
you to and you may choose which week to submit it. Instructions for each analysis assignment
will be posted to Canvas.
5. Environmental Ethnography Project: Your major task this semester is to complete an
environmental ethnography for which you make observations at an environmental site of your
choosing and write up an analysis. You are free to choose a field site of interest to you, though
your observations must be related to environmental communication as it circulates there.
You will complete this project in 4 parts:
a. Site Rationale: At an early point in the term, you will be asked to choose the field
site at which you will complete your ethnographic observations. You will compose
a brief write-up describing the site and your rationale for choosing it.
b. Field Notes: You are asked to complete 2 site visits and write up your observations
in the form of ethnographic field notes. You will receive specific guidance on
writing these.
c. Theme Analysis: After completing your observations, you will analyze (or code)
them for communication themes. You will receive specific guidance on completing this
step.
d. Final Ethnography: We do not have a traditional final exam in this course. Instead,
you will complete your ethnography in the form of a formal analysis. You will
research an environmental communication concept that helps you make claims related
to your field observations.