Environmental Studies 490: Senior Seminar
Horicon Marsh: Ecology, History, Management
Fall 2014
TTH, 3:00-4:30, Sage 2215
Professor: Jim Feldman
Email: feldmanj@uwosh.edu
Telephone: 920-424-3235
Office: Sage 3453
Office Hours: TTH, 1:15-2:45, or by appt.
Course Description: This course is designed as the capstone in Environmental Studies. In it, ES majors and minors will
pursue their own senior thesis. The thesis will be a semester-long project in which students demonstrate the research,
writing, and analytical skills that they have acquired during their time in the ES Program. This means that thesis projects
should reflect the nature of the program: they should be interdisciplinary, grounded in the analytical tools of the liberal
arts, and engage directly with social and environmental issues. But this will be a shared experience, as students research
and write the thesis in dialogue with the other students in the class.
While students will be writing their own independent senior thesis, the class has an overarching focus: Horicon Marsh.
Horicon Marsh is an amazingly complicated and fascinating place. It is an internationally significant wetland, a protected
area, a modern and historic hunting ground, and a world-class birding destination. It has been dammed, ditched, drained,
burned, restored, and intensively managed. It is currently administered by the Wisconsin DNR and the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service. Management of the marsh involves a wide range of human and environmental issues: climate change,
phosphorous loading, watershed management, renewable energy, and many more. The entire Environmental Studies
curriculum can be found and studied at Horicon Marsh. Students are free to write on any topic that they choose, but the
paper must, in some way, touch on the marsh. The marsh might be the primary focus of original research, or it might be
used as a case study of a management issue, or it might just be a jumping-off point that you use to frame your study.
An additional goal of this class is to further your liberal arts education. What does this mean? The liberal arts education
focuses on general learning, intellectual ability, and critical thinking rather than technical or professional skills. The goal
of this class, then, is not just to convey specific information about the marsh but to teach you how to interpret this
information critically, and how to understand modern environmental issues in their social, historical, and political context.
A liberal arts education provides the tools we need to be active citizens of our communities. In Spring 2008, UW Oshkosh
adopted a set of Essential Learning Outcomes to help define the meaning of a liberal education. One of these outcomes is
the recognition that a liberal education recognizes our “Responsibility, as individuals and communities.” This includes
“Knowledge of sustainability and its applications.” This course is designed to help us think about our responsibilities to
each other, to our communities, and to our environment.
Thesis Project: The Senior thesis is meant to be the capstone of your Environmental Studies education at UW Oshkosh,
in which you put to work the research, analytical, and communication skills that you have been practicing as you have
progressed through the major. With this in mind, the senior thesis should demonstrate your ability to:
1. Understand the complex nature of an environmental issue. This involves recognizing the problematic nature of
scientific knowledge (e.g., conflicting, ambiguous, or insufficient data), the social dimensions of the problem (political,
economic, and/or sociological), and its humanistic dimensions (ethical, philosophical, aesthetic and/or religious).
2. Apply key concepts in Environmental Studies in analyzing the problem and possible solutions, including concepts
found in the natural sciences, social sciences, and the humanities.
3. Understand and critically evaluate different policy positions in relation to that problem.
4. Articulate your own position concerning the issue, supporting that position with evidence, argument, and authority,
while recognizing the potential limitations and problems of that position.
5. Use in a critical and sophisticated way a wide variety of research tools, both electronic and paper, and craft a
research strategy for accessing and processing these materials.
6. Produce an annotated bibliography of sources, print and electronic, on a specific environmental studies topic, briefly
summarizing the source and evaluating the usefulness and limitations of each item for that specific topic.
7. Write a thesis in a clear, efficient, and compelling way that is understandable to an educated general audience and
sophisticated enough for an expert audience.
8. Present the thesis (as a work in progress) as a professional PowerPoint presentation and lead a discussion on the
issues.
Required Readings: There will be a few readings on D2L, but there are no texts required for this seminar. Students are
expected to complete all common readings prior to class on the day that those readings are assigned.
Field Trip to the Marsh: On Sunday, September 14, the class will take a field trip to Horicon Marsh. A local guide will
accompany us on canoes out onto the marsh. We will then visit with experts from the USFWS and WDNR. You will need
to pack your own lunch. We will depart UWO at 8:00 am and not return until the late afternoon, probably around 4:30.
Attendance on this field trip is mandatory. If you cannot attend, and have a valid reason for this, please make
arrangements with me.
Horicon Volunteer Experience & Analysis: As a part of learning about the history, ecology, and management of the
marsh, each student must participate in at least one volunteer experience at either the WDNR or the USFWS management
units. Opportunities for volunteering will be discussed further in class. After completing this experience, students are
required to write a detailed, 1-2 page reflection on how the volunteer experience connected with specific elements of their
Environmental Studies curriculum. For those who cannot complete the volunteer experience, an alternative assignment
will be provided.
Peer Editing & the Writing Process: The improvement of written communication skills is a key learning outcome for
this class. We will be spending extensive time in class discussing and workshopping thesis writing, the use of evidence,
the communication of complicated ideas in written form, and other topics related to writing. Peer editing will be an
important part of this process. For the proposal, aspect assignment, and final paper, students will edit each other’s papers.
Final versions of each paper are due on the assigned date. Time in class will be provided for peer editing. To receive full
credit on each assignment, students must fully participate in the peer editing process. This means bringing a finished
product to class on the day that it is due and also effective and good-faith editing of the papers of your peers. If students
do not participate in peer editing, and do not make prior arrangements, the grade for that assignment will receive a 10point penalty.
Attendance, Discussion and Participation: Your participation in discussions and other class activities is essential. This
course will only be successful with full student engagement and participation. Attendance will be taken each day; your
grade will drop significantly with each absence. If you have more than five unexcused absences, you will fail the course.
An “unexcused absence” is any absence for which you cannot provide a note from a doctor, another professor, or some
other documented explanation of your absence. If you simply cannot make a class, please contact one of the instructors
before the class meets; perhaps an arrangement can be made to ensure that you are not penalized for missing class for
legitimate reasons. Your active participation is the key to your learning the material and to the success of the course—
both for you as an individual and for the class as a whole.
Course Components & Grading Breakdown: Students will be evaluated on the following components, each of which
will be discussed in further detail during class:
Attendance, Participation, Small Assignments ...
Research Proposal ……………………………..
Annotated Bibliography …………….................
Project Aspect Paper ………...…………………
Earth Week Reflection/Analysis ……………….
10%
10%
10%
15%
5%
First Draft …………………………….
Final Paper …………………………...
Final Presentation/Discussion ……….
Volunteer Reflection/Analysis …….....
Mock Interview Workshop ...……...…
5%
30%
10%
5%
P/F
Course Policies and Conduct: All of us must do our best to be intellectually honest and tolerant of personal differences.
Environmental topics are often controversial, and we all have our own beliefs. I hope that everyone will feel safe to
express an idea, even if that idea is not a popular one.
There are some university guidelines for behavior that I expect all of us to abide by. One of these has to do with
plagiarism, or taking credit for the work of others. This is a serious offense and will be treated according to university
guidelines; failure of the course is a potential outcome of academic dishonesty. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t talk with
other students about what you are thinking or writing; but when you write something on a paper, it must be in your own
words, not copied from someone else. We will discuss what plagiarism means more fully during the course of the
semester. If you have any questions about academic honesty, and what might or might not be considered plagiarism,
please ask, rather than taking a risk with grave consequences.
Please let me know what I can do to accommodate any disabilities that you might have.
Grading Scale:
A 93-100 B+ 87-89
A- 90-92
B 83-86
B- 80-82
C+ 77-79
C 73-76
C- 70-72
D+ 67-69
D 63-66
D- 60-62
F
≤ 59
Course Schedule:
Wk 1: Thursday, September 4: Introducing Horicon Marsh: Class visit from Liz Herzmann, Wisconsin Department of
Natural Resources and Erin Railsback, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Reading: Volkert, “Wetland Habitats and their Ecology: the Horicon Marsh Case History,” D2L
Wk 2: Tuesday, September 9: Managing Horicon; class visit from Rich Marshall, Career Services
Reading: USFWS, Horicon Compr. Conservation Plan, pp. 1-6, 10-13, 67-78, 88-95, skim 14-48, D2L
WDNR, Reg. & Property Analysis: Horicon/Shaw, pp. 1-17, 28-40, 45-51, skim 18-27, D2L
Response: Identify at least 5 points of comparison or contrast between state and federal
management goals, environmental histories, current environmental issues, or ecologies.
Thursday, September 11: Library workshop; class meets in Polk Lobby; tentative thesis idea due
Reading: Sample Papers, D2L (read quickly for style, methods, evidence of critical thinking, not content)
Sunday, September 14: Mandatory Field Trip to Horicon; Details TBA
Wk 3: Tuesday, September 16: Horicon in History: Class meets in Polk Library Lobby
Reading: Sample Research Proposals, D2L
Thursday, September 18: Horicon Marsh: Management, History, Ecology
Readings: As assigned in class
Wk 4: Tuesday September 23: no class; work on proposals
Thursday, September 25: Project proposal due (3 copies); peer editing in class
No Reading; Peer Editing in Class
Wk 5: Tuesday, September 30: no class; work on proposals
Thursday, October 2: In Class Networking/Interviewing Workshop
No Reading; Revised Project Proposals Due (1 copy only)
Wk 6: Tuesday, October 7: Class meets; 1-paragraph aspect statement due
Wednesday, October 8: Required attendance, Earth Charter Banquet Speaker, Details TBA
Thursday, October 9: Mock Job Interviews; sign up in advance; details TBA
No Reading
Wk 7: Tuesday, October 14: Aspect Paper due (2 copies); peer editing in class
Thursday, October 16: No class; revised Aspect Paper due by 3:00 in 3453 Sage
Wk 8: Tuesday, October 21: No class; individual student meetings
Thursday, October 23: No class; individual student meetings; 20-item annotated bib. due, electronic copy only
Wk 9: Tuesday, October 28; No Class; 1-page progress report, Volunteer experience report, reflections worksheets
due, electronic copy only
Thursday, October 30: Class meets
Wk 10: Tuesday, November 4: Class meets; tentative outline and 1-page narrative of argument due, 3 copies
Thursday, November 6: No class; individual meetings if desired
Wk 11: Tuesday, November 11: Student Presentations
Thursday, November 13: Student Presentations
Wk 12: Tuesday, November 18: Student Presentations
Thursday, November 20: Student Presentations
Wk 13: Tuesday, November 25: student presentations
Thursday, November 27: NO CLASS; Thanksgiving Break
Wk 14: Tuesday, December 2: Student Presentations: Final Paper Due (3 copies)
Thursday, December 4: Peer Editing
Reading: read and provide detailed comments on peer drafts
Wk 15: Tuesday, December 9: Reflections & Wrap up
Thursday, December 11: No class; Revised Final Papers due by noon in paper and electronic form