STS 2061 – Spring 2015 Wed Jan 21 – Overview The class explores the roles of moral theory, knowledge production, and conceptions of authority and governance involved in environmental decisionmaking. It explores philosophical models that underlie different environmental movements; It explores the role of science in those movements; and it explores different modes of governance implicated in each approach. What does it mean to have an environmental ethic? Examples are drawn from historical movements and episodes as well as current issues and disputes. Mon Jan 26 – Moral Theory Wed Jan 28 – Moral Consideration Environmental Ethics and Policy Book (Third Edition): pp. 20 – 27 – from “2.2 - Rights Theories” through “2.4 – Utilitarianism” pp. 183 – 189 – “On Being Morally Considerable” This section explores the fundamental moral theories involving conceptions of rights and utility. These conceptions will animate analyses of environmental movements and philosophies addressed in the course. Mon Feb 2– Preservation/Conservation Wed Feb 4– Clearing Yosimite/Niagara Falls Link on BB: “A Brief History of American Conservation Philosophy” This section discusses the origin and philosophies of Preservation and Conservation movements in the US that continue to animate environmental discussions to this day. It also discusses the role of empire in the dispossession of native groups from the lands designated as he ‘new’ National Parks – issues that conservationists and preservationists of the 19th century did not address. These movements are contrasted with the influential Systems Ecology approach that ‘grew out of’ these movements. Mon Feb 9 - The Pollution Movement/Toxic Racism Wed Feb 11 - Environmental Legislation EE&PB: PP. 550-555 - “Environmental Racism” PP. 595-598 – “Silent Spring” This section discusses issues of social justice and pollution that led to the enactment of important environmental legislation in the 1960s and 1970s in the U.S. How did a century pass and what were the ecological and environmental issues, from urban smog to river and lake pollution, as well as the political conditions that led to what can be seen as the first national environmental legislation. Mon Feb 16 – No Class – Winter Break Wed Feb 18– Deep Ecology/Systems Ecology EE&PB: pp. 263 -268 – “Deep Ecology” pp. 282 – 296 – “The Power and Promise of Ecological Feminism” pp. 296 – 303 – “Development, Ecology, and Women” pp. 521 – 528 – “Radical American Environmentalism and Wilderness Preservation: A Third World Critique” Mon Feb 23 – Ecofeminism Wed Feb 25 – Review for Prelim 1 Thurs Feb 26 - Review in Sections This section considers Deep Ecology and Ecofeminism in the context of global development. How does an awareness of the oppression of women (and other groups) lead to critiques of models of ‘development’ and the science that is implicated in the spread of the modern industrial state. Mon March 2 – Prelim 1 – In Class Wed March 4 – Environmental Activism 1 EE&PB pp. 628- 632 – “Strategic Monkeywrenching” pp. 632 – 634 – “The Sea Shepherds” This section explores the ethics of ecological activism in light of the previous movements and philosophies discussed. Does an ethical-ecological philosophy that holds plants and animals rights as ‘considerable’ justify (or naturally lead to) civil disobedience in the name of the environment? Are such actions properly named ‘eco-terrorism’? Mon March 9 – Environmental Activism 2 Tue March 10 – 7:00 Cornell Cinema: Our Daily Bread Wed March 11 – No Class EE&PB pp. 508 – 516 – “Nature as the Measure for a Sustainable Agriculture” pp. 516 – 519 – “What’s in the Meat?” Mon March 16 – GMOs 1 Wed March 18 – GMOs 2 EE&PB pp. 491- 496 – “A Plant’s Eye View of the World” pp. 496 – 498 – “Patenting Life” pp. 498 – 502 – “Brute Force Genetic Engineering” pp. 502 – 508 – “Genes in the Food!” These sections explores issues in factory farming and industrial agriculture amid significant and continuing population growth. Given the population, how can people be fed other than through industrial methods? Is genetic modification a panacea or a ‘technological fix’ that continues in the wrong direction. How is scientific information about GMOs handled? Mon March 23 - Corporate Responsibility Wed March 25 - Population EE&PB pp. 571 – 575 – “Why Shouldn’t Corporations be Socially Responsible?” pp. 402 – 408 – “Lifeboat Ethics” This section explores the role of environmental values in corporate activity. SPRING BREAK(!) After Spring Break: April 6 - Re-wilding/De-extinction BB “Re-wilding the American West” “Pleistocene Park: Does Re-Wilding North America Represent Sound Conservation for the 21st Century” This section looks at the possibility of ‘restoring’ bio-systems through reintroduction of species and also through de-extinction by virtue of genetic engineering. Is there an ethical obligation to restore bio-systems that were disrupted by human activity and bring back species that humans made extinct? Are such plans feasible? April 8 - Review for Prelim 2 April 13 – Prelim 2 April 15 – Ivory Billed Woodpecker BB “Still Looking for that Woodpecker” This section looks at the controversy around the ‘rediscovery’ of the Ivory Billed woodpecker and the implications for conservation resources and strategies. How are the stakes in ecological policy related to the peer review process and institutional practices of conservation scientists? April 20 - Climate Change 1 April 22 - Climate Change 2 BB “Frames of Communication” “The Legacy of Climategate: Undermining or Revitalizing Climate Science and Policy” This section looks at the production and reception of climate science and the implications for environmental policy and international cooperation. Is climate science politicized in an unethical way? Have climate scientists behaved unethically with regard to sharing and publishing data? Have the IPCC reports had the effects that the originators intended? April 27 - Energy Use and Production 1 April 29 - Energy Use and Production 2 BB “Exxon Outlook for Energy” Movie: “Pandora’s Promise” “Anthropecene: The Human Age” This section looks at predictions for future energy use and production over the next several decades. Given the continuing industrialization of ‘developing’ countries and the realities of energy infrastructure and transmission, the conversion to renewable energy production and use on a global scale is questioned. What strategies and actions can actually be taken, then, in the face global climate disruption? Have we entered irreversibly the Anthropocene Age? May 4,6 – No Class May 8 – Review Session Offered – Time and Place - TBD May 11 – Final - 9 AM - Rockefeller 203 Course/Exam rules follow Cornell Code of Academic Integrity Course Grading: Prelims: Final: Section: 25 % Each 35 % 15 % Section Grading based on your posing of informed (by the readings) questions and comments in a constructive manner designed to help your colleagues. Grade is determined by section instructor. Your personal style (quiet, anxious, loud, etc.) is not what is being judged. How informed by the reading your comments are and whether the intent in making them is to constructively further conversation is. If you know you will not be at a section, email your section instructor ahead of time. If you could not make it to a section for unexpected reasons, email your section instructor afterward. Communicate with your section instructor and normally excusable absences will not be held against you. You are expected to attend all sections.
