RSOC 5650 & 6650 SOCIOLOGY OF NATURAL RESOURCES & THE ENVIRONMENT SPRING 2010 TUESDAYS & THURSDAYS, 12:30 – 1:45 P.M. COMER 204 Sociology of Natural Resources and the Environment is available to both advanced undergraduates (RSOC 5650) and graduate students (RSOC 6650). It will be run as a graduate seminar. The course objectives are to critically examine (1) environmental and natural resource concerns in the United States including both the framing of and discourse about these concerns; (2) environment and natural resource governance including the role of science and power in management and policy; and (3) the role of production and consumption including the issues of resource dependence and environmental justice. The core concepts that underlie these objectives are the Nature‐
Culture dichotomy, risk and uncertainty, and sustainability. Lastly, using the Mobile Bay Watershed as a case study, students will have an opportunity to focus on the application of these approaches, concepts, and theories to explore and to analyze a “real‐world” natural resource and/or environmental problem. INSTRUCTOR: OFFICE HOURS: INDEX CARDS: Dr. Michelle R. Worosz michelle_worosz@auburn.edu 306A Comer Hall http:\\www.ag.auburn.edu\agrifood 334‐844‐5682 No fixed office hours. I’m generally available between 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday/Thursday and from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It is recommended that you check with me prior to your visit to be sure that I am available. Please purchase 1 packet of white, ruled, 5x8 inch index cards and bring several to class each day. These cards are available at the campus Bookstore. There are two required books for this class. 1. Hannigan, John A. 2006. Environmental Sociology, 2nd Edition. London, UK: Routledge. TEXT: 2.
SUPPLEMENTAL: EXAMINATIONS: Johnson, William A., Rettig, Richard P., Scott, Gregory M. and Garrison, Stephen. M. 2010. The Sociology Student Writer's Manual, 6th Edition. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall. All additional readings are available through EReserve (password: worosz). In lieu of examinations, there will be a series of writing assignments. All formal assignments are to be submitted in standard manuscript format as described in Johnson et al. (2010). RSOC 5560/6650 Spring 2010 CASE STUDY: PRESENTATION: PARTICIPATION: Each student in this course is expected to fully participate in an extensive small group research project that will be a case study of a natural resource and/or environmental problem in the Mobile Bay Watershed. This project will include a series of independent writing assignments, as well as mandatory peer‐review of each writing assignment. Each group will synthesize the findings of their case study and prepare a professional quality poster for presentation. A formal poster session will take place during the assigned final exam (May 10, 2010; 12:00‐2:00pm) and it will be open to all interested parties. During the poster session, each group will provide a short presentation and each student will be expected to peer‐review all posters. Because this course is run as a seminar, active participation in discussions will be expected. Each student will take responsibility for leading discussions on a rotational basis. Graduate students are expected to lead at least 1 more discussion than each of the undergraduate students. All students will develop questions for class discussion based on each of the readings. Development of the questions is to be done independently and they are due at the beginning of each class period. Graduate students will submit 2 discussion questions per assigned reading and undergraduates will submit 1 question/reading. Questions are to be submitted on 5x8” ruled, white, index cards. Please use 1 card per reading.  On the days in which there is a scheduled library session or other in‐class work session scheduled, please submit an annotated bibliographic entry for each assigned reading. These notes are to be formatted according the instructions in Johnson et al. (2010). Credit for these assignments will be based on the quality of the evaluation and reflection (Johnson et al. 2010:188). BLACKBOARD: ATTENDANCE: ABSENCES: With the exception of the discussion questions and draft papers for peer‐review, all assignments are to be submitted via blackboard. Each assignment submitted to blackboard will be returned via blackboard. In addition, all grades will be posted to the Blackboard grade book. Blackboard will be used for various administrative actions, as well (e.g., announcements, web links). Therefore, it is expected that students will log onto the site daily. Attendance is required for this course. In the event that you are absent from class, it is your responsibility to obtain missed information, handouts, and announcements. The Tiger Cub outlines acceptable excused absences. If you already know that you will miss a class due to a university approved/sponsored event, please notify me in advance and we will make arrangements with a fellow student for you to obtain notes, handouts, and class announcements. Please be on time. An unexcused late arrival will be considered an unexcused absence In addition, please expect to stay for the full class period. Students are granted excused absences from class for the following reasons: illness of the student or serious illness of a member of the student’s immediate family, the death Page 2 RSOC 5560/6650 Spring 2010 of a member of the student’s immediate family, trips for student organizations sponsored by an academic unit, trips for University classes, trips for participation in intercollegiate athletic events, subpoena for a court appearance, and religious holidays. Students who wish to have an excused absence from this class for any other reason must contact the instructor in advance of the absence to request permission. The instructor will weigh the merits of the request, on an individual basis, and render a decision. When feasible, the student must notify the instructor prior to the occurrence of any excused absences, but in no case shall such notification occur more than one week after the absence. Appropriate documentation for all excused absences is required. Please see the Tiger Cub for more information on excused absences. MAKE‐UP: Arrangement to make up missed major assignments due to properly authorized excused absences must be initiated by the student within one week from the end of the period of the excused absences. Except in unusual circumstances, such as continued absence of the student or a University holiday, a make‐up assignment will take place within two weeks from the time that the student initiates arrangements for it. Except in extraordinary circumstances, no make‐up assignments will be accepted during the last three days before the final exam period begins (i.e., April 29 is the last day an assignment can be accepted). In‐class assignments that are missed due to an unexcused absence will be counted as zero. Those that are missed with an appropriate written excuse will simply not be counted toward the point total from which your grade will be calculated. There will be no make‐up for in‐class assignments. BEHAVIOR: Please turn off and stow all cell phones, pagers, and other electronic devices before entering class. The University has other policies governing classroom behavior which will be enforced. There will be times when the subject of discussion will result in debate and disagreement. At all times, maintain a civil and respectful demeanor towards everyone in the class. E‐MAIL: Consistent with University policy, I will use your official Auburn University email address for electronic communications. It is your responsibility to monitor both Tiger Mail and blackboard. ACADEMIC HONESTY: All portions of the Auburn University student academic honesty code (Title XII) found in the Tiger Cub will apply to this class. Violations of academic honesty codes or violations of the SGA Code of Laws may be reported to the Office of the Provost, which will then refer the case to the Academic Honesty Committee. I have zero tolerance for plagiarism. If you have any question about what constitutes plagiarism, refer to Johnson et al. (2010:110) and see me. Page 3 RSOC 5560/6650 Spring 2010 EVALUATION: GRADING Item Points Topic 010 Research proposal 040 Content analysis 100 Annotated bibliography 100 Abstract 025 Poster 075 Peer‐reviews 050 Individual annotations 050 Participation 050 TOTAL 500 Criteria used in determining points for class participation include: (1) regular attendance; (2) active participation in discussions of assigned readings, including evidence of having read and understood these materials; (3) submission of the required number of questions for each reading (i.e., grads=2, undergrads=1); (4) creative contribution germane to class discussions which reflect ability to integrate assigned and outside readings, material raised in class discussions, as well as personal experience; and (5) preparation for leading seminar discussions on the assigned day. In addition, it is expected that all written assignments will meet generally accepted standards for grammar and mechanics. Please see Chapters 1 to 4 of Johnson et al. (2010) for a description of these standards. Attending to the quality of your writing is an essential factor in learning to critically evaluate the course materials and in communicating your ideas. Inadequate grammar and mechanics will prevent you from receiving full credit for an assignment. All grades will be poster in Blackboard. Please review your grades on a regular basis. Course grades will be assigned as a percentage of total course points, where: A = 90% and above B = 80 to 89.9% C = 70 to 79.9% D = 60 to 69.9% F = 59.9% and below FA = failure to attend If you have a failing grade at the end of the term, and more than 3 unexcused absences, it will result in your grade being entered as FA (failure due to excessive absences). DISABILITIES: I will make every possible effort, in cooperation with the Program for Students with Disabilities, to provide students with disabilities an equal opportunity to pursue their education. I request that any student with a documented disability let me know what arrangements will best serve their needs as soon as possible. Students needing accommodations should arrange a meeting the first week of class or email for an alternate time. Please bring the Accommodation Memo and Instructor Verification Form to the meeting and be prepared to discuss items needed in this class. If you do not have an Accommodation Memo but need special accommodations, make Page 4 RSOC 5560/6650 Spring 2010 an appointment with The Program for Students with Disabilities, 1244 Haley Center, 844‐2096 (V/TT) or email: scw0005@auburn.edu. CONTINGENCY: SCHEDULE: In the event of my unexpected absence, Dr. Conner Bailey has agreed to teach this course. If he is unable to do so, Dr. Joe Molnar has agreed to conduct the course. In either case, it may be necessary for Drs. Bailey or Molnar to adjust the schedule and/or course syllabus as appropriate. If no substitute is available, and one of more classes must be canceled, the course schedule will be revised and some material currently scheduled may be covered online, as a lecture, via narrated power point slides or other means. The course schedule begins on the next page. The instructor reserves the right to change any portion of the schedule to accommodate special events, guest speakers, library instruction, in‐class group work, etc. Page 5 RSOC 5560/6650 Spring 2010 READING ASSIGNMENTS WEEK 1. JAN 10 INTRODUCTION  Science Advisory Committee. 2008. "State of Mobile Bay: A Status Report on Alabama's Coastline from the Delta to our Coastal Waters." Mobile Bay National Estuary Program, Mobile, AL. 
Hannigan, John A. 2006. "Environmental sociology as a field of inquiry." Pp. 1‐15 in Environmental Sociology. London, UK: Routledge. THURSDAY, JANUARY 14
Choose Groups
WEEK 2. JAN 17 ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES  Hannigan, John A. 2006. "Contemporary theoretical approaches to environmental sociology." Pp. 16‐35 in Environmental Sociology. London, UK: Routledge. 
Buttel, Frederick H. 2002. "Environmental sociology and the sociology of natural resources: Institutional histories and intellectual legacies." Society & Natural Resources 15:205‐211. 
Belsky, Jill M. 2002. "Beyond the natural resource and environmental sociology divide: Insights from a transdisciplinary perspective." Society & Natural Resources 15:269‐280. THURSDAY, JANUARY 21
Topics Due
WEEK 3. JAN 24 DISCOURSE  Hannigan, John A. 2006. "Environmental discourse." Pp. 36‐52 in Environmental Sociology. London, UK: Routledge. 
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐. 2006. "Discourse, power relations and political ecology." Pp. 53‐62 in Environmental Sociology. London, UK: Routledge. 
Carter‐North, Patrick. 2005. "Growth Machine Meets Conservation: A Stakeholder Analysis of the Black Warrior and Cahaba River Watersheds." Paper presented during the Annual meetings of the Rural Sociological Society. Tampa, FL, August 8‐13.1 TUESDAY, JANUARY 26
Library Session IA
Claudine Jenda
1
This paper will be distributed in class. Page 6 RSOC 5560/6650 Spring 2010 WEEK 4. JAN 31 MEDIA  Hannigan, John A. 2006. "Social construction of environmental issues and problems." Pp. 63‐78 in Environmental Sociology. London, UK: Routledge. 
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐. 2006. "Media and environmental communication." Pp. 79‐93 in Environmental Sociology. London, UK: Routledge. 
Faupel, Charles E., Conner Bailey, and Gary Grifin. 1991. "Local media roles in defining hazardous waste as a social problem: The case of Sumpter County, Alabama." Sociological Spectrum 11:293‐319. TUESDAY, FEBURARY 02
Preliminary media matrix due
THURSDAY, FEBURARY 04
Group research proposal due
WEEK 5. FEB 7 FRAMING  Walton, Bryan K. and Conner Bailey. 2005. "Framing wilderness: Populism and cultural heritage as organizing principles." Society & Natural Resources 18:119‐134. 
Lee, Stuart and Wolff‐Michael Roth. 2006. "Community‐level controversy over a natural resource: Toward a more democratic science in society." Society & Natural Resources 19:429‐445. 
Szasz, Andrew. 1995. "The iconography of hazardous waste." Pp. 197‐222 in Cultural Politics and Social Movements, edited by M. Darnovsky, B. Epstein, and R. Flacks. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 09
Library session IB
Claudine Jenda
WEEK 6. FEB 14 DEEP ECOLOGY & ECOFEMINISM  Mellor, Mary. 2000. "Feminism and environmental ethics: A materialist perspective." Ethics & the Environment 5:107‐123. 
Naess, Arne. 1995. "The deep ecology movement: Some philosophical aspects." Pp. 264‐
284 in Deep Ecology for the 21st Century, edited by G. Sessions. Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications Inc. 
Salleh, Ariel. 1993. "Class, race, and gender discourse in the ecofeminism/deep ecology debate." Environmental Ethics 15: 225‐244. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18
Final media matrix due
Page 7 RSOC 5560/6650 Spring 2010 WEEK 7. FEB 21 PRODUCTION‐CONSUMPTION  Schnaiberg, Allan, David N. Pellow, and Adam Weinberg. 2002. "The treadmill of production and the environmental state." Pp. 15‐32 in The Environmental State Under Pressure, edited by A. P. J. Mol and F. H. Buttel. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: JAI Press. 
Gould, Kenneth, Allan Schnaiberg, and Adam S. Weinberg. 1996. "Recycling: Organizing local grass roots around a national cash‐roots policy." Pp. 127‐163 in Local Environmental Struggles: Citizen Activism in the Treadmill of Production. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press. 
Shove, Elizabeth and Alan Warde. 2002. "Inconspicuous consumption: The sociology of consumption, lifestyles, and the environment." Pp. 230‐251 in Sociological Theory and the Environment: Classical Foundations, Contemporary Insights, edited by R. E. Dunlap, F. H. Buttel, P. Dickens, and A. Gijswijt. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23
Content analysis peer-review
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25
Content analysis final paper due
WEEK 8. FEB 28 RESOURCE DEPENDENCY  Nesbitt, J. Todd and Daniel Weiner. 2001. "Conflicting environmental imaginaries and the politics of nature in Central Appalachia." Geoforum 32:333‐349. 
Marshall, N. A., D. M. Fenton, P. A. Marshall, and S. G. Sutton. 2007. "How resource dependency can influence social resilience within a primary resource industry." Rural Sociology 72:359‐390. 
Peluso, Nancy Lee, Craig Humphrey, and Louise P. Fortmann. 1994. "The rock, the beach, and the tidal pool: People and poverty in natural resource‐dependent areas of the United States." Society and Natural Resources 7:23‐38.
WEEK 9. MAR 7 THURSDAY, MARCH 09
Collated media matrix due
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE  Bullard, Robert D. 1996. "Environmental justice: It's more than waste facility siting." Social Science Quarterly 77:493‐499. 
Johnson, Cassandra and Myron F. Floyd. 2006. "A tale of two towns: Black and white municipalities respond to urban growth in the South Carolina lowcountry." Human Ecology Review 13:23‐38. 
Shriver, T. E. and G. R. Webb. 2009. "Rethinking the scope of environmental injustice: Perceptions of health hazards in a rural Native American community exposed to carbon black." Rural Sociology 74:270‐292. TUESDAY, MARCH 09
Library session IIA
Claudine Jenda
Page 8 RSOC 5560/6650 Spring 2010 MAR 14 WEEK 10. MAR 21 SPRING BREAK SCIENCE  Grundmann, Reiner. 2006. "Ozone and climate: Scientific consensus and leadership." Science, Technology & Human Values 31:73‐101. 
Hannigan, John A. 2006. "Science, scientists and environmental problems." Pp. 94‐107 in Environmental Sociology. London, UK: Routledge. 
Mansfield, Becky and Johanna Haas. 2006. "Scale framing of scientific uncertainty in controversy over the endangered Steller sea lion." Environmental Politics 15:78‐94. TUESDAY, MARCH 23
Preliminary literature matrix due
THURSDAY, MARCH 25
Library session IIB
Claudine Jenda
WEEK 11. MAR 28 RISK  Hannigan, John A. 2006. "Risk." Pp. 108‐121 in Environmental Sociology. London, UK: Routledge. 
Allan, Stuart. 2002. "Media, risk and the environment." Pp. 97‐120 in Media, Risk, and Science. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press. 
O'Brien, Mary. 2000. "How does risk assessment really work?" Pp. 17‐37 in Making better environmental decisions: An alternative to risk assessment. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. THURSDAY, APRIL 01
Final literature matrix due
WEEK 12. APR 4 DISASTER  Picou, J. Steven and Duane A. Gill. 1999. "The Exxon Valdez disaster as localized environmental catastrophe: Dissimilarities to risk society theory." Pp. 143‐170 in Risk in the Modern Age: Social Theory, Science and Environmental Decision‐Making, edited by M. J. Cohen. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press. 
Pielke Jr, Roger A. 1997. "Reframing the U.S. hurricane problem." Society & Natural Resources 10:485‐499. 
Adger, W. Neil, Terry P. Hughes, Carl Folke, Stephen R. Carpenter, and Johan Rockstrom. 2005. "Social‐ecological resilience to coastal disasters." Science 309:1036‐1039. TUESDAY, APRIL 06
Peer review annotated bibliography
THURSDAY, APRIL 08
Annotated bibliography due
Page 9 RSOC 5560/6650 Spring 2010 WEEK 13. APR 11 “THE EXPERT” VS “LAY” PUBLIC  Vining, Joanne and Herbert W. Schroeder. 1987. "Emotions in environmental decision making: Rational planning versus the passionate public." Pp. 181‐192 in Social Science in Natural Resource Management Systems, edited by M. Miller, R. Gale, and P. Brown. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. 
Freudenburg, William R., Cynthia‐Lou Coleman, James Gonzales, and Catherine Helgeland. 1996. "Media coverage of hazard events: Analyzing the assumptions." Risk Analysis 16:31‐42. 
Trafzer, Clifford E., Willard Sakiestewa Gilbert, and Anthony Madrigal. 2008. "Integrating native science into a tribal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)." American Behavioral Scientist 51:1844‐1866.
THURSDAY, APRIL 15
Collated group matrix due
WEEK 14. APR 18 MANAGEMENT  Hardin, Garrett. 1968. "The tragedy of the commons." Science 162:1243‐1248. 
Dietz, Thomas, Elinor Ostrom, and Paul C. Stern. 2003. "The struggle to govern the commons." Science 302:1907‐1912. 
Pretty, Jules. 2003. "Social capital and the collective management of resources" Science 302:1912‐1914. 
Adams, William M., Dan Brockington, Jane Dyson, and Bhaskar Vira. 2003. "Managing tragedies: Understanding conflict over common pool resources." Science 302:1915‐1916. 
Blomquist, William and Edella Schlager. 2005. "Political pitfalls of integrated watershed management." Society & Natural Resources 18:101‐117. TUESDAY, APRIL 20
Library session III
Claudine Jenda and Chris Mixon
WEEK 15. APR 25 POLICY  Barham, Elizabeth. 2001. "Ecological boundaries as community boundaries: The politics of watersheds." Society & Natural Resources 14:181‐191. 
Schlosberg, David and John S. Dryzek. 2002. "Political strategies of American environmentalism: Inclusion and beyond." Society & Natural Resources 15:787‐804. 
Cohen, Mauire J. 2001. "The emergent environmental policy discourse on sustainable consumption." Pp. 21‐37 in Exploring Sustainable Consumption: Environmental Policy and the Social Sciences, edited by M. J. Cohen and J. Murphy. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Emerald Group Publishing Limited. TUESDAY, APRIL 27
Abstract peer review
THURSDAY, APRIL 29
Abstract due
Page 10 RSOC 5560/6650 Spring 2010 WEEK 16. MAY 2 COURSES END AND FINALS BEGIN WEEK 17. MAY 9 END OF FINALS WEEK MONDAY, MAY 10
12:00pm – 2:30pm
Poster Session & Peer Review
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