ENVS 407 Environmental Studies Theory and Practice
Winter Term, 2012, crn 27297 2 credits
Prerequisite: ENV or ESCI major
Grading: P/N only
Instructor: Alan Dickman, 302 Pacific Hall 346-2549 adickman@uoregon.edu
My official office hours are Mondays from noon to 1PM but feel free to drop by anytime I happen
to be in – if the door is closed I might be there – just knock. Or call or email to set up an
appointment time.
Times: Thursdays Noon to 2 PM plus one required Saturday field trip January 21 or 28 (in case
of unsafe weather related postponement)
Where: 249 Columbia Hall (ENVS conference room)
My goals: As director of the ENVS program I enjoy getting to work with and know ENVS
graduate students, but most of my interactions with undergraduate students are in large classes
with a mix of majors. I’m hoping to get to know a small sample of ENVS and ESCI majors
better and learn about your reasons for being in this program, your aspirations, and ways we
might improve the program. I also want to participate in a small seminar style course on a topic
that interests me.
Why might you want to do this? A chance to get to know other ENVS and ESCI majors
better, a chance to work closely with a faculty member, a chance to hear from ENVS graduate
students and think about your future, and an enhanced understanding of our environment.
What more could you want?
My expectations of you: Respect one another and participate fully. If you do, it will be easy to
pass. If you don’t, it will be easy to fail.
Your expectations? Let’s talk about these in class
Game plan: See the tentative list of readings and events on the next page. We will probably
adjust these as we go depending on your interests and other opportunities that arise.
date
wk1
Jan 12
Introductions
Activity
Readings assignments
Read Sand County Almanac for next week
Wk 2
Jan19
Saturday
First Essay due
Discuss Leopold and your essays
Field Trip Jan 21
Read Cronon and White essays on nature
Nabhan : Cultural Parallax
Wk 3
Jan 26
Saturday
Discuss Cronon and White
Read Lichatowich: Salmon and Rivers
Wk 4
Feb 2
TBD
Discuss salmon and rivers
Wk 5
Feb 9
Second Essay due
Discuss Essays and Nabhan
Read Cronon -- Only Connect
and Maniates and Whissel
Wk 6
Feb 16
Discuss Cronon, Maniates and
Whissel
Read Orr: Earth in Mind
Wk 7
Feb 23
Discuss Orr
Wk 8
March 1
Third Essay due
Visit by ENVS graduate students
TBD
Wk 9
March 8
Student selected essays
TBD
(in case 1/21 trip is cancelled)
Read Nabhan: Cross Pollinations
Midterm check ins
Wk 10
Student selected essays
March 15
March 19 (Monday) is final exam date. Final essay due by midnight Monday (rewrite of essay 3)
Tentative Reading List
Booker, Matthew. 1997. Confluence: Ecology and Culture at the Forks of the Willamette River.
M.S. Thesis, Environmental Studies Program, University of Oregon. Eugene, Oregon. 128 pages.
Cronon, William. 1996. The trouble with wilderness; or, getting back to the wrong nature. P. 69- 90,
In, W. Cronon ed., Uncommon Ground : Rethinking the Human Place in Nature. New York: W.W. Norton
& Co. GE195 .U53 1996
Cronon. William. 1998. “Only Connect…” The goals of a liberal education. From American Scholar,
volume 67, issue no. 4.
Leopold, Aldo. 1949. A Sand County Almanac. Oxford University Press. New York. 228 pages.
QH81.L56 1987
Lichatowich, James. 1999. Salmon Without Rivers. Island Press, SH348.L53 1999
Maniates, Michael F., and John C. Whissel. 2000. Environmental Studies: The sky is not falling.
BioScience 50(6): 509-517
Moore, Kathleen Dean. 2004. The Pine Island Paradox. Milkweed Editions. 251 pages. GF47.M57
2004
Moore, Kathleen Dean and Michael P. Nelson, editors. 2010. Moral Ground. Ethical Action for a
Planet in Peril. Trinity University Press. 478 pages. GE.42.M65 2010
Nabhan, Gary Paul. 2004. Cross-Pollinations; The Marriage of Science and Poetry.
Milkweed Editions. Minneapolis, MN. 107 pages. PN55.N33.2004
Nabhan, Gary Paul. 1995 Cultural Parallax in Viewing North American Habitats. in
Reinventing Nature edited by M. Soule and G. Lease. Island Press.
White, Richard. 1996. Are You an Environmentalist or Do You Work for a Living? Uncommon
Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature. New York: W.W. Norton & co-edited by William Cronon.
GE195.U53 1996