Beloit Collegee
ENVS 250: Environment and Society
General Information
Spring 2008
Instructor: Yaffa L. Grossman
Office: 229 Chamberlin Hall
Phone: 363-2219
E-mail: grossman@beloit.edu
Office Hours: I will post an office hours schedule sheet for each week of the semester. Please feel free to sign up for a meeting whenever you would like to discuss anything with me. If you are not available during the posted times, please contact me to make an appointment for another time.
Meeting times: Tuesday and Thursday 9:00-10:50AM
Classroom: Chapin G-9
Office hours: An appointment sheet for office hours is posted on my office
door.
Please contact me to schedule meetings at other times.
Course web sites: Current information about course activities will be posted at http:\\beloit.edu\~grossman\ENVS_250\. Many readings will be available electronically through Moodle. The enrollment key appear in the syllabus distrubuted in class.
Texts: Some materials will be on reserve in Morse Library. You may be asked to obtain one or more texts during the semesters.
Course Overview
The Environment and Society course provides an interdisciplinary introduction to social, political, and scientific aspects of environmental issues from both historical and contemporary perspectives. We will focus on three major topic areas:
• Beloit as an ecosystem,
• mercury as a pollutant,
• oil as an energy source.
These topic areas will allow us to focus on local, regional, and global environmental issues.By the end of the semester, students will be able to:
• assess environmental status of an urban area,
• interpret conflicting policy approaches to environmental issues,
• formulate policy that they believe best incorporates scientific and social dimensions of environmental issues,
• effectively communicate environmental information and policy analyses to general and technical audiences.
As you go through life, you will be asked to use these skills whenever you actively participate in community decision making about environmental issues.
Class meetings
Class meetings will include lecture, discussion, student presentations, and other activities. Readings will be drawn from the scientific and technical literature, popular press, and new media. You will be asked to prepare discussion materials prior to class discussions. In addition, you will participate in several group projects, write papers, make presentations, and write a book review, and final reflection on the class.
The success of this course depends on contributions from each class member. Excessive absences will diminish a student's grade and will be reported to the Academic Advising Office.
Class Evaluation
Reading summaries and discussion questions, short tasks and presentations, class participation Throughout term Beloit as an ecosystem project Draft Feb. 21, Final Mar. 13 Mercury project April 1 Energy project May 5 Book review March 25 Final activity Monday, May 5,
7-10pmDeadlines
Tentative deadlines for major assignments appear on this syllabus; firm deadlines will be provided in class. Unless you have a documented illness, injury or other reason for submitting your work after the deadline, late work will be penalized 10% per day, including weekends. Some assignments may not be accepted late.
Special Needs
If you have a disability and would like to speak to someone about possible accommodations, please visit the LSSC (Learning Support Services Center) located on the first floor of 635 College St. To obtain accommodations, you will need to provide appropriate documentation of your disability to Diane Arnzen, Director of the LSSC. If you wish to receive accommodations in my class please provide me with the LSSC Accommodation Verification Letter dated for this semester as soon as possible so that your learning needs may be appropriately met.
Academic Honesty
The names of all contributors to each piece of work should be included. When you use written, video, or other sources of information, please cite these sources in your work. Please consult the instructor if you are not certain whether a source should be cited or how to cite a source. Violations of the Beloit College Academic Honesty Policy will be treated seriously. Please see the section on academic honesty on the web pages of the Student Affairs web site (http://www.beloit.edu/resources/policies/academicpolicy.php) for additional information on this policy.
Last updated on: January 12, 2008