2

ENVS 204

Shades of Green: The Past and Future of Environmentalism

Professor Frank Zelko

210 Wheeler House

Phone: 656 8517

Email:

Office Hours: Thurs: 2:30-3:30; Fri: 4:00-6:00

Course Overview

This course will examine how environmentalism has become a major political, social, and cultural phenomenon in the twenty-first century. We will look at the history of the different strands of modern environmentalism and the distinctive approaches taken by various individuals, movements, and organizations. We will examine how successful each has been and explore how environmentalism will need to develop to tackle future challenges.

Class Structure

This class will be structured as a modified seminar. Most classes will predominantly adhere to a seminar format, which entails group discussion based on careful reading of each week’s texts. The professor and guests will occasionally give lectures or show films.

Blackboard

Blackboard will be used to post weekly class readings and other course materials, such as the syllabus and assignment-related materials. Check it regularly.

Reading Material

Most of the readings will be posted on Blackboard. In addition, students should purchase the following books (all are widely available, in both hardback and as E-books. They should also be available at the UVM bookstore):

·  Paul Sabin, The Bet: Paul Ehrlich, Julian Simon, and our Gamble over Earth’s Future (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013)

·  Adam Rome, The Genius of Earth Day: How a 1970 Teach-In Unexpectedly Made the First Green Generation (New York: Hill and Wang, 2013)

·  Frank Zelko, Make it a Green Peace!: The Rise of Countercultural Environmentalism (New York: Oxford University Press, 2013)

Assessment

Assessment / Date / Value
Op-ed article 1 / Feb. 3 (Monday), 11:59PM / 15%
Op-ed article 2 / March 13 (Thursday), 11:59PM / 15%
Solutions Article / May 1 (Friday), 11:59 PM / 35%
Attendance and participation / Various Dates / 35%

All papers should be sent as email attachments by midnight on the due date. They should be saved as MS Word files or some compatible format (not PDF). Half a grade per-day will be deducted for late papers. Details for each individual assignment are on Blackboard.

Class Timetable

Please Note: This timetable may be subject to modification during the semester as the professor sees fit.

Week / Topics & Readings
Jan. 16 / Introduction
Jan. 23 / The Challenges of Environmentalism
Jan. 30 / Ecological Enchantment: Is Environmentalism a new form of religion?
Feb. 6 / The Mainstream: From the Sierra Club to the Nature Conservancy
Feb. 13 / Mass Movements: From Earth Day to 350.org
Feb. 20 / Land Trusts: Saving the world one (private) property at a time
Feb. 27 / Humans: Planetary Despoilers or the Ultimate Resource?
March 20 / Greenpeace: A Revolution in Human Consciousness?
March 27 / Monkey Wrenching Deep Ecologists
April 3 / Environmental Justice
April 10 / Right Turn: Do conservatives have anything to contribute to environmentalism?
April 17 / Wilderness or Garden?: From Conservation Biology to Ecosystem Services
April 24 / The Anthropocene: What does it mean for Greens?

Attendance Policy

Attendance is mandatory. Missing class without a reasonable excuse will entail a 3% reduction in your overall grade. The professor will determine whether an excuse is “reasonable” or not.

Course Aims and Objectives

For this course, it is expected that diligent and attentive students will acquire a range of general and specific attributes. These include: 1) an introduction to this field of study; 2) critical thinking and analysis; 3) improved writing skills; and 4) an introduction to skills that utilize interdisciplinary perspectives. Particular to this class, students will gain an enhanced sense of the breadth of thinking and writing about environmentalism from various thematic and theoretical perspectives and will hone their capacity to analyze and critique events, concepts and trends.

Disabilities

Students with a disability who may require alternative arrangements are encouraged to seek advice at the commencement of semester at UVM Access: http://www.uvm.edu/access/

Assignments

Two Op-ed Articles

Writing op-ed articles is a useful way for non-journalists to publicize their views to a broad swathe of the reading public. Every day, prestigious newspapers such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times publish op-ed articles by members of the public. The readership of these newspapers numbers in the hundreds of thousands or millions. Because of the cultural capital they have accumulated over the past century, newspapers still have a greater degree of mainstream political and social legitimacy than independent blogs or other forms of alternative media. An article published in the New York Times has the imprimatur and cachet of one of the world’s most respected newspapers. This does not of course mean that it will be met with universal agreement or acclaim. Nevertheless, it does suggest that it is at least worthy of serious consideration by readers.

A good op-ed piece should be elegantly written, cogently argued, well-informed, and understandable to a non-expert audience. A useful summary of the New York Times’ criteria can be found here.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/14/opinion/op-ed-and-you.html?_r=0

Examples: Paul Sabin, whose book we are reading for the course, recently published a New York Times op-ed: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/08/opinion/sunday/betting-on-the-apocalypse.html

Or check out a couple of my own recent articles in the Los Angeles Times and the Guardian.

Your assignments: Choose a topic—preferably one that is in the news at the moment and with which you are already reasonably familiar. Research it as thoroughly as you need to, then write a 600-800 word op-ed piece. If you do a good job, then you should consider sending it to a newspaper. It doesn’t have to be the Times—something like the Burlington Free Press is also fine. I can’t offer you bonus points for publication, but I will certainly look upon it favorably.

Due Dates:

Op-Ed One: Monday February 3 by midnight.

Op-Ed Two: Thursday March 13 by midnight

Submit them as email attachments in MS Word format or something compatible (not PDF). I need to be able to edit them.

Solutions Article

Solutions is a hybrid journal that aims to provide a forum for developing and discussing seriously creative ideas to solve society's most pressing problems in an integrated way. It is published on the web and as a magazine and was founded at UVM by Professors Bob Costanza and John Todd. I am the editor of the history section.

We will read articles from Solutions at various points throughout the semester. Before planning your assignment, you should familiarize yourself with the journal. It has four major sections:

  1. Features
  2. Perspectives
  3. On the Ground
  4. Solutions in History
  5. Envision

Read through the guidelines for each section and then choose the one to which you would like to contribute. Then consult with me about the topic you would like to write about (either email me or, if you want to discuss it at greater length, come to my office hours). Your article should be well researched and conform to Solutions’ stylistic guidelines. If your work is of high enough quality, I may consider recommending it for publication.