Tentative Schedule
To be done this week:
Contact potential partners in St. Lucia. Discuss possible projects again. I’ll contact Ministry of social transformation, heritage tourism, and community group in Laborie.
week 1:
Lecture topics
General overview of course: What is sustainable development? Why are small islands different? What do we hope to achieve with this course? Applied problem solving. Ecological Economics. Consumer Affairs.
Assignment
e-reserve reading from one of books
week 2:
Lecture topics
Describe potential project topics. More detail on St. Lucia and the Caribbean. Juan Merino can give overview of Caribbean, either one of us can cover St. Lucia.
Assignment
Each student finds a good reading on St. Lucia and/or the project topic that most interests them. Turn in electronic copy that we’ll post on course web site (can drop it off at the library to put on course reserve, and they’ll scan it for you)
week 3:
Lecture
Applied problem solving in a complex world: Transdisciplinarity, Post Normal Science, Complexity Theory.
Activity
Brain storming session that leads to group meetings and team formation during the week.
Assignment
Meet with other people interested in your project. Flesh it out, and prepare a five minute presentation
week 4:
Activities
Presentation of project topics
Finalize project teams. After hearing presentations, students can choose different teams.
Assignments
Begin meeting in group.
Work with Josh and Jay to contact partners in St. Lucia.
Write up a draft contract listing group members, field partner, and brief description of what you hope to achieve.
Assigned readings for discussion group
week 5:
Activity
Discussion groups on Sustainability: 6 readings, 6 perspectives. One person from each group does each reading.
Assignment
Contract due.
Start literature review on chosen project topic
week 6:
Lecture
Political economy of St. Lucia: Distribution of wealth, power structures, current trends, etc.
Assignment
Draft literature review due, with correct citation format
Begin integrating lit review into a statement of the problem. Start broad, narrow down to specific problem in St. Lucia, then conclude with specific goal that you described in your contract.
week 7:
Lecture
Methodologies in ecological economics and consumer affairs.
Assignments
Write up objectives required to achieve goal. Begin thinking about appropriate methodologies to achieve those objectives.
week 8:
Lecture
St. Lucia as a complex system (ecosystem goods and services, international trade, consumer psychology, etc.)
Assignment:
Statement of problem due
Assigned reading for discussion group
Prepare five minute presentation on problem
week 9:
Activity
Brief presentations of problem and brainstorming session
Assignment
Project proposals
week 10:
Activity
Discussion groups on development: 6 readings, 6 perspectives. One person from each group does each reading.
Assignment
Project proposals due: Brief description of the problem, moving from general to specific. Goal statement of what your group wants to achieve. List of specific objectives required to achieve goal. Methodology that explains how you will accomplish each objective.
week 11
Lecture
To be decided
week 12:
Presentations (6 groups, each group has 20 minutes to present proposal)
week 13:
Presentations (cont.)