Water As Power, Life, & Death

Water as Power, Life, & Death

ENVS 411 – Spring 2018

Water as Power, Life, & Death

ENVS 411

MW 8–9:50am

Spring 2018

Water is the source of life. In the midst of a global climate change, environmental crises for water resources and the political debates over water have taken center stage. This course offers an interdisciplinary approach to water issues, investigating our attachment and engagement with water. We will explore how water shapes humanity and how humanity shapes water. We will consider the cultural and political aspects of water, including rivers, streams, lakes, marshes, and the sea. We will investigate water management practices as it relates to race and gender.

CLASS FORMAT

This interdisciplinary course explores the theme of water through the lenses of natural science, social science and the humanities. We will read academic, literary and visual texts that can be put on conversation with each other. Our texts will include documentary films, which will invite us to see how water issues are represented. These films will also provide models for the final video project for the course.

This course begins with an introduction to the core concepts and methods of hydrology, stream ecology, and human ecology as it relates to water. We will get to know our own watershed, its major features, and local water issues that affect it. With this knowledge in place, we will explore water issues locally, nationally, and globally, considering how categories of identity—race, ethnicity, gender, class—intersect with those issues. As part of this exploration, we will read and analyze complex cultural “texts”—poetry, films, music, advertisements, etc.—that influence our understandings of human interactions with water and water issues. We will close our exploration with a look at how climate change affects all of the above.

Active, engaged participation is central to this class. We, as a group, will be responsible for the learning that occurs. That means you are responsible for doing all the reading before class, coming to the class on time and prepared for critical discussion, and sharing your insights, perspectives and experiences to enrich the discussion. As an interdisciplinary course, we will read texts that approach water issues from a variety of perspectives. As a course with an environmental justice component, we will engage in community interaction. In addition, throughout the class, we will be embark on field trips to explore the rivers and streams and water issues in our area. Be sure to dress appropriately—bring layers of clothing as well as rain gear, even if it’s not raining.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

If you invest yourself fully, by the end of this course you will be able to do the following:

• Describe the core concepts of hydrology.

• Identify your watershed and its major features.

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Water as Power, Life, & Death

ENVS 411 – Spring 2018

• Articulate the ethical, cross-cultural, and historical context of local, national, and global water issues, including the links between human and natural systems.

• Read, summarize, and analyze complex and interdisciplinary texts dealing with water issues.

• Reflect critically about your role and identity as a citizen, consumer and environmental actor as related to water issues.

• Identify ways in which imaginative and representational works influence and challenge understandings of water issues.

• Determine how categories of identity—race, ethnicity, gender, class—impact environmental values and access to clean water.

• Plan, shoot, and edit a 5-minute video with a theme related to water and/or water issues.

ASSIGNMENTS

Initial Reflection Paper: In this informal paper of 1–2 pages, you will reflect on your knowledge of water and water issues, your experiences and feelings about water and water issues. The purpose of this assignment is to get you thinking about water, water usage, water issues, and for me to gather information about what level of knowledge our class community already has.

*Please see Canvas for additional assignment details.

Blog Posts: Over the course of the term, you will write blog posts that explain your engagement with the reading for that week in conjunction with your own reflections in water/water issues. Most of the time, they will be spurred by specific prompts or guidelines given ahead of time, but collectively your posts should be used as a way to reflect on and puzzle over assigned reading, to capture your own insights and reflections on environment and identity, and—ideally—to relate our readings to your own everyday experience of life. The blog is also a way to connect with each other and the greater world (if we’d like) as we struggle to make sense of water issues. The response should critically engage what we’ve read or interacted with for the week, but this is also meant to be an experimental place where you try out ideas. This means that there should be an attempt to understand, explicate, or apply the ideas/content of the week by putting them in conversation with other things we’ve read/encountered or with other things that you experience beyond the class. Blog posts will be graded on completeness, engagement, self-assessment, and on a “collage” of the best lines and paragraphs from the blog, which I’ll ask for three times over the course of the semester.

* Please see the full assignment description on our course blog.

Letter to the Editor/Public Comment: For this course, you will write a short letter to the editor or a public comment on the water issue of your choice. You may choose to write your letter or public comment on the issue related to the community organization with which you volunteer for the Community-Classroom Connection. This piece of writing will be between 200–250 words, depending on the newspaper or public policy you choose. The goal of this assignment is to familiarize you with the importance and process of writing letters to the editor and public comments with regard to local environmental issues.

*Please see Canvas for additional assignment details.

Midterm: There will be an in-class midterm on Thursday, May 3. The midterm will cover all topics covered in class and on the field trips.

Group Discussion Leadership: You will be responsible for formally leading discussion of our readings. This doesn’t mean that you have to know everything there is to know about a topic. What it does mean is that you’ll need to come with an overview of the major points of the text. You will also give a “reading” of the text (your argument about it) and demonstrate possible ways to connect or think about the text/reading(s) that we may not have thought about. You will then facilitate the discussion (I’ll help, too) about the reading based on these questions or others that come up.

Group Discussion Provocateurs: For each group discussion, a handful of students will be “provocateurs,” or people who provoke discussion by carefully and thoughtfully posing insightful questions in response to the reading/argument given by the discussion leaders. The role of the provocateur is just a more formal version of what we should all be doing: being critically engaged and investigating thought. Provocateurs are simply the folks who will get the discussion going. The rest of the class will then fill in to respond to both the discussion leaders and the

provocateurs.

Community-Classroom Connection: With this assignment you will gain hands-on experience with local water issues. I ask that you provide approximately three hours of service to a community organization of your choice. I will provide you with a list of some opportunities but you may also propose your own ideas. However, you must get approval from me before doing the work. The community service work must be completed by May 31; however, I encourage you to complete this assignment early in the term. We will debrief in class on May 31, during which time you will share your experience and lessons learned in small groups and with the class as a whole. In preparation, write at least one journal entry on your community experience.

*Please see Canvas for additional assignment details.

Final Video Project: You will plan, shoot, edit, and present a 5-minute video on water and/or water issues. This project can take many shapes—from documentary-type projects with interviews to more creative pieces. For example, you might undertake a video project related to your Community-Classroom Connection experience. I highly encourage you to use my office hours early and often to discuss your ideas and progress for the final video project. In addition, this assignment will be scaffolded in order to help you produce pieces of the video throughout the course:

April 12: Bring 1–2 ideas for your final video to class to workshop with your peers

April 19: 1-page proposal for your final video project

May 8: Rough video footage

May 22: Rough video footage

June [TBD]: Video presentation

Cameras for shooting video are available from CMET. You must request this equipment at least 1 week in advance. Cameras can be checked out over the weekend. CMET has a lab with 2 computers with editing software. This lab is staffed with students who can help you use the editing software. Anyone with an iPhone is welcome to use that to shoot video as well as the iMovie software available on Apple computers.

You will present your final video with a brief (2–3 minute) presentation in which you introduce your video. Along with your video, you will submit a 2-page final reflection to be due before our final exam meeting time.

*Please see Canvas for additional assignment details.

REQUIRED TEXTS

Readings will be posted to Canvas. You are required to bring copies of all readings to class, either as a hard copy or as an electronic copy. Films are on reserve at the Allan Price Science Commons and Research Library.

COURSE POLICIES

Course Blog and Canvas: This course will use both Canvas and a course blog: blogs.uoregon.edu/envs411water/. The course blog will be populated with user-generated content described in the assignment explanation section below and is a major component of the class. It also houses all of our course materials and links. The course will use Canvas as a place to submit additional assignment, post grades and make announcements to the whole class via email.

Submitting Assignments: To save paper, I will use Canvas (for submitting and returning

assignments) and the editing function in Word (for feedback). Unless otherwise instructed, submit all assignments via Canvas. Complete your assignments in Microsoft Word or a compatible word processing program (generally open access software works fine). Name your file with your last name and assignment title (e.g. Fink_PublicComment.docx). All assignments are before class begins on the specified date.

Formatting of Papers: All papers written for this course must be submitted in MLA format, double-spaced, printed in 12-pt, Times New Roman font with regular, 1-inch margins on all sides. Papers with excessive spacing or enlarged font will be penalized accordingly. An up-to-date MLA Handbook (or another writing manual with current MLA rules) is recommended. NOTE: Blog posts will be formatted automatically.

Late Work: All work is to be handed in on time. Late work will incur a 10% grade reduction for each calendar day past the original due date. As is always the case, clear, frequent and early communication solves a lot of problems.

Determination of course grade: Grading will be based on points rather than a curve: A = 90–100 points, B = 80–89 points, C = 70–79 points, D = 60–69 points, F < 60 points.

Attendance: Attendance is mandatory and constitutes part of your participation grade. You are responsible for all assigned materials in the class and ensuring that your work is turned in on time. If an illness or unforeseeable emergency forces you to miss a field trip, let me know as soon as possible and we will work out an alternate assignment.

Participation: This is a discussion-based seminar. Attendance alone is not adequate. You are expected to come to class prepared, having read the material, and engaged critically with it. You should print out and bring any materials distributed on Canvas. Attend class ready to share your thoughts about the readings. I expect you to contribute meaningfully during each session. I encourage you to take ownership of your learning experience and help create an engaging, dynamic learning environment through active participation, critical analysis, and thoughtful reflection.

Electronics: If you have a computer you want to bring to class, feel free to bring it. We’ll often make use of them to look at texts, images, and other media. Note, however, that they generally won’t be necessary. Distracting use of electronics (this means texting, facebooking, sportscentering, vining, snapchatting, and whatever else the kids are doing these days) will count as an absence. I will not call you out in the middle of class; instead, I will silently make note of it and mark you absent.

Class Communication: Email is the best way to communicate with me outside of class. Please put ENVS 411 in the subject. Generally, you can expect an email response from me within two business days. If you don’t receive a reply in two business days, email me again. Or talk to me in class as soon as you can. In kind, I will communicate with you through UO email and/or Canvas. You are expected to check both regularly.

Racism: This class is committed to the practice of anti-racism. This practice includes resisting both individual and systemic racism. Individual racism refers to an individual’s racist assumptions, beliefs, and behavior and can best be understood as discrimination arising from personal prejudices. These are the most commonly understood types of racism. Examples include hate speech, physical violence, and the use of racial slurs. Individual racism is absolutely unacceptable behavior and will be directly challenged and actively resisted in this classroom. In the case that individual racism is directed at any participant of the class, the student will be asked to leave the class and will not be allowed to return. Additionally, the behavior will be reported to any appropriate authorities, such as the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity and/or the police as warranted.

Systemic racism is a more complicated topic, but it can best be described as the policies, practices, and traditions of institutions that result in the exclusion or advancement of particular groups. An easy way to understand this form of racism is that it is “Power + Prejudice.” Systemic racism is unacceptable and should be identified, criticized, and resisted at every opportunity, which is why no student will face any form of retaliation for questioning or criticizing elements of the class they feel contribute to systemic racism. Additionally, if any student feels uncomfortable talking to me about elements of my teaching or class that they feel contribute to either individual or systemic racism in the classroom, they can contact the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity by phone (541-346-3123) or by email at .

Immigration Status: I fully support the rights of all students to an education and to live free from the fear of deportation. In the case that you have any concerns in that regard, feel free to discuss them with me. I will always treat any information you choose to share with me regarding your immigration status or the immigration status of anyone else as confidential. You can also contact Justine Carpenter, director of Multicultural and Identity-Based Support Services, at 541-346-1123 or
for further assistance and support.

Students with Children: Students with children are welcome to bring them to class for any reason. As a courtesy, I would like advance notice so I can make any necessary adjustments to the lesson plan, but I understand that this is not always possible and advance notice is not required.

If your childcare situation requires long-term accommodation or support, please get in touch so we can discuss your options and what the class can do to help. You might also want to get in touch with the University of Oregon’s Non-Traditional Student Union for more information about campus resources. You can e-mail them at .

Counseling and Mental Health Resources: Your mental health is as important as your physical health. I encourage every student to take advantage of University of Oregon’s Counseling and Testing Center, which provides mental health care and testing for all students. They offer quality clinical and therapeutic services, psychological assessments, mental health workshops, and outreach, as well as emergency and crisis counseling. They can also connect you with additional resources, both on and off campus. You can contact them through their website (http://counseling.uoregon.edu) or by phone at (541) 346-3227.