UEP 101
ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY
Fall 2006
Monday and Wednesday
3:30-4:55 AM
Professor Robert Gottlieb
(ext. 2712; office: UEPI
202; gottlieb@oxy.edu)
Environment and Society (UEP 101) is an introductory course on the environment. It is designed for students with an interest
in environmental issues who might want to pursue further studies in Urban and
Environmental Policy as well as for those interested in the topic even though
they may be pursuing another major. The
course will include lectures and presentations in different topical areas;
films and speakers that provide insight about the nature of environmental
problems and their possible solutions; and class discussions, presentation sessions,
and short essays on the readings and topics.
Class
time will be divided into different segments, including lectures, speakers and
films, and class discussions on the readings and assigned topical issues. The readings will consist of a few texts available
in the bookstore as well as a UEP 101 reader to be accessed on line.
There
will be one introductory session on the theme of sustainable or livable cities,
communities, and campuses and four topical areas for the class that encompass
different ways to understand and frame environmental issues. The sessions
include:
LIVABLE
CITIES, COMMUNITIES, AND CAMPUSES (Introductory session: How environmental and
social issues intersect; identifying an ecological footprint, campus greening
initiatives, with a focus on the Occidental environment; sustainable cities and
communities)
TRANSPORTATION,
THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT, FREEWAYS AND SPRAWL (How transportation impacts land use
and built environment choices; sprawl and the environment; cars and freeways in
the culture and in our lives)
POLLUTION,
MATERIALS, WASTES, AND HAZARDS (Understanding the sources and impacts of
pollution; air quality concerns; pollution prevention versus pollution control
versus market strategies; precautionary principles)
NATURE
IN THE CITY (Is nature in the city an oxymoron? Exploring the urban environment)
FOOD
AND ENVIRONMENT (Exploring where our food comes from, how it is manufactured,
where it is bought, and how it is consumed; fast food culture and alternative
food strategies)
For
each area there will be specific readings, and one or more lectures, speakers,
and/or films. There will also be groups of approximately six students each
established for seminar discussions and to make at least two presentations for
each of the topical areas. I’ll discuss with each of the groups about possible
team projects and activities. Since there are several different topical areas,
the readings, discussions, and presentations are designed to introduce
important entry points for the broader discussion of environment and society.
Presentation groups are encouraged to develop an imaginative and lively session
to capture key issues and arguments. All students, for the first session will
undertake an “ecological footprint” analysis, a “scorecard” analysis to
identify the pollutants generated in the county where your family lives or
where you grew up, and/or identify the criteria for what could make Occidental
a greener and more livable campus and what would make your city or community a more
“sustainable” or “livable” community. For the topical area sessions, field
trips are an option for the group presentation teams as are possible
community-related collaborations or interactive sessions.
By November 8, students will need to decide which of the two options they would like to select for their major assignment of the semester. Options include 1) a one-week, take home, full length (10-12 pages) written final examination on a particular topical area; or 2) a research paper (approximately 10-12 pages in length, although it could be longer) involving specific issues or questions associated with one of the five topical areas. You should have, no later than the 8th, a memo and/or an appointment with me to identify which of the two options you have selected, including the topical area and/or research topic for the paper. Depending on the size of the class, students will have an opportunity to present their findings and conclusions for their major assignment. Both the research paper and the take home exam will be due December 11.
There will be four essay assignments on the readings, one for each of the topic areas. The short papers are typically 3-4 pages in length and will be based on the reading material, class discussions, and speakers. They will be due on the following dates: Topic 1: Transportation – due October 2; Topic 2: Pollution – due October 23; Topic 3: Nature in the City – due November 8; Topic 4: The Food Shed – due November 29. Grades will be evaluated in terms of participation in the class and group discussions and presentations (33%), and the written assignments, including the research paper or final exam (which includes the ability to meet deadlines as well as extra credits for a presentation) and the short essays and assignments related to the readings and discussion topics (67%). Since this is a big class but still designed with seminar-type objectives, please feel free to contact me by e mail or in person and we can discuss any aspect of the class you need to explore further. The groups should also help facilitate a seminar approach. My office hours will be MW 10:30-11:15 and 1:30-3:00.
Introductory
Session: Environment and Society: Livable Places – September 6-18
Environment and
Society: Setting the Context – September 6
“Environmental Crisis in the City: The Relationship
Between Industrialization and Urban Pollution,” chapter 2 in Effluent
“The Urban Environment,” Excerpt from Chapter 4 of The
Next
Ecological
Footprints, Toxic Scorecards, Campus Greening, and Sustainable Communities
Initiatives – September 11-13
“Ecological Footprint Accounts: Moving
Sustainability from Concept to Measurable Goal,” Ecological Footprint
Evaluation, Redefining Progress, at www.myfootprint.org
“Europe 2005: The Ecological Footprint,” World
Wildlife Federation, at http://assets.panda.org/downloads/europe2005ecologicalfootprint.pdf
“Urban Sustainability: A Unique Moment in Time,”
Robert W. Kates, Environment, May
2006
“A City That Would Love to Have Less Impact,” Cara
Mia DiMassa,
“Think Globally, Act Santa Monically,” Margaret
Wertheim,
U.S. EPA Toxic Release Inventory data bases – know
the pollution in your home town: http://www.epa.gov/triexplorer/
and http://www.scorecard.org
“Guiding Principles” and “Five Big Ideas,” excerpts
from Occidental College Master Plan, available at http://www.oxy.edu/MasterPlan.xml
Topical
Area #1: Transportation, the Built
Environment, Sprawl and Freeways: Are We Forever Auto-Dependent?-- September 20-October
2
Sprawl and the Built Environment- September 20-25
“Sprawl: The New Manifest Destiny?” Charles W.
Schmidt, Environmental Health Perspectives,
August 2004
“Sprawl: The Automobile and Affording the American
Dream,” Hank Dittmar, in Sustainable Planet: Solutions for the Twenty-First
Century, edited by Juliet Schor and Betsy Taylor, pp. 109-127
“How Sprawl Got a Bad Name,” Robert Bruegmann, American
“In Exurbs, Life Framed by Hours Spent in the Car,”
Rick Lyman, New York Times, December
18, 2005
“Decoding Everyday American Landscapes, in A
Field Guide to Sprawl, Dolores Hayden, pp. 7-13 (plus photos)
Cars and Hybrids – September 27
“Can’t We Spread the Hybrid Goodies Around?” Lisa
Margonelli,
“Life in the
“Ford Abandons Pledge on Hybrid Production,”
Cars, Parking, and
the Environment – September 20-October 2
“Honk If You Love Quiet,” Ralph Vartabedian,
“Driving Up the Cost of Clean Air,” David Holzman, Environmental Health Perspectives, April
2005
“The Twenty-First Century Parking Problem,” Chapter
1 in The High Cost of Parking, Donald Shoup, pp. 1-17
“Stuck on the Freeway? Here’s Something Else to Fume
About,” Caitlin Lui, Los Angeles Times,
November 16, 2004
Non-Car Alternatives – September 25-October 2
“Pedestrians, Bicyclists, and Bus Riders,” segment
of Chapter 5 in Reinventing Los Angeles, Robert Gottlieb, Forthcoming
book
“From Here to There, Without a Car? Web Help
Multiplies,” Thomas J. Lueck, New York
Times, July 16, 2006
Transportation
Short Paper: Due October 2
Topical
Area #2: Pollution, Materials, Wastes, and Hazards: A Toxic Environment and Why
Materials Matter -- October 4-18
Pollution: Air, Water, and Climate (October 4-11)
“No Foam Party Zone,” Kevin Herrara,
“Polar Bears Face New Toxic Threat: Flame
Retardants,” Marla Cone,
“Chemical in Plastics is Tied to Prostate Cancer,”
Marla Cone, Los Angeles Times, June
1, 2006
Brian Payton, “On Thin Ice,”
“Chemicals in Home a Big
Smog Source,” Gary Polakovic,
“Dozens of Chemicals Found
in Most Americans’ Bodies,” Marla Cone,
Diesel, Goods Movement, and Environmental Justice, (October 9-11)
“”Ships, Trucks, and Trains: Effects of Goods Movement on Environmental Health,” Andrea Hricko, Environmental Health Perspectives, April 2006
“
The View From our Window: Environmental Justice and the Goods Movement Industry, Modesta Avila Coalition, 2005
“Diesel: Heavy Use and Heavy Exposures,” Chapter 1, in Exhausted by Diesel, Natural Resources Defense Council and the Coalition for Clean Air, pp. 1-12
Materials (October 13)
Materials Matter: Toward a Sustainable Materials
Policy,
Kenneth Geiser, (Chapter 1, “Material Incompatibilities”), pp. 1-15
“Lighten Up,” Robert Paehlke, Alternatives Journal, 2006, vol. 32, no. 1
“Designing a New Materials Economy,” Lester Brown in
Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth, pp. 121-143
Wastes and Hazards: Preventing or Managing Pollution? (October 18-20)
“E-Waste @ Large,” Elizabeth Royte, New York Times, January 27, 2006
“Phasing out Persistent Organic Pollutants,” Anne Platt
McGinn, in State of the World 2000, the Worldwatch Institute, pp. 79-100
“Precaution is for Europeans,” Samuel Loewenberg, New York Times, May 18, 2003
“European Parliament OKs Rules on Chemical Safety,”
Marla Cone,
Pollution Short Paper Due Oct. 23
Topic #3: Nature in the City – October
23-November 6
Water and Fire
(October 23-30)
“Fighting Fires in an Overheated Climate,” Patty
Limerick,
“The Perfect Fire,” Mike Davis,
“
“Re-Envisioning the
Lawns (November 1)
“Lawns as Artifacts: The Evolution of Social and
Environmental Implications of
“Environmental Costs,” Chapter 4 in Redesigning
the American Lawn: A Search for Environmental Harmony, F. Herbert Bormann,
Diana Balmori, and Gordon Geballe, 2001, pp. 66-89
“Lawn Mores,” Ted Steinberg,
“Green Spaces: Lawns,” from Reinventing Los
Angeles, Robert Gottlieb (forthcoming).
Reinventing Nature
and the Built Environment (November 3-8)
“Design with City Nature: An Overview of Some
Issues,” Michael Hough, in The Ecological City: Preserving and Restoring
Urban Biodiversity, Edited by Rutherford Platt, Rowan Rountree, and Pamela
Muick, pp. 40-48
“The Greening of the City,” Jane Jacobs, New York Times Magazine, May 16, 2004
Flight Maps: Adventures with Nature in Modern
“Green Spaces: Gardens (And Trees and Parks),”
Chapter segment from Reinventing Los Angeles,
Nature in the
City Short Paper, Due Nov. 8
Topical Area
#4: The Food Shed: From Farm to Table – November 8-27
Food Systems: How Food is grown, sold and consumed (November 8-15)
Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser, pp. 1-28; 111-222
“Five Minutes with Eric Schlosser,” Timothy Fernolz
and Ben Adler, July 5, 2006 (Alternet posting)
“Flak Over Fast Food Nation,” Janey Adamy and
Richard Gibson, Wall Street Journal,
May 18, 2006
“Hamburger and French Fries: The Secret Lives of
Everyday Things,” John Ryan and Alan Thien Durning, Race, Poverty and the Environment, Winter 2000, pp. 42-44
“The Tomato as Agricultural Metaphor”, Lucille
Salitan, Why Magazine, Winter 1996
“Food Miles: A Simple Metaphor to Contrast Local
and Global Food Systems,” Rich Pirog,
“The Lure of the 100-Mile Diet,” (The Eat Local Challenge), Margot Roosevelt, Time, June 11, 2006
“Six Rules for Eating Wisely,” Michael Pollan, Time, June 11, 2006
Organics and Pesticides
(November 17-22)
“Backlash: The Meaning of Organic,” Chapter 6 in Organic,
Inc.: Natural Foods and How They Grew, Samuel Fromartz, pp. 188-236
“Mass Natural,” Michael Pollan, New York Times, June 4, 2006
“Can an Organic Twinkie be Certified?” Joan Dye Gussow, in For All Generations: Making World Agriculture More Sustainable, edited by J. Patrick Madden & Scott Chaplowe, pp. 143-153
“The Upchuck Rebellion,” Jim Hightower, AlterNet,
April 6, 2006
Food Short
Paper, Due Nov. 29
Wrap Up
Session – November 29
Final Exam and
Papers: Due December 11