Urban and Environmental Policy Program
UEP
410
Urban and Environmental Policy
Spring 2003
UEP
410: Advanced Seminar in Urban and Environmental Policy
Monday-Wednesday
11:30am-1:00pm; UEPI Conference Room
1.
Background to the Seminar
The
advanced seminar in urban and environmental policy (UEP 410) is organized around
two sets of activities. The first
involves participation through the readings, seminar presentations and
discussions, speakers on major political, public policy, and planning issues,
and possible field trips or event participation. The second involves initiating
work on senior projects -- the two-semester research and writing effort that
should be considered the culmination of one’s academic work at Occidental. The
work on the senior project during the fall has direct bearing on the work
undertaken in the spring in UEP 411; that is, the work on the project in the
fall is crucial to the overall process of completing a strong comp’s project.
The
class time on Mondays will be divided into segments.
These include discussions, presentations, and short writing assignments
on the topics; presentations by speakers; and presentation groups (including
possible field trips). The Wednesday class will primarily focus on the
organization and development of the senior project, including identifying your
research question, project topic, and research plan.
We will also have sessions evaluating prior comps or thesis projects as
well as teams of two presenting and evaluating each other’s initial research
question and project topic.
For
the seminar aspect of the class, there will be four different areas and related
topics, with readings, discussions, and presentation sessions organized around
each area. These include:
1.
Healthy Communities, Healthy
People, Healthy Kids (with a focus on the debates over tobacco policy and
regulation, and food and nutrition politics).
2.
Current
Political Debates (with a focus on
the electoral process, including the California gubernatorial recall; the
Presidential primaries; democracy and elections)
3.
Freeways
and Sprawl (With a focus on the impact of freeways on neighborhoods, regional land
use implications, the politics of transportation, and car culture)
4.
Globalization
and Empire (with a focus on the War
and Occupation of Iraq, the development of Empire and its relationship to
globalization strategies, labor and environmental issues in the global economy,
the global food system, branding, and other policy implications of the global
penetration of markets, culture, and politics)
While
these topics cover a lot of territory, the readings and the
discussion/presentation sessions should provide some broad conceptual knowledge
about these different policy areas as well as a specific focus on major
contemporary issues or debates. These are all very contemporary policy issues
and debates, so part of the focus of discussion (and readings selected) will
involve issues as they are unfolding.
Each
student will be assigned to a group to lead the discussions on one of the
topics; however, discussion sessions will involve participation by the whole
class. Everyone of course will be encouraged to do all the readings, but it will
be the responsibility of the teams to organize their presentation sessions and
solicit discussion as the seminar leaders for that segment of the class, using
the readings as part of the discussion. I’ll also assign four short writing
assignments related to the readings and topics. These assignments will allow
students to choose one of four formats to raise key points and perspectives
related to the topic. These include a 700 word op ed; a two-three page concept
paper for a grant proposal; a two-three page memo to others in an organization
on how to approach the topic/issue areas; and a two-three page policy brief for
either a general or targeted audience.
For
each of the topics, there will be a speaker elaborating on the themes associated
with the topic. Speakers will also
include practitioners (that is, folks who are directly involved in the issues
and may articulate particular positions). Students should therefore try to
engage each of the speakers, and not simply assume that the positions they
elaborate represent the full picture. Speaker sessions should be lively and
interactive. In addition, if the
logistical issues can be addressed, we’ll try and arrange field trips and/or
event participation where they can be linked to the topics.
This
is an important segment of the class. There
will be several hard deadlines established for the development of the senior
project during the fall semester. These
include:
Selection of
Project Topic (deadline September
24)
Selection of
the research question and bibliography
(deadline: October 8);
Initial work
plan and research strategy
(deadline: November 3);
Final work
plan and research strategy
(deadline: November 24);
Presentations
of research to date
(December 1 and December 3);
Completion
of research paper/section of comps
(deadline: December 10).
We
will devote class time on Wednesdays for group and individual discussions on the
process and substance of the research for your senior projects.
We will also discuss the mechanics of pulling together a successful
senior project, including a review of other projects. Each student will review
at least one of these projects and discuss both the substance and form of the
project as part of the senior project discussion sessions. There will also be a
presentation/discussion session led by each student concerning the topic that
they have selected, the research questions that need to be addressed, and the
policy issues involved. The initial work plan should provide a detailed time
line and initial literature search. The
final work plan should also include a description of the range of research
sources and materials that will be used. The final research paper should be
directly related to your senior project. It
could be the introductory chapter of your overall senior project, which would
include a preliminary literature review and discussion of the broad themes and
research questions. It could also take the form of a “work in progress,” but
this work in progress must include some preliminary substantive work. The
presentations should provide an overview of the research paper/work in progress
paper.
Final
grades will reflect the work in each of the segments.
These include: participation in readings, presentation sessions, class
discussions and development of senior project, including meeting deadlines –
40%; writing assignments – 30%; final paper
– 30%.
5.
Class
Organization
I’ve
organized each class session by date according to topic, readings, debate
sessions, and senior project sessions. Mondays
will be generally dedicated to the seminar topics; Wednesdays to the senior
project. My office hours will also be on Mondays (10:30-12:00) and Wednesdays
(10:30-12), but I will also be on campus and available to meet with you most
other days if you need to see me and we work out a time.
Please feel free to contact me above and beyond any formal office visit,
particularly on the progress of the senior project.
Readings and
Topics.
Readings:
Tobacco
(September 8-15)
“The
Politics of Tobacco Regulation in the U.S.,” Robert Kagan and William Nelson
in Regulating Tobacco, Edited by Robert Rabin and Stephen Sugarman, pp. 11-38
““Reducing
the Supply of Tobacco to Youths,” Nancy Rigotti, in Regulating Tobacco, pp.
143-175
“Addicted
to Tobacco,” Tommy J. Payne, Los Angeles
Times, June 18, 2003
“Smoking
Goes from Bad to Worse, New Research Finds,” Thomas Maugh, Los
Angeles Times, June 20, 2002
“Annual
Smoking – Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Economic
Costs – United States, 1995-1999,” J.L. Fellows, Centers for Disease
Control, April 12, 2002
“High School Smoking Drops to its
Lowest Level in a Decade,” Associated Press article, Los
Angeles Times, May 17, 2002
“Students
Use Peer Pressure to Douse Teen Smoking,” Carla Rivera, Los
Angeles Times, June 9, 2002
“Philip
Morris Plans Name Change to Altria Group,” Myron Levin, Los
Angeles Times, November 16, 2001
“Policies,
Practices and Positions,” and “Mission and Values,” Philip Morris,
available at http://www.pmusa.com/policies_practices/default.asp
and http://www.pmusa.com/about_us/mission_values.asp
“New
Philip Morris Ads Aim to Avoid Real Change in Company’s Harmful Products and
Practices,” Statement of Matthew Myers, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids,
available at http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/Script/DisplayPressRelease.php3?Display=665
“Global
Pact Would Ban Cigarette Ads,” Myron Levin, Los
Angeles Times, May 21, 2003
Food (September 22-29)
“Lawyers Put their Weight Behind Obesity Cases,”
Karen Robinson-Jacobs, Los Angeles Times,
July 2, 2003
“Fat
Foods: Back in Court,” Laura Bradford, Time, August 3, 2003
“Starting
Early: Underage Consumers,” (Chapter 8) and “Pushing Soft Drinks,”
(Chapter 9) in Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and
Health, Marion Nestle, pp. 175-218
“Controlling the Global Obesity
Epidemic,” World Health Organization available at www.who.int/nut/obs.htm
“It’s
a Fat World After All,” Alison Langley, New
York Times, July 20, 2003
“Obesity
Has More Links to Cancer,” Thomas Maugh, Los
Angeles Times, April 24, 2003
“Size
Matters in Fast, Fatty Fare,” Marc Ballon, Los
Angeles Times, July 6, 2002
“Labels
Wills Change, but will Diet?” Elena Conis, Los
Angeles Times, July 21, 2003
“Money
and Politics Fuel the Obesity Gravy Train,” Norah Vincent, Los
Angeles Times, July 10, 2003
“Challenging
the Soda Companies: The Los Angeles Unified School District Soda Ban,” Center for Food & Justice, September 2002, available at http://departments.oxy.edu/uepi/cfj/resources/SodaBan.htm
“I’d
Like to Buy the World a Shelf-Stable Children’s Lactic Drink…,” Seth
Stevenson, New York Times Magazine,
March 10, 2002
“A
Corn-Fed Farm Policy,” Greg Critser, Los
Angeles Times, June 2, 2002
Session
#2 – October 6-October 13
“Baskin-Robbins
Voting,” Andrew Reding, Los Angeles
Times, July 6, 2003
“Davis
Recall Might be the Big One that Jolts Pols Off their Perches,” Arianna
Huffington, Los Angeles Times, July 9,
2003
“Election
May Signal a New Era of Governing,” James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, August
11, 2003
“Old-Fashioned
Democracy in a Thoroughly Modern State, “ Michael Ventura, New
York Times, July 13, 2003.
“Lawmakers
Hand Reins to the Voters,” Bill Boyarsky, Los
Angeles Times, October 20, 2002
“Democracy
and Participation Agenda for Los Angeles,” Report of the Progressive Los
Angeles Network, 2001
“America’s
Signature Exclusion: How Democracy is Made Safe for the Two-Party System,”
Chapter 5 in James B. Raskin, Overruling Democracy, pp. 91-116`
TOPIC:
Freeways in our Lives
Readings
“The
Challenge of Urban Sprawl,” Chapter 3 in Making a Place for Community, Thad
Williamson, David Imbroscio and Gar Alperovitz, pp. 71-99
“Transportation
Costs and the American Dream: Why a Lack of Transportation Choices Strains the
Family Budget and Hinders Home Ownership,” A Report by the Surface
Transportation Policy Project, July 2003, available at http://www.transact.org/report.asp?id=224
and http://www.transact.org/library/decoder/american_dream.pdf
L.A.
Freeway,
David Brodsly, pp. 1-59; 96-109
“Sprawl:
The Automobile and Affording the American Dream,” Hank Dittmar, in Sustainable
Planet: Solutiuons for the Twenty-First Century, edited by Juliet Schor and
Betsy Taylor, pp. 109-127
“The
Evolution of Transportation Policy in Los Angeles,” Martin Wachs, in The City,
edited by Allen Scott and Ed Soja
“Putting
Pleasure Back in the Drive: Reclaiming Urban Parkways for the 21st
Century,” Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris and Robert Gottlieb, Access,
Summer 2003, pp. 2-8
“Will
More Freeways Bring More Traffic?” Hugo Martin, Los
Angeles Times, April 10, 2002
“Hopes
for Urban Revival Ride on L.A.-Pasadena Line,” Kurt Streeter and Tina Daunt,
Los Angeles Times, July 26, 2003
“A
Closer look at the Blue Line: Building Communities Around Transit,” A Report
by Livable Places, available at http://www.livableplaces.org/resources/vlibrary/pdf/BlueLineTODreport.pdf
“The
Fifth Ecology: Fantasy, the Automobile, and Los Angeles,” Margaret Crawford,
in The Car and the City, pp. 222-233
Session
#4: November 10-24
The
Modern World, Tom Tomorrow
Empire
(November 10-17)
“Nation
Builders for Hire,” Dan Baum, New York
Times Magazine, June 22, 2003
“The
Iraqis Will Need Trade, Not Aid,” Gerald Martone and James Stubenrauch, Los
Angeles Times, April 3, 2003
“Rebuilding
the Alliance to Rebuild Globalization,” John Micklethwait and Adrian Woolridge,
New York Times, April 13, 2003
“U.S.
Empire? Let’s Get Real,” Leon Hadar, Los
Angeles Times, July 2, 2003
“The
Empire Strikes Back,” Niall Ferguson, New
York Times Magazine, April 27, 2003
“The
Removed State,” Jonathan Schell, The
Nation, May 5, 2003
Globalization
(November 17-24)
“Porto
Alegre, Brazil: ‘Bad Capitalist, No Martini,’” Naomi Klein, available at http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=12410
“Listening
in on the WEF [World Economic Forum]”, Doug Henwood, The
Nation, February 14, 2002, available at http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20020304&s=henwood
“Globalization
and Free Trade,” Chapter 1 in Making a Place for Community, pp. 25-51
“A
Tale of Three Logos: The Swoosh, the Shell, and the Arches,” in No Logo:
Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, Naomi Klein, pp. 365-396
“Globalization
Activists Go to Charm School,” Warren Vieth, Los
Angeles Times, September 24, 2002
“When
a Brand Becomes a Stand-In for a Nation,” Rob Walker, New
York Times, March 30, 2003
“Striking
the Golden Arches: French Farmers Protest McD’s Globalization,” David Morse,
in McDonaldization: The Reader, George Ritzer, editor, pp. 245-249
Earthsummit.biz:
The Corporate Takeover of Sustainable Development,
Kenny Bruno and Joshua Karliner, Chapter 1, “The Globalization Decade,” pp.
3-21
“Global
Realization,” Eric Schlosser in Fast Food Nation, pp. 225-252
“Capitalists:
Savor This Moment,” Geoffrey Colvin, Fortune,
July 24, 2000
Presentation
Sessions: December 1-December 3