Course Format and Requirements

The format of this course is a seminar, and therefore carries with it certain opportunities and obligations. Although we will periodically have lectures and films, the in-class portions of this course are organized primarily around discussion of the readings and the broader themes raised by course materials. Therefore, it is essential that each of you comes to class prepared; that is, having done the assigned readings before every class session and considered the issues you would like to contribute to discussion. Needless to say, attendance is mandatory at all course activities, and the only excused absences are for family or health emergencies (with proof). As you will see below, class attendance and participation will account for 15% of your course grade.

You will be graded on the following:

Class Attendance and Participation 15%

Focus Papers 60%

Syndicate Presentations 10%

Activism Prospectus 15%

This course will heavily emphasize the positive interaction between reading and writing, and therefore you will turn in focus papers roughly every two weeks. These papers will provide you with the opportunity to develop your writing skills and your critical thinking abilities. There will be six focus papers, and they will count for 60% of your grade. (See the Focus Questions.) These papers will be at least 5 pages long (typed, double-spaced), to be turned in at the end of class, the dates of which are specified in this syllabus. In answering the question that is posed, each focus paper should (1) refer to and outline the main ideas and arguments of course texts and (2) be followed by questions, commentary, assessments, analysis, protests, opinions, or any combination of these. I will comment upon and grade each focus paper. You will have the opportunity to rewrite your two lowest-graded papers to boost your overall grade (assuming the paper is actually better - I reserve the right to grade it lower if there is no improvement).

My policy on late papers is that I do not accept them. I will, however, make an exception if you are willing to receive a lower grade. So, for every 24 hour period your paper is late, you drop a full grade from the grade I feel your paper would receive if it were not late. For example, if your 'A' paper is one day late, you will receive a 'B.' If you turn in a paper late and expect to receive a non-reduced grade, you must provide evidence of an emergency. You are not permitted to turn in a late paper as one of your two lowest-graded papers, unless you have actually rewritten it.

You can rewrite your two lowest-graded papers to boost your overall grade. This is assuming the paper is actually better and was not turned in late -- be aware that I reserve the right to grade it lower if there is no improvement from the original. If you chose to do this, these will be due the last day of class (12/6). It is very much worth your while to discuss these two papers with me before you rewrite them.

During the first class, you will be divided into syndicates of four (or in some cases three) people each. Each syndicate will offer a presentation or facilitate our discussion once during the course of the semester, and your personal performance in these presentations/facilitations will count for 10% of your grade. Each syndicate should meet with me during office hours before its presentation, so that we can discuss the presentation's organization. The purpose of the syndicate presentations is to provide the opportunity to explore collaborative learning processes, as well as to become comfortable speaking in front of a group and leading a discussion. I encourage you to be creative in your presentations.

The final course assignment is for each syndicate to identify an environmental issue that crosses national boundaries and to collectively design a prospectus for activism that seeks to contribute to solutions. The syndicate as a whole will then produce a 5-page description of the problem and the solution it proposes, and will make a brief presentation to the rest of the class where we can discuss the merits and logistics of your action plan. The presentations will take place and the final paper will be due during our assigned final exam time, time and place TBA.

I encourage you to be creative in your approach to activism for this assignment, but be sure to explain precisely how you will organize your activist program. Possibilities include, and are certainly not limited to: creating a non-governmental organization that brings together different interests to work on the whole problem or on specific aspects of it (explain how it will work and who will be involved); making a study or film about the problem (of what? how will you carry out the study? who will participate in it? who is the audience?); direct activism such as protests or "monkeywrenching" (what are the trade-offs of this?); working through governmental legislation, agency, interagency body, international treaty, etc. (who will you work with? how far will you compromise? how will it be enforced?); grassroots organizing (how will you organize, and where? who will lead? how will you sustain your movement? where will funding come from?); holding a conference (who will you invite? where will it be?); constructing a public awareness campaign (who will it target? what forms of expression -- artistic, etc. -- will you use?); etc. The prospectus should address the following issues in constructing an activist platform: how will you deal with the interplay between national and cultural differences, since this problem crosses national boundaries? How will you fund this? How will you sustain your activism over time?

A note on writing papers:

In these days of computer-mediated writing, there are no excuses for the two following problems: 1) late papers due to 'computer crashes,' and 2) poor spelling and grammar. Regarding the former, claiming a 'computer crash' is the basically the same as telling me that your dog ate your homework. This is not a valid excuse if you are backing up your materials on diskettes or the UVM mainframe. If indeed this has happened, I expect you to provide a note from a computer specialist explaining the problem; otherwise your late paper will be evaluated in terms of my late paper policy. Regarding the latter problem, use your spellcheck option - I will mark you down for poor spelling and grammar.

You should familiarize yourself with the UVM Writing Center. Tutors will not write or edit your papers for you. However, they will offer advice on developing ideas, finding a thesis, seeing a draft from a reader's point of view, strengthening an argument, and advise on style and correctness. It is located in Room 244 Commons of Living/Learning, and their phone is 656-4075.

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