Although technically an intro class, ENVS 160 will not be a class that just kind of floats by. This course will test you, will push your writing and analytical skills, and will allow you to think in ways you never have before. For me, this class completely re-visualized how I view environmentalism and environmental issues. Through this course you will learn the multi faceted layers of environmental solutions and issues, and how they differ depending on how you value nature, how you evaluate risk, and among other things, how and where you were raised. You will come to understand resources intimately with author Vaclav Smil, who writes in Making the Modern World, about resource use and management, and you will learn about the differences and similarities between Classic and Contemporary Environmental Thought. Concluding the semester, Paul Steinberg unravels today’s world by revealing the invisible constructs and rules that govern our lives, often without our direct awareness. These four texts and their accompanying projects help you to dive deep into these matters, and understand them at a greater level.
Why We Disagree About Climate Change
The first book that you will read is Mike Hulme’s, Why We Disagree About Climate Change. In this interesting book, Hulme breaks down the reasons that cause our disagreement about climate change and other environmental matters. Now, if you are like me, and came into this course holding the belief that people who do not believe in climate change are either unintelligent or uneducated, or potentially both, well your views may soon be changed. Hulme dives deep into the roots of why our opinions differ so greatly. One reason we disagree, may simply be due to where and how you grew up, and your religious affiliations. Other reasons are harder to identify, like how each of us as individuals assess risk (and climate change as
risk), how we value future generations well being (resource use or conservation), and our views towards nature (as in need of saving or as self correcting). It is a combination of these (and other) factors that make up how we value and assess different things, including climate change, and in turn, how we all act and believe according to our own truths.
You will conduct an evaluation in relation to this book, in which you and a team, assigned to a specific segment of Portland or the greater Portland area, will ask risk assessment questions relating to climate change to random people. You and your team will write a POST describing any correlations across the data between age, ethnicity, and geographic location.
You can view my team’s post HERE.
Making the Modern World
This book, though difficult at times to read, looks at the materialization and dematerialization of our country, and follows resources from their extraction points, through their processing, and distribution across the globe. We go back in history and follow the use of stone and wood, which evolves to metals and alloys, to present day plastics and silicon, where he discusses the primary uses for all of these materials. In Making the Modern World, Vaclav Smil deconstructs the numbers (as you will see) behind our consumption and asks, can we dematerialize (reduce the amount of resources it takes to make/do something) at a rate that would be high enough to neutralize our ever increasing standards of living and demands for resources. This book looks at the environmental impact of our rising consumption and material demand and looks for possible ways of dematerialising.
The project that accompanies this book is “Situating Minerals,” in which your team picks a mineral and as individuals you pick a mining site and deeply research that geographic location. Instead however of just looking at the environmental impacts of your extraction site, you take into account the cultural, historical, and even spiritual factors. My mining site was in Potosi, Bolivia, where a great mountain called Cerro Rico looms above a small mountain village. What I found as I continued my research, was just how complex and multi layered the people’s relationship with this mining site actually was. Cerro Rico has a long history, that dates all the way back to the Spanish Conquest, where its discovery provided immense amounts of wealth and silver, however many village people were enslaved by the Spanish to work in the mines, and unfortunately many died. Today this mountain provides work for over 15,000 local people and helps generate revenue for the city. Cerro Rico is depicted on the national currency and the nation shield, and is held in great respect, however the beautiful mountain also stands as a constant reminder to the people, of the history behind the city of Potosi and to the immense suffering of the local people and slaves there. You can read my full post HERE.
After this project I felt I could not look at mining sites (or other points of extraction) the same way again. There is so much more to a mining site, than just its environmental impact. Often there are rich histories, cultural meanings and even spiritual significances that play a role. This was one of the biggest lessons I learned from this section of the course.
Classic and Contemporary Environmental Thought
For this section of the course, you will read a series of articles and texts depicting both the classic and contemporary environmental thought. For me, this proved to be some of the most interesting and most radical thinking I have done in this course. Coming from AP Environmental Science in high school, I found that my view of the environment and its issues was very narrow, and very classic minded. To be concise and brief, contemporary environmental thought values eco modernism, is more technophilic, has more hopeful views towards the future, sees nature as hybrid, and among other things, is more institutional, while classic environmental thought includes limits to growth, tragedy of the commons, a more apocalyptic view towards the future, a pure view of nature, and values action at the individual scale (Jim Proctor, “Ecotypes; Exploring Environmental Ideas”, accessed 2/16/17). You will also take part in an Ecotypes Survey, in which you will come to realize and understand your own views (Jim Proctor, “Ecotypes; Exploring Environmental Ideas”, accessed 2/16/17). This survey helps you to see how you value and understand ‘nature,’ and how this may result in differing views towards solutions to environmental issues This all may seem like a bit much at the moment, but keep in mind that you will be doing all of these readings yourself to gain the background and insight into these two umbrella terms.
The project you will do for this section of the course, titled “Interrogating Isms” allows your team to look at one very specific environmental movement (of which there are many and often end in “ism”) and dive deep into both its classic and contemporary meaning. Our groups chose Ecofeminism, which on the surface seemed to be straightforward and simple, but actually meant something completely different in classic environmental thought, than it did in contemporary. This project will help you understand these different terms and apply it to one specific movement so that you can understand the differing implications they both have on different environmental movements. You can read our full post HERE.
Who Rules the Earth?
The final book you will read, is Paul Steinberg’s, Who Rules the Earth? In this book, Steinberg reveals for us many of the social rules and constructs that unconsciously govern our lives. One such example is that the reason that you or I can walk on the beach when we drive out to the coast, dates back to the public trust laws from the Roman Empire (Steinberg 2015, 20). This is just one example of the invisible rules and worlds that operate behind the currents but affect how we live our daily lives. Steinberg also makes the argument that “recycling isn’t enough.” His claim is that local action needs to result in institutional change if we are to implement meaningful and lasting difference in the world. Yes, we need to continue recycling, and biking when we can, and doing the little things, but there is a bigger game here, one in which we must play and take action on a greater scale. For me this book gave a hopeful outlook, by describing many instances where individuals played a big role in enacting great societal changes.
For this section of the course you will do four individual posts. The first is a reflection post, which asks you to describe three key lessons you have learned in ENVS 160 thus far. The second post is a synthesis post, in which you make three connections between all of the texts we read in this course, and describe how they relate to each other. The third post is an overall summary of the book, Who Rules the Earth, and where you can reflect on the author’s main arguments, and the fourth post asks how we will take these lessons past ENVS 160.
You can view all of my posts here:
This all may seem very overwhelming at the moment (I promise you that was not my intent), however I hope this can provide you as a sort of “roadmap” throughout your time at ENVS 160. Remember it can be difficult as you learn to grapple with new ideologies and concepts that were never relevant to you before taking part in this course, and remember that it is not supposed to be easy. Environmental studies pulls from many disciplinaries, making it challenging and problematic. That is okay. I hope I have helped guide your semester in ENVS 160 and wish you the best of luck!
Citations
Hulme, Mike. 2009. Why We Disagree about Climate Change: Understanding Controversy, Inaction and Opportunity. Cambridge University Press.
Smil, Vaclav. 2014. Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization. Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom: Wiley.
Steinberg, Paul F. 2015. Who Rules the Earth?: How Social Rules Shape Our Planet and Our Lives. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.