Of the several texts we have read so far, many reoccurring themes and ideas have surfaced. Interconnecting themes throughout the texts reflect the interrelated issues we have been discussing. Dematerialization? Vaclav Smil’s Making the Modern World discusses several commonly used materials throughout history, from stone to plastic. He describes their extraction, production and uses. He […]
Individual Posts
Humans, Politics, and Cradle-to-Grave Evaluation
I was able to find a few connections and common themes between the books that we read this semester in our ENVS 160 course. Although they did not jump out at me right away, with a careful analytical eye, I was able to recognize the similarities between Mike Hulme’s Why We Disagree About Climate Change, […]
One Thought to the Next
Who Rules the Earth –> Austerity Ecology & The Collapse-Porn Addicts Who Rules the Earth by Paul F. Steinberg (2015) explains that social rules influence our understanding of what we believe is the truth. Steinberg (2015) writes, “When rules are routinely followed…we internalize them as habits, routines, and standard operating procedures” (Steinberg 2015, 12). Steinberg’s theory helps […]
Dancing Around the Climate Change Dilemma
In the small bubble that encompasses the beliefs of most Lewis and Clark college students one might think that there should be no disagreement about climate change. There are things we LC students believe: climate change is real, it’s a threat, and it is high time to do something about it. However, this course has […]
Commonalities in Tangled Ideologies
Like the field of environmental studies, the many works and topics we have covered in this course, while distinct from one another, clearly are interconnected. By nature, what we discuss is part of an elaborate web that links concepts from reflecting on how we view nature to discussing complex subjects like international material flows. However, […]
An Environmental Studies Jigsaw Puzzle
The Environmental Studies introductory class here at Lewis & Clark College was designed knowing that it is important to expose students to as many credible viewpoints as possible to begin to understand the breadth of knowledge this area of study operates within. To achieve this, we alternated between studying published papers, books, podcasts, documentaries, […]
Let’s Make the Lorax Proud: Evidence, Apocalypse, and Action
Looking back on the works we have read over the course of this class, I am realizing that there are more common threads than I had previously recognized. It is all too easy to read something, enjoy it (or hate it), and move on. In this post, I will illuminate the connections between the diverse […]
Piecing it all together
The interdiscplinarity of Environmental Studies not only encourages us, as students, to connect different disciplines, but also different opinions, perspectives and ideas about environmental issues. In this post I explore some connections that I have discovered throughout this semester. Consumerist Hypocrisy (AE & MMW) Both Leigh Phillips and Vaclav Smil talk about the dangers […]
Contentions or Connections?
The ever-growing environmental movement is much more diverse than one would initially believe. There are a whole slew of unique environmental organizations, ideologies etc. that an individual can be a part of as well as an endless supply of books, articles and resources that someone can use to get educated an involved with the movement. Yet, […]
The Interconnected Web: Connections in Environmental Studies
It may seem intuitive to some that our local, regional, and global environments and ecosystems all share roles in a global web. This intuition can be traced broadly to various aspects of neoliberalism, post-modernity, and environmentalism. However, contemporary debates over climate change, and our own exploration and critical engagement with environmental studies, has covered many […]
Connect Four Minus One
Over the course of this semester, we have been introduced to several readings regarding environmental issues. While each reading has offered something unique, there have been some underlying themes that connect all of them together. In this blog I will make an attempt to connect these readings. The first connection that I noticed appeared […]
Keystones and Repeaters
In his book Why We Disagree About Climate Change, Professor Mike Hulme eloquently explores and explains the reasons and perspectives from which intellectuals and consequently members of the public may disagree about the issue of climate change. These reasons are based on differences in the following viewpoints which may influence our approach to problems and solutions. […]
Rooted Connections
The connections I have identified are rooted in bigger themes of the sections we have had in ENVS 160. The first connection is founded on the basis that Austerity Ecology & the Collapse-Porn Addicts by Leigh Phillips (2015) and Making the Modern World by Vaclav Smil (2014) look at the systems in place that harm […]
Getting Connected
Throughout the class, we’ve heard multiple people give their ideas. Funny thing is that if a bunch of people are roughly talking about the same topic, their ideas will sync up with each other. Here I point out Mike Hulme, Vaclav Smil, and Paul F. Steinberg’s similar ways of dealing with climate change. Both Hulme and […]
Economist vs. Ecologist on the Grounds of Global Welfare
As developing nations continue to materialize at an astonishing rate many questions are raised as to how these nations will develop, but more importantly how will these countries develop sustainably. Many considerations must be made first. How will these nations be governed, how will they affect the global rate of material consumption or CO2 emission, […]
Environmental Literature is Repetitive
People have been writing about ecological concepts on Earth for over a century. It is reasonable to expect that within that timeframe people have agreed and disagreed with certain ideologies. These beliefs are complex, complicated and sometimes contradictory just like the books and articles we have read in ENVS 160. There have been many ideas […]
Connecting the Dots of Environmental Thought
Why We Disagree About Climate Change was very broad, and a little bit overwhelming, ending on a slightly disconcerting note that basically left me with more questions than answers and somewhat unsure of how to proceed or how I felt. As we progressed in the class, the author’s points of view and ideas that we […]
Clear Yet Intriguing Connections
Throughout my time in ENVS 160, I have read many great texts. Although the texts are not necessarily related in every way, I have found three key connections between them. The first connection I was able to find is between Why We Disagree About Climate Change and Who Rules the Earth. In Why We Disagree About […]
Environmental Studies: How Does It All Connect?
When looking back on the text readings in the class, there are many, many connections that I can note among the works. One of the key ideas that was noted in my first individual post is that of climate change and other such issues within the environment as being considered a problem with many facets […]
Connect the Dots or… Connect the Thoughts?
Over the course of ENVS 160 so far, one of the most important concepts that has been in ingrained in my mind is that most issues are much more complex than popular discourse often reveals. Issues that I had previously interpreted as fairly black and white have actually much more gray area. In accordance with […]
Connections between Critiques: Threads of Environmental Thought
As I consider the readings from the this semester, I think of the word critique as it applies to the use of a term, rhetoric, or prescription in environmental scholarship. Though from different time periods or political leanings, it seems as though there is uniformity in what writers are asking their audience to pay attention […]
A Slow Process
There have been several recurring themes present throughout the readings of our ENVS 160 course. To extend upon my last post, which identified three key themes of the course, I will demonstrate the connectivity between the course’s texts in relation to three key concepts. Throughout this post I will use the term ‘environmental problem’ in reference […]
Complex Connections
ENVS 160 asks students to situate complex environmental problems and solutions in quality scholarship. Over the course of the semester I have had the opportunity to analyze, synthesize, and communicate to others the intellectual and practical difficulties of ‘making the world a better place.’ Below are three key connections I have made between and among […]
Scholarly Connections
WWD and MMW Our World in Context The texts Why We Disagree about Climate Change (2007) and Making the Modern World (2014) both serve the great purpose of laying a strong, descriptive foundation for the environmental movement. Mike Hulme and Vaclav Smil break down common misconceptions about key concepts considered in many environmental debates and movements such as […]
Don’t Judge A Book By The Cover
Introduction Many of the texts we have read throughout the semester have posed different and opposing points that have allowed us as students to critically argue and tease apart complicated issues that the environment and climate change have presented. The three connections I have made use the texts Who Rules the Earth by Paul Steinberg, […]