Time Schedule:
Michael C Reese
ENVIR 200
Seattle Campus
Focuses on reading, writing, presentation, and critical analysis of written material, in an interdisciplinary context of environmental problems. Develops proficiency in use of bibliographic databases, scholarly journals, and the Internet as research tools. Second in three course series required of Environmental Studies majors. Prerequisite: ENVIR 100. Offered: WSp.
Class description
This course requires a fair amount of writing and research, but don't let that scare you away. Students in this class will explore interesting and important environmental issues: genetically modified food, the politics of wilderness preservation, and the dramatic decline of salmon runs in the Pacific Northwest. In addition, this class may be one of the most useful ones that you ever take at the UW because it is designed explicitly as a skill-building seminar. Specifically, this class seeks to help you build skills in six different areas:
1) Writing. Good writing is a recursive process, and one becomes a stronger writer only though reflection and practice. You will practice revising your writing, organizing your thoughts before you begin to write, and drafting clear thesis statements and strong topic sentences. You will learn how to use a style manual to help you cite sources and clear up grammatical problems.
2) Research. You will explore how to use electronic databases and other tools to find peer-reviewed, academic sources. We will discuss ways to search the Internet effectively and how to evaluate web-based sources.
3) Critical reading. Effective reading entails a critical--even skeptical--approach to sources of information. We will pay careful attention to the connection between writers' claims and their evidence. We will also analyze authors' values, their rhetorical strategies, and their disciplinary perspectives and presuppositions.
4) Crossing disciplinary boundaries. You will read and critique articles from the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities. Research assignments will require you to find additional resources from several disciplines on your own. We will discuss ways to combine materials from several disciplines in a single essay.
5) Working as a team. Throughout the quarter, you will work in a writing group, where you will practice critiquing and revising the drafts written by your fellow group members. Your group will also prepare a jointly authored paper and oral report.
6) Appreciating the complexity of environmental issues. We will analyze several disputes over environmental issues in order to achieve a better understanding of the motivations of the stakeholders in these struggles. Rather than looking for heroes and scapegoats, we will analyze the multifaceted nature of environmental conflict at the global, national, and local levels.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
A commitment to active learning shapes the organization of this class: you will develop skills not simply by listening to the instructor, but by working with your peers and by practicing skills in your own work. We will use class time in a variety of ways: discussing readings, working in small groups, meeting in the library to do online research, and holding writing workshops. Each student will have a face-to-face writing conference with the instructor three times during the quarter. The reading load for this course, roughly 65 pages per week, is modest, but students will do a substantial amount of writing and research.
Recommended preparation
Completion of ENVIR 100 - Environmental Studies: Interdisciplinary Foundations
Class assignments and grading
