Published on GEOG 430: Human Use of Environment (https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog430)

Home > Course Outline > Week 2 - Introduction to Environment-Society Geography

Week 2 - Introduction to Environment-Society Geography

The links below provide an outline of the material for this lesson. Be sure to carefully read through the entire lesson before returning to Canvas to submit your assignments.

Introduction

Please make sure that you have completed the Course Orientation [1] before going any further. The course orientation will introduce you to the instructor for the course, all the steps you need to take in order to be up to speed on the logistics of the course, and more. You need to be familiar with the course expectations and deadlines before moving on with the material.

Assignments Due in Week 2:

  • Complete the readings and watch a film from National Geographic.
  • Take the Week 2 Quiz (by Tuesday at 11:59 pm Eastern Time).
  • Post in the Week 2 Q&R Discussion (by Tuesday at 11:59 pm Eastern Time).
  • Respond to 2 of your classmates' Q&R posts (by Thursday at 11:59 pm Eastern Time).
  • Begin working on your first Current Event Essay (due Thursday of Week 3).

Please see the calendar in Canvas for specific due dates.

Materials for Week 2:

  • Robbins, P. 2012. Chapter 2: A Tree with Deep Roots. In Political Ecology: A Critical Introduction, 2nd ed. Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons Ltd., pp. 25-48.
  • Robbins, P. 2012. Chapter 3: The Critical Tools. In Political Ecology: A Critical Introduction, 2nd ed. Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons Ltd., pp. 48-72.
  • Stevens, Fisher (Director) and Leonardo DiCaprio et al. (2016). Before the Flood, [Motion Picture Written by Mark Monroe]. RatPac Documentary Films, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Week 2 Objectives:

At the end of this week:

  • Students will be able to explain foundational perspectives characterizing human-environment relationships.
  • Students will express a hope or fear that you have about human-environment change and explain how they came to have that hope or fear.

Film

Stevens, Fisher (Director) and Leonardo DiCaprio, with Fisher Stevens, Trevor Davidoski, Jennifer Davisson, Brett Ratner, James Packer and Martin Scorsese (Producers). (2016). Before the Flood, [Motion Picture Written by Mark Monroe]. RatPac Documentary Films, Los Angeles, CA, USA. 

This film follows Leonardo DiCaprio's journey to learn about Climate Change in his role as U.N. Messenger of Peace. The film covers the dramatic changes now occurring around the world due to climate change. It also discusses the actions we can take to prevent catastrophic disruption of life on our planet. The film follows DiCaprio as he travels around the world speaking to scientists, world leaders, activists, and local people to gain a deeper understanding of this complex issue.

The Film is available through Penn State Libraries by clicking here [2] or, if you prefer, for rental/streaming from National Geographic, iTunes, and Amazon (https://www.beforetheflood.com/screenings/ [3]).

Once you have watched the film please go to the EPA Carbon Footprint Calculator [4] to calculate your own Carbon Footprint.

You might also want to try The Nature Conservancy [5] and see how the two are different.

Why do you think they are different?

Setting the Stage: Theoretical Perspectives

Now that you've had a chance to think about how your actions and activities are connected to environmental change, we are going to take a look at some of the ways researchers have approached these questions.

Paul Robbins [6], director of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has made significant contributions to critical scholarship on environmental politics, challenging researchers to rethink how we conceive of human-environment interactions. His impact on geography and numerous other fields has been profound, in part due to a strong commitment to interdisciplinary research. In that spirit, try to connect what you study, or have interests in, to the themes and ideas presented in these two chapters of his book, Political Ecology: A Critical Introduction.

Chapter 2: "A Tree with Deep Roots” provides a historical look at the theoretical underpinnings of much human-environment research. Robbins traces how different scholars researched and described human-environment interactions and indicates how the very act of description can be imbued with charged language replete with assumptions about the nature of things—even when scholars are working to account for those imbalances! These relationships of power are central in scholars’ descriptions—people, places, nature, and the problems encountered.

Take note of how Robbins describes the role of nature in each of these perspectives. Additionally, track how Robbins describes how critically examining the questions that research asks can reveal underlying assumptions about the world, and more specifically, about the power relations that order society. As you encounter these passages, try to think for yourself about how you could ask different questions, or what you like about how these scholars account for issues of power in the research they pursue.

This chapter will introduce you to many names and terms—you don’t have to remember all of them. When you come away from this reading, you should have a sense of how determinist, hazards, and cultural ecology frameworks approach questions of human-environment interactions. The purpose of this chapter is to get you thinking critically about the theories and assumptions underpinning research. You will find this way of thinking helpful as you continue on with the material in this course.

The excerpt you will read from “Chapter 3: The Critical Tools” describes theoretical threads of human-environment research, often referred to as political ecology. Each will provide you with tools to conceptualize different human-environment questions. These emphases are important for you to think about as you move through this course. In particular, Robbins highlights how power and ethics are related to struggles over land, resources, the means of production, and the language with which we understand these conditions. In reading this passage, you want to take note of the central issues present in each of the following:

  • Common Property Theory
  • Marxist Political Economy
  • Peasant Studies
  • Feminist Development Studies
  • Critical Environmental History
  • Postcolonial Studies

As you did with Chapter 2, take note of what these different theoretical approaches emphasize and how they engage with issues of power. What do they react to? How do they emerge from particular historical moments in world events and from within research?

Finally, reflect. Are any of these ideas surprising to you? Why? Do these perspectives change your own thinking? Do they reflect any of your own ideas?

These readings will challenge you to think critically about the very foundations of how we perceive human-environment interactions by drawing attention to the complex processes that not only shape how we view human-environment issues, but also the material conditions of those interactions. As you proceed to the next page where you will find instructions for the first discussion, think about how different perspectives shape your own ideas and interests.

Required Reading

Robbins, P. 2012. Chapter 2: A Tree with Deep Roots. In Political Ecology: A Critical Introduction, 2nd ed. Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons Ltd., pp. 25-48.

Robbins, P. 2012. Chapter 3: The Critical Tools. In Political Ecology: A Critical Introduction, 2nd ed. Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons Ltd., pp. 48-72.

Week 2 Question and Reaction

Hopefully, the readings and film from these first two weeks have helped prime you to think about how environmental change happens, how our lives impact it, and how the way we think about it shapes what we see.

For this week's Weekly Questions and Reactions, please write two brief paragraphs of 150-200 words each that detail:

  1. an important hope or fear that you have about human-environment change - the change you feel needs to happen, the change you are deeply worried about, the change you fear won't happen soon enough, etc.; and
  2. how, through personal experience and/or study, you have developed the hope or fear. Our emotions, aspirations, and anxieties are a huge part of our relationships to the environment, and they shape how we use the environment and think it ought to be used.

Your hopes or fears might relate to...

  • how humans think about and value the environment;
  • why certain types of environmental problems exist;
  • how human-environmental relationships have changed, or not changed, over time;
  • how human-environment relationships differ from place to place;
  • how different groups of people use or think about the environment;
  • how environmental problems can best be solved;
  • how environmental issues relate to religion, economics, politics, gender, race, etc.; and
  • many more things!

There are no right or wrong hopes or fears! Your hopes and fears do not have to be universal! Perhaps your hopes or fears relate to a certain group of people, or to a certain place or region at a specific time in history. That said, try to share hopes or fears that are expansive and that will relate to many of the topics that we explore in the course! It will help you connect your personal hopes/fears to broader human-environment concerns if you reference the week's assigned materials and reflect on how they resonate with or differ from your own perspective. That is what the readings and films are for! Anytime you refer to course materials or outside sources, you should cite them at the end of your response.

So, this discussion is a chance to share with your instructor and your classmates what you are most interested in and what you think some of the most urgent issues are. We expect different people to believe different things. To receive full credit, you should submit your post to Week 2 Questions and Reactions in Canvas (by Tuesday by 11:59 pm Eastern Time) and also respond to at least two of your classmates (Thursday by 11:59 pm Eastern Time), while observing proper rules for netiquette.

Use the following link to access an example weekly reaction [7] submission.

Submitting your post (by Tuesday at 11:59 pm Eastern Time)
 

  • Draft and finalize your essay using a word processing program such as MS Word. Do not draft your essay in Canvas itself! This is what people who are posting at the last minute do. It leads to poorly organized and bland essays that are heavy on summarizing the assigned materials and include lots of spelling and grammatical errors. If something happens with your Internet connection, you can also lose all of your work and be forced to start over.
  • Go to the Week 2 Module in Canvas.
  • Open the Week 2 Questions and Reactions (Q&R).
  • Copy and paste your work from your word processing program.
  • Click Submit.

Submitting your comments/responses (by Thursday at 11:59 pm Eastern Time)
 

Read through at least two of your classmates' posts and respond to them. Remember to be polite and respectful of your coursemates, even if you disagree with what they have said.

How you will be graded:

Please review the Rubric in Canvas carefully.

**Take your time with this first discussion. The format and grading will be similar for all other discussions throughout the course.**

NOTE: For the remainder of the weekly Question and Reactions assignments I will expect you to be able to formulate your submissions based on the materials provided in each lesson. I will not be providing specific prompts for your Q&R submissions.

Current Event Essay 1: National Parks

This is our first current event essay, which is designed to get you thinking about how the course material from the last two weeks can help us understand real-world problems.

For this assignment, you will write a 750 - 1000 word essay in response to the prompt below by Thursday of week 3 at 11:59 pm (Eastern Time). Check the calendar in Canvas for specific time frames and due dates. This current event essay is worth a possible 60 points toward your final grade. Please see this page for more information on how you will be graded [8].

This week, we will be examining the National Monument system in the U.S. The current administration recently issued an executive order calling for the review of 27 national monuments.  Specifically, the Department of the Interior is tasked with reviewing boundaries and classifications of these monuments by August 24, 2017. These decisions will have long term impacts on the landscape and people who live and work within and outside the monument boundaries.

Below are a couple of articles here that take a more in depth look at some of the implications of changing national park boundaries and a general picture of the stakeholders involved in this situation.  In addition to these articles, feel free to do your own research on the topic.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's Statement on the End of the Monuments Review Public Comment Period [9]

Zinke completes review of 2 more national monuments, leaves them as is [10]

Trump and Ryan Zinke may want to shrink national monument boundaries -- but history points the other way [11]

27 National Monuments Are Under Review. Here Are Five to Watch [12]

US cattle grazing plan for Idaho national monument approved [13]

In response to these articles and drawing on things we've covered in class already, consider the following questions in your response:

  • How does thinking like a human-environment geographer help us to understand how national parks have been viewed in the past and today? Use specific examples from the course material.
  • How do we understand and value nature (e.g., we enjoy having beautiful green lawns), and how does this impact the controversy over changing park boundaries? Think specifically about what you know about culture, conservation, and preservation.
  • How do these value systems vary across geographic scale?  That is, how does being from a different type of place (urban, rural) or operating a different geographic scale (e.g., national, state, local) influence how stakeholders think about and value nature?

**REMEMBER:

The strongest answers will draw specifically on course materials (articles, videos, etc.), use college level language, and make connections across the literature. Make sure to use proper citations!**

Week 2 - Assignments

  • Quiz Week 2: 10 questions, worth two points each, that will cover key points from the film and the readings. This quiz will be available to you in the Week 2 Module on Canvas. The quiz will have an enforced time limit of 25 minutes. Due Tuesday by 11:59 pm Eastern Time.
  • Week 2 Questions and Reactions. Post due in the discussion forum in the Week 2 Module on Canvas by Tuesday at 11:59 pm Eastern Time.
  • Respond to your classmates Q&R. Read your classmates' questions and reactions and respond to at least 2 of them by Thursday at 11:59 pm Eastern Time.
  • Begin working on your Current Event Essay 1 (due Thursday of Week 3)

All assignments will be submitted in Canvas, check the calendar in Canvas for specific due dates.


Source URL: https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog430/node/271

Links
[1] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog430/node/44
[2] https://login.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fdigitalcampus.swankmp.net%2Fpsu279437%2Fwatch%3Ftoken%3D9174c072eaf9a3273189d5054f5110b7ba15f9dbeec533a4fd3ead54a964922a
[3] https://www.beforetheflood.com/screenings/
[4] https://www3.epa.gov/carbon-footprint-calculator/
[5] http://www.nature.org/greenliving/carboncalculator/index.htm?intc3=nature.climate.lp.r2c1
[6] http://www.nelson.wisc.edu/director.php
[7] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog430/283
[8] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog430/node/329
[9] https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-secretary-ryan-zinkes-statement-end-monuments-review-public-comment-period
[10] https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-nevada/zinke-completes-review-of-2-more-national-monuments-leaves-them-as-is/
[11] http://www.salon.com/2017/08/08/trump-and-ryan-zinke-may-want-to-shrink-national-monument-boundaries-but-history-points-the-other-way/
[12] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/11/climate/doi-monument-review-five-to-watch.html
[13] http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/state/idaho/article166759842.html