Environmental Sociology - American Sociological Association

SOCIETY AND THE ENVIRONMENT: A GROWING DILEMMA
Sociology 4305
Jeffrey Broadbent
University of Minnesota
In this course, we will study the interaction between human society and the natural environment.
The course will focus on the general factors in human society that lead to serious degradation of the
environment and ecological systems, and those that help prevent or repair that degradation. We will first
review the types of environmental degradation occurring on the planet. Then we will examine how
society has been both producing and responding to – sometimes attempting to solve - those problems.
We can think of a wide variety of causal factors, from short-range thinking in the pursuit of profits, wages
and production, through population growth, bureaucratic ritualism, power competition, unresponsive
institutions, patriarchal domination, and cultural ideologies of nature-conquest. Against these, the
curative factors include democratic systems which give voice to victims; well-designed governmental
policies and industrial programs which solve problems; changes in public opinion toward more concern
for the environment, the quality of life, and other species; environmental protest movements; and
prosperity which causes families to have less children. The course will define and study these factors,
examining their complex interaction in national and global environmental politics. This course is an
introduction to the field, suitable for both majors and non-majors in sociology with interest, study and/or
experience in environmental issues.
Tests, Exercises, Papers
Reaction Papers: Five short (two to three page) papers in which you summarize and comment on the main
points of the materials in the preceding section of the class. Your grade in this paper will depend upon
you citing and summarizing ALL the readings, videos and main lecture points, discussing how they
support or criticize each other, and making your own assessment of them. 8 points each.
Exercises: Two short essays requiring some examination of your own “real-life” situation. 5 points each.
Midterm exam: Essay exam testing your understanding of terms, concepts and theories presented in the
first half of the course. 10 points.
Final exam: Essay exam testing your understanding of terms, concepts and theories presented in the entire
course. 10 points.
Term paper: 30 points.
♦ Editorial rules: Twelve to fifteen pages of your written text, typed (12 point Courier font with
one–inch margins on all four sides), double-spaced (not triple). Do not copy long quotations
from other works. For a direct quote, use only a few sentences at most, with proper citation of
source. You can explain someone else’s idea in your own words, but still include the source of
the idea as a citation. Figures, tables, illustrative materials and bibliography do NOT count for
page length. Write your paper based on your CSL experience plus additional reading and
research. Use proper citation and bibliography (cite reference briefly [only author’s last name,
publication date and page number within parentheses] at the end of the sentence where you refer
to it. Then list the full citation of the work in the bibliography at the end of the paper (does not
count for page length).
♦ Topic: Here is the ideal scenario. Choose a topic in which you have at least some (preferably a
lot) of personal interest. For reference, you can see the list of some possible topics. Then
choose to do your CSL work for an organization that is in some way working on that topic also.
As you do your CSL work, take notes and if its permitted, ask questions and after you get to
know them, interview members of the organization. Write you paper about some environmental
issue that your organization is grappling with. Explain the larger dimensions of the issue, on a
local, regional and global scale. Using your organization and your CSL experience with it as an
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