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Geography410/510OregonEnvironmentalPolitics,Fall2016

PeterWalker,ProfessorofGeography,pwalker@uoregon.edu

ThisisanewcoursethatintegratesmultipleapproachestounderstandthepoliticalnatureofenvironmentalissuesinOregon.ThestateofOregonhasareputationasoneofthemostrichlyendowednaturalenvironmentsinthecountry—fromstunningcoastlinestomajesticmountainstothestarkbeautyofitseasternhighdeserts.Thestateisalsohometouniqueandendangeredwildlife—salmon,spottedowls,graywolves.Oregon’scitiesareleadersinsustainability,andthestateisrecognizedforitsuniqueandrigorouslanduseplanningsystem.Despitethesemanyassets,Oregonisalsoknownforsomeofthenation’smostfamousenvironmentalconflicts,fromthe1990’sspottedowlcrisis,totheongoingstruggletosaveendangeredsalmon,tothe2016takeoveroftheMalheurNationalWildlifeRefuge.InthiscourseweseektounderstandthecharacterofOregon’shighly-chargedenvironmentalpoliticsthroughtheexaminationofaseriesofcontemporarycasestudies.Thegoalofthecourseistopromoteagreaterunderstandingofwhatpoliticalfactorsdivideusasastate,andwhatmighthelpbringusclosertogether.Keythemeswillinclude:

• geographicdivisions(ruralvs.urban,eastvs.west)

• divisionsbyclass,race,andethnicity• NativeAmericanissues• environmentaljustice• collaborativemanagement• culturalviews(e.g.technological

optimism,sustainability)Themeswillbeappliedtocasestudies:

• 2016armedtakeoveroftheMalheurNationalWildlifeRefuge

• strugglesoverwaterintheKlamathBasin

• proposednationalmonumentattheOwyheeCanyonlands

• reintroductionofthegraywolf• damremovals• groundwaterdepletionineastern

Oregon• collaborative,community-based

resourcemanagement• urbangrowthandlanduseplanning• waterbottling

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courserequirementsPreparation:Thisisa4-creditclassthatmeetstwotimesaweek,andthisis

areading-intensivecourse.PerUOpolicy,thatmeans,studentsenrolledinthiscoursemustbepreparedtodevotefourhourstoreadingandpreparationforeachclasssessioninordertogetagoodgrade.Additionaltimewillberequiredtoprepareresearchreports.

In-classdiscussions:Fullpreparationforclassesisessentialinordertogetagoodgradeinthisclassbecause20%ofyourgradewilldependonyourparticipationandcontributionstoin-classdiscussions.Theclassroomwillprimarilybeaforumfordiscussionratherthanlectures.Fiftypercentofyourparticipationgrade(10%oftheoverallgrade)willbebasedonattendanceandpunctualarrivalinclass.Attendancewillbetakenduringeachclass.Theotherhalfofyourparticipationgradewillbeassignedonthebasisoftheconsistencyandqualityofyourcontributionstodiscussionsinclass,includingcleardemonstrationthatyouhavereadandunderstoodthereadings,aswellasdemonstratedimprovementinqualityofcontributionstoclassroomdiscussionsovertheterm.

Dailyreadingresponses:Toaidreadingcomprehensionandreinforcethepolicythatstudentsmustcometoclasshavingreadtheassignedreadingsandbepreparedtocontributetoin-classdiscussions,studentswillsubmittheequivalentofaone-pagereadingresponseontheCanvasjournalspage.TheseareNOTjustsummariesofthereadings;rather,theseshoulddescribeyourideasinresponsetothereadings,andwhatyouseeastheirstrengths,weaknesses,oromissions.Thesearethe“sowhat”questions:whatdifferencedidthesereadingsmakeinyourunderstandingofthequestionofsustainability?ResponsesmustbepostedontheCanvasjournalspagebeforeeachclass,andtogethercountfor40%ofyourgrade.

Researchreports:Inadditiontoyourcontributionstoclassroomdiscussionsandyourdailyreadingresponses,another40%ofyourgradewillbebasedonyourcontributionstoagroupresearchproject.Studentswillnominatespecific,real-lifeissuesofOregonenvironmentalpolitics.Groupswillbeselectedtoworkonspecificprojects.Thegoalofeachprojectisnottopresentfacts(thoughthatisobviouslyessential)buttoanalyzethepoliticalnatureanddynamicsoftheseissues.Youshouldconsiderwhypoliticsmatter,andwhypoliticalunderstandingcanhelpunderstandandresolvedifficultenvironmentalproblems.Aone-pageprospectusforthegroupprojects(submittedbyonememberofeachgroup)willbeduebyFridayofWeek4.

Graduaterequirements:EachgraduatestudentmustmeetindividuallywiththeprofessorbytheendofWeek2tocreatea“Graduateresponsibilitiescontract”.Eachcontractwillbedraftedonthebasisofthelevelofadvancementandparticularareasofneedandinterestforthegraduate,buttypicallyadditionalgraduateresponsibilitiesincludeatleasttwoadditionalarticlesperweek,ortwobooksovertheterm.Articlesmustbefrompeerreviewedacademicjournalsandmustbeatleast25pagesinlength;booksmustbepublishedbyqualityacademicpublishersandmustbeatleast200pagesinlength.Thetotalnumberofadditionalgraduatereadingswillbecalculatedtoreachatotalof160hoursofengagementinthecourse.Atleastonceduringthetermeachgraduatewillberequiredtomakeaformal20-

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minutepresentationanddiscussionoftheiradditionalreadingstotheclassasawhole,includingabriefoverviewoftheauthors’arguments,acriticalassessment,andsynthesisofideasfromtheadditionalreadingswiththe“base”readingsandconceptsreadingsfromtheclass.Graduatesmustbepreparedtotakequestionsontheadditionalreadingsfromotherstudentsandtheprofessor.

Classroomattendanceandetiquette:Absenceswillbeexcusedonlyincircumstancesofseriousanddocumentedhealthorfamilyemergency.Ifyouaresick,gotoadoctororhealthcenterandgetanote.Latereadingresponseswillbeacceptedonlyinsuchcircumstances.Donotaskforexceptions.Toreceivefullcreditforattendanceandparticipation,studentsmustdisplayrespectfulandmatureconduct,including:1)TURNOFFYOURCELLPHONE;2)NOLAPTOPS(tablets,smartphones,etc.)WILLBEUSEDINCLASSexceptwhenrequestedtodoso;3)showrespectforallpersonsintheclass,evenifyoudonotagree.Failuretoabidebythesetermswillresultinasinglewarning,andthendismissal.

schedule&readings

Therearenorequiredtextbooksforthiscourse.AllrequiredreadingsarepostedonCanvasinPDFformat.SeeCanvasfordetailedlistingofreadings.Notethatreadingsmaychangeduringtheterm.Youwillbenotifiedintheeventofanyreadingchanges.