WOMEN, ENVIRONMENT and GENDER

     WST 3225

    Spring 2001

 

 

Meeting:            Tuesday 5:00 - 8:50, HMS

 

Instructor:            Dr. Ingrid Bartsch

FAO 161, 974-0986

Office hours: Tuesday 4:00 - 5:00 or by appointment

bartsch@chuma1.cas.usf.edu

 

 

       COURSE OBJECTIVES

 

This course has three principal objectives: (1) to provide an understanding of environmental issues such as human population growth, resource use, environmental hazards, and sustainable development; (2) to consider the position of women with regard to their physical, personal, and occupational environments as well as the role that women can and do play in effecting environmental change; and, (3) to examine the relationships between feminist and environmental issues.

 

This course satisfies three semester hours of Liberal Arts Exit Requirements (Major Works and Major Issues). Gender issues will be addressed by examining the relationship between women and the natural environment. The course considers environmental issues and specific effects on the lives of women. Moreover, environmental issues such as population growth and environmental degradation often have disproportionately greater impacts on women, which will lead to discussion of values and ethics. Finally, environmental issues are a global concern and solutions will require an international perspectives and cooperation.

 

Throughout this course, you will be encouraged and given opportunities to develop conceptual thinking skills, a fundamental tool for incorporating interdisciplinary topics. You will also be given opportunities to develop analytical skills through activities such as assessing environmental cause-and-effect or evaluating solutions to meet environmental challenges.

 

 

REQUIRED TEXTS

 

1. Silent Spring, Rachel Carson.

2. Changing the Boundaries, Janice Jiggins, Island Press (1994).

3. Feminism & Ecology, Mary Mellor, New York University Press (1997).

 

Additional readings will be made available on reserve.

       COURSE POLICIES

 

You are expected to come to class having completed any assigned readings and ready to participate fully in class discussions and activities.  It is only by doing this that you will benefit fully from the course.  Moreover, you should conduct yourself in ways that are respectful of others’ views and opinions.  There are times when you may disagree with some one else and their opinion but, in effect, what we are striving for is that all ideas are heard.  It is only by listening to a variety of thoughts (from classmates and from the authors who produce the reading and other materials) that we can reach some consensus on which ideas are more supportable (with evidence, not simply feelings) and why our initial reaction(s) to the ideas of others are so strong.  Students who choose to step beyond these parameters and, for example, argue about points that they have heard but not carefully thought through, will be reminded of these policies.

                     

EVALAUTION

 

 

Papers (45)

You will be asked to write three 3-4 page essays on four different, assigned topics.  The topics will be announced in class and papers will be due within a week.  Your papers should be typed and double-spaced and checked for grammatical accuracy. The following criteria will be used to evaluate your paper:

 

Does the paper address the assignment?                              3 points

Does the paper have a clear beginning, middle and end?     5 points

Is the position of the author clearly presented?                    10 points

Are the arguments for the position well supported?                        10 points

Has the paper been for grammatical accuracy?                     2 points

 

Journal (25)

Students will submit a collection of journal entries twice during the semester (Feb 20 and April 24). For each week of the semester (including the first and last week of the semester, but not spring break), you must find an article from a current newspaper or magazine (that week or month, if a monthly publication) that reports on an environmental issue and write a letter to the editor about the article. You may not use the Internet. Your journal entries will be considered complete only if they contain (1) a copy of the article with the date (2) your letter to the editor.

 

Community Project (30)

 

Each student will work on a project that involves interacting with a group outside the university community.

Will produce something that benefits the community. Examples of products include but are not limited to: directory of resources for women, web pages, community garden or space

      COURSE  OUTLINE

 

Date                            Topic and Readings

 

WEEK 1 (1/09)            Introduction including explanation of course requirements.

 

WEEK 2 (1/16)            Patterns in the Physical Environment. Global and regional patterns in physical environment. 

 

WEEK 3 (1/23)            Environmental Processes and Issues. Reading: “Silent Spring.”

 

WEEK 4 (1/30)            Resource Use.

 

WEEK 5 (2/6)            Effects of Environmental Degradation. Reading:

 

WEEK 6 (2/13)            Community Projects.

 

WEEK 7 (2/20)   Toxins in the Environment.  Journals due

 

WEEK 8 (2/27)   Gender and the Environment

 

WEEK 9 (3/6)            Gender and the Environment.

 

WEEK 10 (3/13)   Spring Break

 

WEEK 11 (3/20)            Ecofeminism:  Reading: Mellor

 

WEEK 12 (3/27)            Ecofeminism and Development.

 

WEEK 13 (4/3)            Community Projects

 

WEEK 14 (4/10)   Women and Environmental Action.

 

WEEK 15 (4/17)   Women and Environmental Change.

 

WEEK 16 (4/24)   Student Presentations. Journals due.