course design is undergoing improvements throughout the summer but will be substantially similar to the course design presented here.
Sustainability and Collapse
We have all been challenged by the message that we must achieve "sustainability" or society may "collapse." What must be sustained, for whom, and for how long? What does it mean for a society to collapse? Have past societies collapsed or transformed?
In this course we investigate the concept of social and environmental sustainability and collapse by considering potential examples of both in prehistory (e.g., Rapa Nui, Norse Greenland, Puebloan U.S. Southwest). Our examination ranges across a diverse intellectual landscape: from the interdisciplinary concepts of resilience and complex adaptive systems to traditional archaeological considerations of the influence of climate change and warfare on human populations.
The impacts of a changing climate on human events (past and future) will receive specific attention in this course. There is also a strong emphasis on research methods, creating new knowledge, and interdisciplinary collaboration among students.
The central question you will consider throughout the course is: "Can an understanding of the past inform the future?" The course neither begins nor ends with an answer; you must come to your own thoughtful (evidence-based) conclusion. A primary learning activity in this course is the development of a public website focused on evaluating the past for insights into present concerns. Websites will be developed by interdisciplinary teams of students (see a few from the Spring 2013 class).
This course is open to students from any major; there are no prerequisites. It is an approved course for the Minor in Environmental and Sustainability Studies. More information about the cross-disciplinary minor can be found here.
We have all been challenged by the message that we must achieve "sustainability" or society may "collapse." What must be sustained, for whom, and for how long? What does it mean for a society to collapse? Have past societies collapsed or transformed?
In this course we investigate the concept of social and environmental sustainability and collapse by considering potential examples of both in prehistory (e.g., Rapa Nui, Norse Greenland, Puebloan U.S. Southwest). Our examination ranges across a diverse intellectual landscape: from the interdisciplinary concepts of resilience and complex adaptive systems to traditional archaeological considerations of the influence of climate change and warfare on human populations.
The impacts of a changing climate on human events (past and future) will receive specific attention in this course. There is also a strong emphasis on research methods, creating new knowledge, and interdisciplinary collaboration among students.
The central question you will consider throughout the course is: "Can an understanding of the past inform the future?" The course neither begins nor ends with an answer; you must come to your own thoughtful (evidence-based) conclusion. A primary learning activity in this course is the development of a public website focused on evaluating the past for insights into present concerns. Websites will be developed by interdisciplinary teams of students (see a few from the Spring 2013 class).
This course is open to students from any major; there are no prerequisites. It is an approved course for the Minor in Environmental and Sustainability Studies. More information about the cross-disciplinary minor can be found here.
Books (required)
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Environmental Social Science: Human-Environment Interactions and Social Science
by Emilio F. Moran First Edition ISBN: 978-1-4051-0574-3 Paperback and electronic formats are available. May not be used Fall 2013 |
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The Craft of Research by Wayne C. Booth, Gregory, G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams Third Edition Will definitely be used Fall 2013. |
computer and software
You will need regular and frequent access to a computer and printer and the ability to download (free) software (CMAP) to this computer to complete this course.
