Environmental
Policy 450
Environmental Decision Making
Fall 2019
Wick 101
Robert C. Williams, Ph.D.
(Call me “Dr. W”)
802.279.3364 (mobile)
Fall 2019 Office Hours
(online or F2F by appointment)
COURSE
TEXTS
Mary O’Brien’s Making Better Environmental Decisions: An
Alternative To Risk Assessment. (Boston: MIT Press, 2000). ISBN 978-0262650533
Elana Freeland’s Chemtrails, HAARP, and the Full Spectrum Dominance of Planet Earth.
(WA: Feral House, 2014). ISBN 1-987-654-3.
COURSE
SYLLABUS
Our ENP
450 course provides critical insights and practice into contexts for
environmental decision making – a vital set of skills for any 21st
century researcher, scientist, citizen, and ENP professional.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The
state of our environment is shaped by our decisions. Many problems are complex
and multifaceted, which makes finding a solution more challenging. Identifying
solutions is often particularly difficult in the case of environmental problems
given the trade-offs that are often present and the multiple viewpoints that
must be considered.
This
upper level undergraduate course provides an introduction to environmental
decision making, examining the many techniques applied to environmental
decision with a particular focus on the structured decision making (SDM)
approach to decision-making. Due to the introductory nature of the course we
discuss decision theory as well, but the purpose of environmental decision making
is very much applied. The applications examined in this course will
predominantly be environmental problems, but decision-making processes and
tools we study are applicable to the fields of management science, policy,
economics, or any field concerned with addressing problems. Students from a
variety of backgrounds with an interest in decision making are encouraged to
enroll. Students will learn practical approaches to the use of critical
thinking, logic, reasoning, and decision
structuring
in order to support improved decision making. We will cover the iterative
decision making process of problem identification, objectives, alternatives,
consequences, and trade-offs by examining decision theory, and its application
to noteworthy case studies.
This
course will utilize a combination of weekly readings and reflections, videos, student
presentations, and discussions. Exercises and discussions will provide an
overview of the decision-making process as well as hands on experience applying
the tools to case studies as a means to practice modeling the consequences and
tradeoffs for decision analysis.
SPECIFIC LEARNING OUTCOMES
To
gain exposure to several frameworks for decision making in environmental
management, planning, and policy development.
To
practice using some common tools for structuring decisions in realistic
situations.
To
gain the skills necessary to identify which tools to use for different kinds of
decision problems.
To
gain confidence applying critical thinking, quantitative and qualitative
analysis, and logical reasoning in the practice of decision making.
To
gain familiarity with processes, practices, norms, rules, and laws regularly
employed in public and private sector decision making settings.
To analyze
and describe basic approaches to research in environmental decision making.
To relate
the role and significance of the specific course theme –environmental decision
making– to larger programs of study.
To develop
a facility with both environmental decision making and new digital media tools
– blogging, Twitter, and other multimedia Web 20 platforms – as we explore
research methods approaches and skillsets.
To utilize
current global debates around geoengineeing as a case study in environmental
decision making.
GRADING AND ASSESSMENT
I will
assess your work in this course in 3 equally weighted ways:
33% - EDM
Classroom Attendance and Participation
33% - EDM
Homework/Blogging
33% - EDM
Projects/Papers
ATTENDANCE
Please
be on time to class. 3 lates = 1 absence. 3 unexcused absences = course fail.
COMPETENCIES
Written
Communication
Ethical
Reasoning
Oral
Communication
Information
Literacy and Technology Global Appreciation
The
Champlain College Writing Center
The
Writing Center at Champlain provides free one-with-one writing support for all
members of the Champlain community. Writing Center consultants work with
students on a wide range of writing topics, including brainstorming ideas,
topics selection, understanding assignments, essay organization and
sentence-level revisions. The consultants are also trained to work with the
writing you do outside of class as well. For example, the staff is prepared to
discuss creative writing projects, cover letters and public writing composed by
the students and staff at Champlain. The Writing Center at Champlain is located
on the second floor of the Miller Information Commons and is open between
11AM-5PM Monday-Thursday.
Academic Honesty
Introduction:
In addition to skills and knowledge,
Champlain College aims to teach students appropriate Ethical and Professional
Standards of Conduct. The Academic Honesty Policy exists to inform students and
Faculty of their obligations in upholding the highest standards of professional
and ethical integrity. All student work is subject to the Academic Honesty
Policy. Professional and Academic practice provides guidance about how to
properly cite, reference, and attribute the intellectual property of others.
Any attempt to deceive a faculty member or to help another student to do so
will be considered a violation of this standard.
Instructor’s Intended Purpose:
The
student’s work must match the instructor’s intended purpose for an assignment.
While the instructor will establish the intent of an assignment, each student
must clarify outstanding questions of that intent for a given assignment.
Unauthorized Assistance:
The
student may not give or get any unauthorized assistance in the preparation of
any work.
Authorship:
The
student must clearly establish authorship of a work. Referenced work must be
clearly documented, cited, and attributed, regardless of media or distribution.
Even in the case of work licensed as public domain or Copyleft, (See: http://creativecommons.org/)
the student must provide attribution of that work in order to uphold the
standards of intent and authorship.
Declaration:
Online submission of, or placing one’s name on
an exam, assignment, or any course document is a statement of academic honor
that the student has not received or given inappropriate assistance in
completing it and that the student has complied with the Academic Honesty
Policy in that work.
Consequences:
An
instructor may impose a sanction on the student that varies depending upon the
instructor’s evaluation of the nature and gravity of the offense. Possible sanctions include but are not
limited to, the following: (1) Require the student to redo the assignment; (2)
Require the student to complete another assignment; (3) Assign a grade of zero
to the assignment; (4) Assign a final grade of “F” for the course. A student
may appeal these decisions according to the Academic Grievance Procedure. (See
the relevant section in the Student Handbook.) Multiple violations of this
policy will result in a referral to the Conduct Review Board for possible
additional sanctions. The full text of the Academic Honesty Policy is in the Student Handbook.
**Disclaimer for my class regarding academic
honesty:
A string of five or more words from any source
that is used in your own work without quotations, an in-text citation, and full
citation in the reference section is plagiarism. Text from any source that has been put in
your own words must also have an in-text citation and full citation in the
reference section to avoid plagiarism.
Accommodations
If you believe that you have
a disability requiring accommodations in this class, please contact the
Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities as soon as possible:
Eric Petersen
Counselor and 504
Coordinator
109 Skiff Hall
802-865-5484
During that meeting, Eric will provide you with
letters for your faculty that will detail your needed accommodations. It is the student’s responsibility to seek
and secure accommodations prior to the start of a test or project.
The Writing Center
The Writing Center at Champlain provides free
one-with-one writing support for all members of the Champlain community.
Writing Center consultants work with students on a wide range of writing
topics, including brainstorming ideas, topics selection, understanding
assignments, essay organization and sentence-level revisions. The consultants
are also trained to work with the writing you do outside of class as well. For
example, the staff is prepared to discuss creative writing projects, cover
letters and public writing composed by the students and staff at Champlain. The
Writing Center at Champlain is located on the second floor of the Miller
Information Commons in Room 218 and is open between 11AM-5PM
Monday-Thursday. Please call 383-6672 for to set up a consultation.
Academic Continuity
Class during an Extended Campus Closure:
Champlain College is taking precautionary
measures to ensure that this class can continue in a “virtual environment” even
during an extended emergency such as severe weather, contagious disease,
physical infrastructure failure, campus closure, or similar incident. This
course will continue either online through a college-provided learning
management system (Canvas), or through some other process unless cancelled.
In the event of such an emergency, students are
expected to continue instructor-designated class activities, as directed by the
instructor. Due to the nature of the
“virtual environment” learning activities may differ slightly from the
on-campus course. In order for this emergency preparedness plan to be
effective, you are asked to do the following:
Immediately:
Ensure that you will have a computer and
broadband Internet access at the location (home or other) in which you will
reside during an extended campus closure.
Prepare yourself with the basic skills of
logging into Canvas via the my.champlain.edu dashboard, finding your course(s)
and entering them.
Participate in a “warm up” online activity in
the “virtual environment” when directed to do so by your instructor.
During an Emergency:
Test your broadband Internet access immediately
upon arriving at your chosen residence during the campus closure.
Log into Canvas and enter your courses.
Check for emergency information on Champlain
College main website (www.Champlain.edu) which will
indicate the semester week and day on which college classes will resume online.
Enter your class and go to the appropriate week
of class where you will receive directions from your instructor.
PROJECTS
Project #1: Individual
Research Project
Select
and research an EDM RESEARCH topic of interest to you.
Connect
your topic with either your major or a personal interest of yours, or BOTH.
Produce
and publish a TEN paragraph multimedia paper (a paragraph = 5-7 sentences) as a
STAND-ALONE post (with a sexy title) on our course blog.
To
earn an A, your EDM paper must:
1.
Have a specific THESIS statement, grounded in TIME and PLACE, in your opening
paragraph.
2.
Consist of 8 paragraphs of between 5-7 sentences each.
3.
Contain no grammar, spelling, or mechanical errors.
4.
Be illustrated with AT LEAST one photo or video embed for EACH paragraph.
5.
Provide AT LEAST one direct quotation from AT LEAST 6 different texts. Cite all
sources parenthetically à(Grinnell, 34)
6. Be presented with confidence in class (excerpted sections.)
Project
#2: EDM Research OP/ED
Draft and publish an 800 word OP/ED piece summarizing your EDM
findings for a popular audience.
Project
#3: EDM Research Reflection
Write and publish a 1,000 word reflection on your EDM research
project, in which you explore the tribulations and triumphs of your semester of
work.
COURSE
SCHEDULE
Week
#1/Week of Monday, August 26
Welcome.
Introductions. Who are we?
Week
#2/Week of Monday, September 2
Read/blog
MAKING ENVIRONMENTAL DECISIONS, Introduction, Chapters 1-3
Week
#3/Week of Monday, September 9
Read/blog MAKING
ENVIRONMENTAL DECISIONS, Chapters 4-6
Week
#4/Week of Monday, September 16
Read/blog MAKING
ENVIRONMENTAL DECISIONS, Chapters 7-9
Week
#5/Week of Monday, September 23
Read/blog MAKING
ENVIRONMENTAL DECISIONS, Chapters 10-12
Week
#6/Week of Monday, September 30
Read/blog MAKING
ENVIRONMENTAL DECISIONS, Chapters 13-15
Week
#7/Week of Monday, October 7
Read/blog MAKING
ENVIRONMENTAL DECISIONS, Chapters 16-18
Week
#8/Week of Monday, October 14
Read/blog CHEMTRAILS,
HAARP, AND THE FULL SPECTRUM DOMINANCE OF PLANET EARTH, Introduction and
Chapter 1 (Ionizing The Atmosphere)
Week
#9/Week of Monday, October 21
Read/blog CHEMTRAILS,
HAARP, AND THE FULL SPECTRUM DOMINANCE OF PLANET EARTH, Chapter 2 (A Thumbnail
History), Chapter 3 (Deconstructing Eastlund’s 1987 HAARP Patent), and Chapter
4 (Not Your Average Contrails)
Week #10/Week
of Monday, October 28
Read/blog CHEMTRAILS,
HAARP, AND THE FULL SPECTRUM DOMINANCE OF PLANET EARTH, Chapter 5 (Color
Illustrations), Chapter 6 (The Poisons Raining Down), and Chapter 7 (Profit And
Force Multipliers)
Week
#11/Week of Monday, November 4
Read/blog CHEMTRAILS,
HAARP, AND THE FULL SPECTRUM DOMINANCE OF PLANET EARTH, Chapter 8 (Exploiting
Earth Changes), Chapter 9 (Climate Engineering, Food, and Weather Derivatives),
and Chapter 10 (Geoengineering and Environmental Warfare)
Week
#12/Week of Monday, November 11
Read/blog CHEMTRAILS,
HAARP, AND THE FULL SPECTRUM DOMINANCE OF PLANET EARTH, Chapter 11 (Morgellons:
The Fibers We Breathe And Eat) and Conclusion (Look Up!)
Week
#13/Week of Monday, November 18
THANKSGIVING BREAK – finalize research projects.
Week
#14/Week of Monday, November 25
Publish and share EDM Research Projects.
Week
#15/Week of Monday, December 2
Publish and share EDM 800
word OP/EDs.
Week
#16/Week of Monday, December 9
Publish and share EDM 1,000 word final reflections.
