Course Description
Environmental sociology is a field that provides insight into the complex social processes which define, create and indeed threaten ecosystem processes. By discussing issues of science and technology, popular culture, economics, urbanization, racial and gender relations, as well as social movements, this course will reach a broad understanding of environmental issues. More specifically, this course will investigate the relationship between various environmental and social problems, as well as the many political ideologies, philosophies and movements that have continually redefined how we think of nature and sustainability.
Learning Activities
The course will employ a variety of instructional methods to accomplish its objectives, including some of the following: lectures, seminar presentations, audio-visual materials, small group discussions, research projects, in-class and community dialogues, research papers, seminar presentations, and public writing.
Means of Assessment
Evaluation will be based on course objectives and will be carried out in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy. The instructor will provide a written course outline with specific criteria during the first week of classes.
An example of a possible evaluation scheme would be:
| Sustainability dialogue |
20% |
| Dialogue proposal |
5% |
| Midterm exam |
15% |
| Final exam |
15% |
| Op-Ed or other public writing |
10% |
| Seminar presentation |
15% |
| Ecological footprint |
10% |
| Participation |
10% |
| Total |
100% |
Students may conduct research with human participants as part of their coursework in this class. Instructors for the course are responsible for ensuring that student research projects comply with College policies on ethical conduct for research involving humans.
Learning Outcomes
At the conclusion of the course, the successful student will be able to:
1. Explain perspectives on human-nature relations influenced by their social, economic, political, cultural, historical, physiological and bio-geographical contexts.
2. Apply various approaches to environmental sociology, and what conceptions of education, knowledge, self, and community underlie these various approaches.
3. Identify considerations that are crucial to developing environmental programs and practices that are ethically and democratically justifiable.
4. Critically analyze their own understandings and experiences of nature and their place in it.
5. Demonstrate understanding of the following themes:
- Nature: human construction or unmediated reality? The interplay of material and ideal factors.
- Social and global dimensions of environmental ethics such as wilderness preservation movements, wise use movements, and environmental justice movements.
- Dimensions of ecological thought such as ecofeminism, deep ecology, transpersonal ecology, and bioregionalism.
- Critiquing goals such as sustainable development, sustainable communities, and sustainable consumption.
- Citizenship and engagement including the important influence of democratic institutions and commitments in our environmental practices.
- Place and narrative including the mind-body concept, mind-body-place and privilege, place-centered education, community action, and policies focused on sustainability.
- Policies and programs developed by government, industry and other institutions at the regional, provincial, national, and international levels.
Textbook Materials
Texts will be updated periodically. A typical example is:
Bell, Michael Mayerfeld and Loka Ashwood (most recent edition). An Invitation to Environmental Sociology. Thousand Oaks: Sage.