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REL. 4188: ENVIRONMENTAL VALUES AND PRACTICE
SPRING 2022

Instructor: Anna Peterson
Tel. 352-273-2936; fax 352-392-7395; e-mail: annap@ufl.edu
Office: 105 Anderson Hall (Mailbox in 107 Anderson)
Class meetings: Tues 7th  (1:55-2:45)/Thurs 7th-8th (1:55-3:40)
Room: Matherly 118
Office Hours: In person, Tues 8th period (3-3:50) and Thurs. 5th period (11:45-12:35) and Zoom by appointment 

DESCRIPTION
This course explores the relationship between attitudes and actions regarding the natural environment. We will ask how people connect their values to their actions (or not), what motivates people to change, how different ethical theories relate to (and shed light on) environmental behavior, the ways that material structures constrain or enable moral actions, and the challenges of environmental practice at different geographic scales. We will draw on interdisciplinary sources including ethics, conservation behavior, and moral psychology.

This course will be discussion based and require active, informed participation from all students. Students will choose a research project to pursue for the last part of the class.

POLICIES, RULES, EXPECTATIONS, AND RESOURCES
1.  Attendance and Participation:  Requirements for class attendance and make-up exams, assignments, and other work in this course are consistent with university policies, found in the online catalog at: https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current/regulations/info/attendance.aspx. 
Please let me know about any planned absences (for religious holidays, athletic events, or other reasons) as soon as possible.  For unplanned absences (due to illness or emergency), please let me know as soon as possible and provide documentation (e.g, doctor’s note).

2. Make-up policy: I will arrange for a make-up or early in-class exam only with sufficient notice.  If you do not receive an extension from the instructor, assignment will be marked down a half grade (e.g., from B+ to B) for each day late.
3.  Honor Code: The honor code applies to this and all courses taken at UF: “We, the members of the University of Florida community, pledge to hold ourselves and our peers to the highest standards of honesty and integrity. On all work submitted for credit by students at the university, the following pledge is either required or implied: On my honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid in doing this assignment” (https://archive.catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/1617//advising/info/student-honor-code.aspx).
The university specifically prohibits cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation, bribery, conspiracy, and fabrication.  Any student(s) demonstrated to have cheated, plagiarized, or otherwise violated the Honor Code in any assignment for this course will fail the course.  In addition, violations of the Academic Honesty Guidelines may result in judicial action and sanctions, as specified in the Student Conduct Code (https://sccr.dso.ufl.edu/process/student-conduct-code/).
4.  Accommodation for Disabilities: Students requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of Students Office.  The Dean of Students Office will provide documentation to the student, who must then provide this documentation to the Instructor when requesting accommodation.

5.  Counseling and Emergency Resources: Please let me know if you need support facing challenges that affect your academic performance.  There are many resources available for students, and I will be glad to help you get the assistance you need in order to thrive at UF. Some resources include: 
a. University Counseling Center, 301 Peabody Hall, 392-1575, personal and career counseling; 
b. Student Mental Health, Student Health Care Center, 392-1171, personal counseling; 
c. Sexual Assault Recovery Services (SARS), Student Health Care Center, 392-1161, sexual counseling;
d. Career Resource Center, Reitz Union, 392-1601, career development assistance and counseling. 
e. For security issues, please contact the University Police Department: 392-1111, or 911 for general emergencies.

7.  Software Use:  All faculty, staff, and students of the University are required and expected to obey the laws and legal agreements governing software use.  Failure to do so can lead to monetary damages and/or criminal penalties for the individual violator.  Because such violations are also against University policies and rules, disciplinary action will be taken as appropriate.

8.  Privacy:  Our class sessions may be audio visually recorded for students in the class to refer back and for enrolled students who are unable to attend live. Students who participate with their camera engaged or utilize a profile image are agreeing to have their video or image recorded.  If you are unwilling to consent to have your profile or video image recorded, be sure to keep your camera off and do not use a profile image. Likewise, students who un-mute during class and participate orally are agreeing to have their voices recorded.  If you are not willing to consent to have your voice recorded during class, you will need to keep your mute button activated and communicate exclusively using the "chat" feature, which allows students to type questions and comments live. The chat will not be recorded or shared. As in all courses, unauthorized recording and unauthorized sharing of recorded materials is prohibited.

REQUIRED READINGS
Books
Elizabeth DeSombre, Why Good People Do Bad Environmental Things (Oxford, 2018). 

Willett Kempton, et al., Environmental Values in American Culture (MIT Press, 1995). 

Paul Taylor, Respect for Nature: A Theory of Environmental Ethics (Princeton, 2011)

Steven Vogel, Thinking Like a Mall: Environmental Philosophy after the End of Nature (MIT Press, 2016)

Articles (on Canvas)
Princen, Maniates, and Conca, “Confronting Consumption.” Ch. 1 in Thomas Princen, Michael Maniates, and Ken Conca, eds. Confronting Consumption (MIT Press, 2002).

Michael Maniates, “Individualization.” Ch. 3 in Thomas Princen, Michael Maniates, and Ken Conca, eds. Confronting Consumption (MIT Press, 2002). 

Tom Princen, “Distancing.” Ch. 5 in Thomas Princen, Michael Maniates, and Ken Conca, eds. Confronting Consumption (MIT Press, 2002).

Aldo Leopold, “The Land Ethic,” from A Sand County Almanac (Harper, 1949)

Thomas Dietz, Amy Fitzgerald, and Rachael Shwom, “Environmental Values.” Annual Review of Environmental Resources 30 (2005): 335–72.

Arun Agrawal, “Environmentality: Community, Intimate Government, and the Making of Environmental Subjects in Kumaon, India.”  Current Anthropology 46, no. 2 (April 2005): 161-81.

“Sustainability and Politics: An Interview with Wes Jackson,” by Robert Jensen
Counterpunch (July 10, 2003)  http://www.counterpunch.org/jensen07102003.html

Katie Shilton, “Values Levers: Building Ethics into Design.”  Science, Technology, & Human Values 38, No. 3 (May 2013): 374-397.

Peter-Paul Verbeek, “Materializing Morality: Design Ethics and Technological Mediation.”  Science, Technology, & Human Values 31, No. 3 (May, 2006): 361-380.

Ritsuko Ozaki, Isabel Shaw, and Mark Dodgson, “The Coproduction of ‘Sustainability’: Negotiated Practices and the Prius.”  Science, Technology, & Human Values 38, No. 4 (July 2013): 518-541.

Immanuel Kant, “On the Supposed Right to Lie from Benevolent Motives” (1797).

Ornaith O’Dowd, “Care and Abstract Principles.” Hypatia 27, no 12 (Spring 2012): 407-422.

Daniel N. Robinson and Rom Harré, “The Demography of the Kingdom of Ends.”
Philosophy 69, No. 267 (Jan. 1994): 5-19.

Kollmus, Anja and Julian Agyeman. “Mind the Gap: Why Do People Act Environmentally and What are the barriers to pro-environmental behavior?” Environmental Education and Research 8, no. 2 (2002): 239 – 260.

James Blake, “Overcoming ‘the Value-Action Gap’ in Environmental Policy: Tensions between National Policy and Local Experience.”  Local Environment 4, no. 3 (1999): 257-278.

Shove, Elizabeth, “Beyond the ABC: Climate Change Policy and Theories of Social Change.” Environment and Planning A 42, no. 6 (2010): 1273-1285.

Marianne E. Krasny, Philip Silva, Cornelia Barr, Zahra Golshani, Eunju Lee, Robert Ligas, Eve Mosher and Andrea Reynosa, “Civic Ecology Practices: Insights from Practice Theory.” Ecology and Society 20, No. 2 (Jun 2015).

Anthony Weston, “Non-Anthropocentrism in a Thoroughly Anthropocentrized World.” The Trumpeter 8, no. 3 (1991)

Jim Cheney and Anthony Weston, “Environmental Ethics as Environmental Etiquette,” Environmental Ethics 21, no. 2 (summer 1999): 115-134.

Carol Booth, “A Motivational Turn for Environmental Ethics.” Ethics & the Environment 14, No. 1 (Spring 2009): 53-78.

Paul Jepson and Susan Canney, “Values-Led Conservation.” Global Ecology and Biogeography 12, no. 4 (July 2003): 271-274.

Sarah Hards, “Social Practice and the Evolution of Personal Environmental Values.” Environmental Values. 20, No. 1 (February 2011): 23-42.

Chelsea Schelly, “Bringing the Body into Environmental Behavior: The Corporeal Element of Social Practice and Behavioral Change.” Human Ecology Review 24, No. 1 (2018): 137-154.

Anna L. Peterson, “Ideas, Practices, and Climate Change.” In Works Righteousness: Material Practice in Ethical Theory (Oxford, 2021), pp. 177-198.

WRITING AND PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS
1.  Active participation in class discussions, based on careful reading of all assigned texts prior to each class (10% of grade).

2.  First short paper (2000 words) due Sunday, Feb. 6 (20% of grade)

3.  Second short paper (2000 words), due Sunday March 6 (20% of grade)

3.  Final project. This assignment will have two components:
	a) Poster/presentation (10% of grade), due Sunday, April 10. Create a print or PowerPoint (one slide) presentation summarizing your research questions and findings, to present to the class during the final two weeks of the semester.
	b) Research paper (40% of grade), due Sunday, April 24 – Write a research paper (at least 4000 words) analyzing the distinctively moral dimensions of a significant contemporary social or environmental problem. Your paper will explain how these moral issues differ from other aspects of the problem, e.g. politics, economics, or ideology, and then identify one or more structures or institutions that facilitate better ethical choices and one or more that create obstacles to better choices, explaining why these structures have these effects.  

SCHEDULE OF TOPICS AND READINGS
Date		Topic						Read
Module One: Introduction to the Course
Th 1/6	Introduction to the course			
	
Activity: https://sites.owu.edu/envs110-198-498/projects/assessing-your-environmental-values/ 

Module Two: Practices: Environmental Behavior
Tu 1/11	Moral psychology				De Sombre, Ch. 1

Listen: 
Dan Ariely, How to Change your Behavior for the Better” (TED talk)
Erez Yoeli, “How to Motivate People to do Good for Others” (TED talk)

Th 1/13	Moral psychology				De Sombre, Ch. 2-3

Tu 1/18	Moral psychology 				DeSombre, Ch. 4-5

Th 1/20	Moral psychology				DeSombre, Ch. 6-7
	 
Tu 1/25	Structures and individuals 			Maniates et al., Confronting										Consumption, Ch. 1, 3, 5 

Listen: Leyla Acaroglu, “Paper Beats Plastic?” (TED Talk)
 
Th 1/27	Structures and individuals 			Agrawal; “Sustainability and 									Politics” interview with Wes Jackson

Tu 2/1 	Design						Shilton

Th 2/3 	Design						Verbeek; Ozaki et al

Listen: William McDonough, “Cradle to Cradle Design” (TED talk)

First short essay due by midnight on Sunday, Feb. 6

Module Three: Ideas: Environmental Ethics
Tu 2/8		What is environmental ethics?		Dietz et al.	

Th. 2/10	Idealist approaches in environmental ethics	Taylor, Respect for Nature

Tu 2/15	Idealist approaches in environmental ethics	Taylor, Respect for Nature

Th 2/17	Idealist approaches in environmental ethics	Taylor, Respect for Nature

Tu 2/22 	Materialist approaches			Vogel, Thinking like a Mall

Th 2/24	Materialist approaches			Vogel, Thinking like a Mall

Tu 3/1		Materialist approaches			Vogel, Thinking like a Mall

Th 3/3		Comparing ethical theories

Second short essay due by midnight on Sunday, March 6

Week of March 7 - Spring Break

Module Four: Theorizing Values and Practices
Tu 3/15	Kant						Kant

Th 3/17	Rethinking Kant				O’Dowd; Robinson and Harré

Tu 3/22 	“The Gap”					Kollmus and Ageyman; Blake

Th 3/24 	 Critiquing the gap 				Shove; Krasny et al.	

Tu 3/29	Critiques of linear approaches		Weston; Cheney and Weston		

Th 3/31 	Motivation					Booth; Jepson and Canney

Tu 4/4		Embodiment					Schelly 

Th 4/6		Practice					Hards; Peterson (chapter)

Posters due by midnight, Sunday, April 10

Module Five: Showcasing Student Research
Tu 4/12	Class presentations 

Th 4/14	Class presentations

Tu 4/19	Class presentations 

Th 4/21	Class presentations

Final papers due by midnight, April 24

APPENDIX

GENERAL EDUCATION DESCRIPTION AND STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
This course fulfills both the Humanities (H) and Writing (WR) general education requirements.

HUMANITIES DESCRIPTION
Humanities courses provide instruction in the history, key themes, principles, terminology, and theory or methodologies used within a humanities discipline or the humanities in general. Students will learn to identify and to analyze the key elements, biases and influences that shape thought. These courses emphasize clear and effective analysis and approach issues and problems from multiple perspectives.

HUMANITIES SLOs

Content: Identify, describe, and explain the history, underlying theory and methodologies used. In this course, students will learn about the theories, and methodologies used in religious and philosophical ethics and specifically in the study of moral attitudes about nonhuman nature. Students will study the historical development and current applications of different moral theories about nature. They will read and discuss major theories, thinkers, and issues in this field, learning to understand key arguments and the relations among them.

Critical Thinking: Identify and analyze key elements, biases and influences that shape thought within the subject area. Approach issues and problems within the discipline from multiple perspectives. In this class, students will study important factors affecting the ways people think about the value of nature and appropriate actions in relation to it. Students will learn about diverse religious and philosophical perspectives on the natural environment. They will learn to analyze particular arguments and scholarly conversations in complex and critical ways.

Communication: Communicate knowledge, thoughts and reasoning clearly and effectively.  Students in this class will learn to communicate what they have learned clearly and effectively, in writing and orally. Through essays, class discussions, and a formal presentation, the class will strengthen students’ ability to write and talk about moral and philosophical claims in clear, accurate, and comprehensive ways.

WRITING REQUIREMENT

The University Writing Requirement (WR) ensures students both maintain their fluency in writing and use writing as a tool to facilitate learning. This course carries 6000 words that count towards the University Writing Requirement. You must turn in all written work counting towards the 6000 words in order to receive credit for those words. The writing course grade assigned by the instructor has two components: the writing component and a course grade. To receive writing credit a student must satisfactorily complete all the assigned written work and receive a minimum grade of C (2.0) for the course. It is possible to fail to meet the writing requirement and still earn a minimum grade of C in a class, so students should review their degree audit after receiving their grade to verify receipt of credit for the writing component.
 
The writing requirement for this course will be fulfilled by a short essay and a research paper.  Through writing and revising the papers, students will learn to organize their arguments with an appropriate thesis statement, detailed outline, adequate and relevant support for arguments, and clear and correct writing style.  In writing assignments, students demonstrate skills in framing arguments, developing plans (outlines), identifying appropriate and accurate support for arguments, and introducing and concluding papers in persuasive and clear ways.

Students will receive feedback from the instructor on each essay, including comments and suggestions on both content and writing, within two weeks of submitting the papers. This feedback will address content, organization and coherence, argument and support, style, clarity, grammar, punctuation, and other mechanics. The rubric that I use for evaluating written work is attached at end of syllabus, along with the grading scale. In addition, I will provide specific guidelines for individual assignments closer to the time each is due. 

In addition to my feedback, I encourage you to seek help from the university’s Writing Studio (www.writing.ufl.edu), which offers support for writing in all fields and can be very helpful both in developing your first drafts and in polishing those drafts.

Style Guide: I recommend the Chicago Manual of Style as a guide for writing format and style.  However, if you are used to following a different style guide, that is acceptable, as long as you check with me first and make sure to use the same format consistently throughout your paper.

Writing Assessment Rubric
This rubric will be used for evaluating all written work in this course.
				 
				SATISFACTORY			UNSATISFACTORY

CONTENT 	Papers exhibit at least some evidence of ideas that respond to the topic with complexity, critically evaluating and synthesizing sources, and provide at least an adequate discussion with basic understanding of sources. 
	Papers either include a central idea(s) that is unclear or off- topic or provide only minimal or inadequate discussion of ideas. Papers may also lack sufficient or appropriate sources. 	
ORGANIZATION AND COHERENCE 	Documents and paragraphs exhibit at least some identifiable structure for topics, including a clear thesis statement but may require readers to work to follow progression of ideas. 
	Documents and paragraphs lack clearly identifiable organization, may lack any coherent sense of logic in associating and organizing ideas, and may also lack transitions and coherence to guide the reader. 	
ARGUMENT AND SUPPORT 	Documents use persuasive and confident presentation of ideas, strongly supported with evidence. At the weak end of the Satisfactory range, documents may provide only generalized discussion of ideas or may provide adequate discussion but rely on weak support for arguments. 
	Documents make only weak generalizations, providing little or no support, as in summaries or narratives that fail to provide critical analysis. 	
STYLE 	Documents use a writing style with word choice appropriate to the context, genre, and discipline. Sentences should display complexity and logical sentence structure. At a minimum, documents will display a less precise use of vocabulary and an uneven use of sentence structure or a writing style that occasionally veers away from word choice or tone appropriate to the context, genre, and discipline. 
	Documents rely on word usage that is inappropriate for the context, genre, or discipline. Sentences may be overly long or short with awkward construction. Documents may also use words incorrectly. 	
MECHANICS 	Papers will feature correct or error-free presentation of ideas. At the weak end of the Satisfactory range, papers may contain some spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors that remain unobtrusive so they do not muddy the paper’s argument or points. 	Papers contain so many mechanical or grammatical errors that they impede the reader’s understanding or severely undermine the writer’s credibility. 	

Grading Scale for Course

A	4.0	94-100	
A-	3.67	90-93	
B+	3.33	87-89	
B	3.0	84-86	
B-	2.67	80-83	
C+	2.33	77-79	
C	2.0	74-76	
C-	1.67	70-73	
D+	1.33	67-69	
D	1.0	64-66	
D-	0.67	60-63	
E	0.0	0-59	

For information on UF grading policies, please see: 
https://catalog.ufl.edu/ugrad/current/regulations/info/grades.aspx.  

Please note: 
A “C-“ will not be a qualifying grade for major, minor, General Education, University Writing Requirement or College Basic Distribution credit.  You must receive a “C” or better in order to receive that credit.