Political Science and Environmental History 1. How has science been used over the twentieth century to both “hurt” and “help” the environment? What do the ways science has been used tell us about the relationship between science, politics, and the environment?

Support your argument with specific examples from at least two of the thematic areas we covered in the course: climate change, agriculture, energy, and cities. (1page)
2. Over the past two hundred years, technological change has had a profound impact on humans and their environment. Discuss the ways that technological innovations have changed the ways humans affect the world around them. Be sure to identify specific technologies and their impacts on the environment, drawing on at least two of the thematic areas we covered in the course. (1page)
3. How do different ways of seeing and thinking about nature affect our relationships with it, and what are the consequences of those ways of seeing and thinking for the environment? Support your argument with specific examples from at least two of our course themes. (1page)
4. The environmental effects of modern industrial society disproportionately impact the poor. Agree or disagree? You should address examples from at least
three of our four themes. (1page)
5. In what ways can commodification be said to be the cause of environmental change and degradation? Be sure to define “commodification” and to draw on
examples from at least two of our four themes. (1page)
6. We have traced the pathways/lives of various "things" in this course, such as food, material goods, waste, etc. How have these pathways changed over the twentieth century? What does this tell us about local and global forms of production and consumption and their environmental effects? You should address examples from at least three of our four themes. (1page)
****THESE ARE ABOUT FOUR THEMES****
Unit 1: Climate change
Module 1: Introduction to climate change (one week)

Political Science and Environmental History Module Objectives

By the end of this module you will:
gain an overview of historical and current scientific thinking about climate change
critically examine the ways politicians, scientists, and others advance particular kinds of knowledge about the environment
have an introduction to some of the ways climate change might affect Canada and in particular, British Columbia
Topics
Climate Change and the Apocalypse
Introduction to Climate Change
The debate about Climate Change
Discovering Global Warming
The Carbon Cycle
The Science of Climate Change
Climate Change in Canada
Conclusions
Module 2: Climate change in history (one week)
Module Objectives
By the end of this module you will:
Have on an understanding of environmental determinism and its limitations
Learn how culture has shaped past societies’ responses to climate change
Start considering ways that climate change has different effects in different regions and among different social groups
Topics
Introduction
Part I: Environmental Determinism
The backlash against Environmental Determinism
Jared Diamond and Environmental Determinism
Part II: Case Study: The Greenland Norse
The Little Ice Age
The rise of the Greenland Norse
The Culture of the Greenland Norse
The Fall of the Greenland Norse
Adapting in North America
Conclusions
Module 3: Climate Change Action (one week)
Module Objectives
By the end of this module you will:
Gain an overview of the range of individual, local, regional, national, and global responses to climate change
Understand our current reactions to climate change in historical context
Critically evaluate various responses to climate change
Topics:
Global Environmental Politics and Action on Climate Change
The Rise of Sustainability: Stockholm, 1972
Split between Developed and Developing Countries
Limits to Growth
The tragedy of the Commons
Critiques of the Tragedy of the Commons
Scarcity Society
Sustainable Development
Climate Frameworks
Rio Conference, 1992
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, 1992
Kyoto Protocol, 1997
Where We Stand and the Road Ahead
Room for Optimism?
Think Local, Very Local (Your Ecological Footprint)
Begin Assignment I (Essay), due at end of module 4.
Unit 2: Agriculture
Module 4: The rise of industrial agriculture (two weeks)
Module Objectives
By the end of this module you will:
Gain an understanding of the ways that agriculture has changed history in the developed and developing the world
Gain an understanding of the role of fossil fuels in industrial agriculture
Acquire tools for a critical examination of contemporary foodways (production, consumption, and culture of food)
Topics
Part I—The Origins and Development of Agriculture
A Very Short History of Agriculture
Changes in the land: New England, 1600-1800
Aboriginal Peoples and Land Use
European Colonists and Land Use
Impact of Cultivation
Land use, Property, and Ownership
Conclusion
Part II: The Industrial Revolution in Agriculture
Mechanization
The Green Revolution
Commodifying the Seed
From Green Revolution to Gene Revolution
Conclusion
Part III: Critics of Industrial Agriculture
Spotlight on Vandana Shiva
Hand in Assignment I (Essay) by end of Module 4.
Module 5: Post-industrial agriculture? (one week)
Module Objectives
By the end of this module you will:
Gain an understanding of the rise of the organics movement and the contemporary economics of organic farming and distribution
Learn about local food and slow food movements

Political Science and Environmental History Topics
and Introduction

Part I: A History of the Organics Movement
Industrial Agriculture: Better Living through Chemistry
Organic Empire
The Strange Politics of Organic Agriculture
Part II: Mainstreaming Alternative Agriculture
Organic Empire, Redux: The Rise of Industrial-Organic
Part III: Spotlight on Wendell Berry
The Problem of Scale
The Problem of Specialization
Back to Diversity
Unit 3: Energy
Module 6: Energy Regimes and the Industrial Revolution (one week)
Module Objectives
By the end of this module you will:
Learn about energy regimes and the Industrial Revolution
Consider connections between energy regimes and culture
Become acquainted with the concept of modernity
Topics
Introduction to Energy
Part I: Energy & Energy Regimes
Energy Regimes
Fuels and Prime Movers
Part II: Industrial Revolution
Social Transformation
Urbanization
Pollution
Changing Perceptions of Space and Time
Modernity
Modernity and the Environment
Critiques of Modernity: Focus on Mohandas Gandhi
China’s Industrial Revolution
Conclusions
Module 7: Oil and Automobility (two weeks)
Module Objectives
By the end of this module you will:
Learn about the history of automobiles and automobility
Learn about how transportation developments have shaped the history of urban, suburban, and rural development
Consider the historical and contemporary implications of car culture
Consider the role of oil and other energy sources in our own lives
Topics
Introduction
Part I: The Rise of the Internal Combustion Engine
Oil as Fuel
Mass Production
Cars and Imperialism
Part II: The Age of Auto-Mobility
Social and Cultural Transformation
Vancouver on the Rails
The Rise of Suburbia
Part III: The Automobile and Popular Culture.
Touring by Car
Road Trip: Instructor’s Detour
Conclusions
Part IV: Tar Sands: Canada’s “Dirty Secret”?
Production
Impacts
Complete Assignment 2 (Oil We Eat Blog) by end of Module 7.
Unit 4: Cities
Module 8: Nature and/or the City (one week)
Module Objectives
By the end of this module you will:
Consider the changing role of nature and/or the city
Consider the relationship between cities and ideas of nature/wilderness
Understand the concept of “urban metabolism”
Apply the concept of urban metabolism to your own consumption choices
Topics
Introduction to Urban Metabolism
Part I: Inputs
Chicago: Nature’s Metropolis
Conclusions
Part II: Outputs
Garbage
A Short History of Garbage and Consumption
The rise of the Throw-Away Society
Landfills
Some Final Reflections on Trash
Begin Group Assignment 3 (Your Trash) — Start during Module 8, finish by end of module 10.
Module 9: Cities and Environmentalism (one week)
Module Objectives
By the end of this module you will:
Have a general overview of the development of environmentalism and its relationship to cities
Learn about the origins of the environmental justice movement
Learn how the environmental justice movement has influenced environmental historians
Consider the social history of “natural disasters”
Gain some ideas as to how maps can be useful for thinking about the social history of “natural disasters”
Topics
“Wrong complexion for protection” (Environmentalism and Environmental Justice)
The Environmental Justice Movement
Environmental Justice and Environmental History
“We can smell your mother burning!” (Environmental Justice in New York City)
“The Social Ecology of Abandonment” (Chicago’s Deadly Heat Wave of 1995)
The Unnatural History of a Natural Disaster (New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina, and Environmental Justice)
Environmental Geography of New Orleans
Social Ecology of New Orleans
Module 10: Sustainability and the future of cities (one week)