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Schedule/Notes
This schedule is subject to change, so if you miss a class you should always check with a classmate for the most current information. To access lecture notes, handouts, and readings, where available, click on the highlighted links.

  • Each day's reading is indicated by bullets. You should read these texts before coming to class on the day listed.
    Part One: The Fate of Nature
    Nature as Contested Terrain: Mapping Environmental Discourses
    T 9/7 Welcome
    Th 9/9 Environmental Rhetoric: The Words "Nature" and "Environment" (guide)
    In class: Paper #1 Assigned
  • Philippon, "Environment and Environmentalism: An Overview" (pdf)
  • Philippon, "The Definition of 'Nature'" (pdf)
    • T 9/14 Environmental Values: Metaphor, Narrative, and Value (guide)
  • Philippon, "What is Metaphor?" (pdf)
    		•
    Nature as Endangered Place: Envisioning the Future of Life
    Th 9/16 Populating and Consuming the Biosphere (guide)
    In class: "Extremophiles" video clip, Paper #2 assigned
  • Wilson, The Future of Life, prologue, chapters 1-2
  • Ecological Footprint Quiz
    PAPER #1 DUE
    • T 9/21 The Value of Species (guide)
  • The Future of Life, chapters 3-5
    GROUP #1 leads discussion
    • Th 9/23 Toward an Environmental Ethic (guide)
    In class: How to write for this class
  • The Future of Life, complete
    QUIZ #1 TODAY
    • Part Two: The Use and Abuse of Nature
    Nature as Resource: The Control, Management, and Use of Nature
    T 9/28 Western Ideas and Practices (guide)
  • Genesis, chapters 1-3 (pdf)
  • White, "The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis" (pdf)
  • Moncrief, "The Cultural Basis for Our Environmental Crisis" (pdf)
    GROUP #2 leads discussion
    • Th 9/30 Native American Ideas and Practices (guide)
  • Peterson, "Person and Nature in Native American Worldviews" (pdf)
  • Denevan, "The Pristine Myth" (pdf)
    PAPER #2 DUE TODAY
    • T 10/5 Production: Where Does Our Stuff Come From? (guide)
    In Class: Paper #3 assigned
  • Ryan and Durning, Stuff
  • Durning, "An Ecological Critique of Global Advertising" (pdf)
  • Freyfogle, New Agrarianism, chapter 3 (optional)
    GROUP #3 leads discussion
    • Th 10/7 Consumption: Do We Have Too Much Stuff? (guide)
    In Class: "Affluenza" video clip
  • Sagoff, "Do We Consume Too Much?" (web page)
  • Loy, "The Religion of the Market" (pdf)
  • Obsessive Consumption (web site)
    QUIZ #2 TODAY
    • Nature as Spirit: Romanticism and Its Variants
    T 10/12 Narratives of Retreat or Engagement? (guide)
  • Thoreau, "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For" (web page)
  • Moore, "Where Should I Live, and What Should I Live For?" (pdf)
  • Oates, "Against Nature" (pdf)
    GROUP #4 leads discussion
    • Th 10/14 Sublime Landscapes (guide)
  • Persons, "Romanticism" (pdf)
  • Heiman, "Civilization Over Nature" (pdf)
  • Most Wanted Paintings (web site)
    PAPER #3 DUE
    • T 10/19 Into the Wild (guide)
    In Class: Paper #4 assigned
  • Krakauer, Into the Wild, chapters 1-10
    GROUP #5 leads discussion
    • Th 10/21 Wild Mind (guide)
    In Class: Mid-term Reflection
  • Krakauer, Into the Wild, complete
  • Verzone, "Back to the Wild" (web site)
    QUIZ #3 TODAY
    • Interlude: Decision 2004
    Nature as Election Issue: Where Do the Candidates Stand?
    T 10/26 The Bush Campaign
  • GeorgeWBush.com (web site)
    GROUP #6 leads discussion
    • Th 10/28 The Kerry Campaign
  • John Kerry for President (web site)
    PAPER #4 DUE
    		•
    T 11/2 No Class
    (Remember to vote!)
    Part Three: The Rediscovery of Nature
    Nature as Body: From Public Health to Environmental Justice
    Th 11/4 Rachel Carson's Legacy (guide)
    In class: "Rachel Carson's Silent Spring" video clip; paper #5 assigned
  • Carson, "A Fable for Tomorrow" (pdf)
  • Steingraber, Living Downstream, foreword, prologue, chapters 1-2
  • NEJM review controversy (web page)
    GROUP #7 leads discussion
    • T 11/9 Time, Space, War, Animals (guide)
  • Living Downstream, chapters 3-6
    • Th 11/11 Earth, Air, Water, Fire (guide)
    In class: visit from Betsy Wattenberg, Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences
  • Living Downstream, chapters 7-10
    • T 11/16 Our Bodies, Inscribed (guide)
  • Living Downstream, complete
    GROUP #8 leads discussion
    • Nature as Battleground: When Metaphors, Narratives, and Values Conflict
    Th 11/18 War in the Woods
    In Class: "Green Dream$" video
  • Proctor, "Whose Nature?" (pdf)
    QUIZ #4 TODAY
    • Part Four: The Reinhabitation of Nature
    Nature as Home: Thinking Globally, Eating Locally
    T 11/23 Old and New Agrarianisms
  • Freyfogle, New Agrarianism, intro, chapter 2
    GROUP #9 leads discussion
    PAPER #5 DUE
    • Th 11/25 No Class: Thanksgiving Break
    T 11/30 New Prospects
    In class: Final Project assigned
  • Freyfogle, New Agrarianism, chapters 1, 4 & 7
    GROUP #10 leads discussion
    		•
    Th 12/2 The Decline of the Apple
    In class: Visit from Jim Luby, professor of horticultural science
  • New Agrarianism, chapter 8
  • Karp, "Apples With Pedigrees Selling in Urban Edens" (web page)
    		•
    T 12/7 The Sirens of Conquest
  • New Agrarianism, chapters 10 & 11
    GROUP #11 leads discussion
    		•
    Th 12/9 Sharing Life
  • New Agrarianism, chapters 13 & 14
    QUIZ #5 TODAY
    • T 12/14 Last Class
    Course Evaluations
    Course Summary and Review
    Exam Week
    W 12/22 Final Project Due in Rhetoric Dept. by 4:30 p.m.
    (Our final exam is scheduled for today. The final project takes the place of the final exam.)
    • Site Design and Content: Copyright © 2004 Daniel J. Philippon
    URL: http://www.agricola.umn.edu/rhet3383/fall04/schedule.html
    Last Modified: 7 December 2004

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