IDS 3304 - Issues in Ecology & Environment:

Sustainable Communities:  Introduction

Course Description

This course is designed to explore the issue of sustainability as it pertains to the needs of communities. In so doing, it requires students to participate in an ecological, philosophical, political, and ethical analysis of problems and issues that both contribute to and undercut our culture's current capacity for creating and maintaining sustainable communities and community components.

Objectives

1. Students will learn to conceptualize a variety or perspectives to defining "sustainability" both ecologically and within communities.
2. Students will become familiar with and learn to apply a "communitarian" perspective to the problem of creating and maintaining sustainable communities. This perspective will require students to review and analyze the following issues:
   • What constitutes the "good society?"
   • How do the values of "order" and "autonomy" interact in the promotion of sustainable communities?
   • What is involved in the supposed "Rise & Fall" of American Society?
   • What are "core values" and how are they shared?
   • What is mean by the "moral voice" and how is it exemplified in modern society?
   • How does human nature both support and threaten community sustainability?
   • How does one achieve "pluralistic" goals within a unified community?
   • Who are the "final arbiters" of community values and how can they function to create sustainable communities?
3. Students will learn to apply communitarian tenets in rethinking the human place in nature.

Readings

Cronon, William (1996) Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature. New York, N.Y: Norton Publishers.

Etzioni, Amitai (1996) The New Golden Rule: Community & Morality in a Democratic Society. New York, N.Y.: Basic Books.

Course Requirements

Students participating in this course will be required to engage in and complete the following activities: 

Grading Criteria

Grading Scale

Communications & Consultation:

When to Use E-Mail, Telephone, Bulletin Board and Office Consultations

The instructor is available for either face-to-face or telephone consultation during office hours (Mondays 1-4) at Modular Unit E on campus. E-mail should be utilized only for the purpose of informing the instructor of difficulties in accessing information, notification of class absences, problems students are encountering in completing assignments, and other issues related to the management of the course.  All homework , exam, and study questions responses should be directed to the instructor via the bulletin board.. The only exception to this is when the instructor contacts a student relative to a particular learning or teaching issue, or comment. Otherwise, when students have questions regarding the assignment or wish to make a comment for the benefit of the class, they will be expected to use the bulletin board designed for the class. Use the telephone for personal communications, such as notification about missing the class, or needing a specific appointment to discuss the class. It is important for all students to adhere to this policy for communication and consultation. Excessive direct communication with the instructor alone (via telephone or e-mail) can tend to undercut useful class interaction, and can overload the instructor with answering the same or common questions repetitively. The Bulletin Board, used in conjunction with study groups, is specifically intended to provide a means by which questions and comments can be efficiently addressed  by the instructor and classmates without creating an overload on the e-mail or telephone system  The instructor will also use the bulletin board to post class information.

Web Board Overview

A WebBoard is collaboration software you will use to interact with faculty and other students. To access the WebBoard, you will need a log-in name and password. This log-in name and password can be used by registered students to access most
WebBoards at FGCU. If you are taking other classes in the School of Public and Social Services that incorporate WebBoards, you will only need to obtain a WebBoard log-in name and password one time.

IF YOU ALREADY HAVE a log-in name and password to access a WebBoard for another class, you can use that information to access the WebBoard for this class. Click on the link in step one below to access the WebBoard for this class. Enter your user name and password and click "OK."

IF YOU DO NOT HAVE a WebBoard log-in name and password, follow all of the instructions below. Make sure you read all
instructions before proceeding.

1. Click on this link: http://onyx.fgcu.edu/~224

2. Click "New Users."

3. A form will appear. Fill in all the required information to create your user profile. (A red dot indicates a required field.) Write down your log-in name and password so you don't forget them!

4. Scroll down the page. If your web browser does not support frames, click "No" beside the text "Use Frames."

5. Click Create.

6. Explore the WebBoard and practice reading, posting, and replying to messages.

The  Web Board is divided into 4 dialogues:

(1)    Study Questions & Homework For Each Class Session
(2)    Instructor Comments & Questions
(3)    For the Common Good: (student comments & observations relating to the course)
(4)    Web Links and File Attachments (Such as Where the Term Paper will be posted, as well as interesting web sites)

Students are expected to utilize each dialogue or "strand" within the Bulletin Board for its designated purpose.

For assistance in learning how to use the web board, you might want to go to the following FGCU Instructional Technology web site:

http://www.fgcu.edu/support/webboard/

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