Syllabi
Prof. Patrick K. Dooley
Philosophy Department, St. Bonaventure University
ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
SENIOR FORUM
Clare 401 for Spring 2002 semester
This is a capstone course required of all St. Bonaventure University graduating seniors. It is a two credits course with one meeting per week in a seminar session (14 students and a faculty mentor) to discuss background materials and a plenary lecture by an expert.
Attached are:
1) The Spring 2002 schedule of topics and speakers
2) The table of contents from the two-volume reader.
3) Course procedures and requirements
4) A brief sketch of how the course evolved
Please write or email me if you would like a copy of the background reader—we have about 50 extras.
Patrick K. Dooley, Professor of Philosophy
Clare 401 course guru
Box 7
St. Bonaventure University
St. Bonaventure, NY 14778
716-375-2279
ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
SENIOR FORUM
Clare 401 for Spring 2002 semester
Note: the
course is arranged so that each seminar sessions will engage background
materials in preparation for the next week’s plenary session. All the
plenary sessions, save one, will be at 12:30PM on Wednesdays in the Doyle
Dining room. The exception is
the 22 March plenary by John Haught.
The last three weeks of the semester will be devoted to student
presentations to your seminar group.
Week 1: 14-18 January
Background topic—Basics of ecology
Plenary—Wed 16th @12:30—Dr. Patrick Dooley on course procedures
and a brown bag lunch
Week 2: 21-25 January
Background topic—Conventional energy generation
Plenary— Wed 23 Jan @12:30, Dr. Ted Georgian on the basics of ecology
Week 3: 28 January to 1 February
Background topic: Alternative energy and conservation
Plenary—Wed 30 Jan @12:30, Dr. Dave DiMattio on energy generation
Week 4: 4-8 February
Background topic: Environmental ethics
Plenary—Wed 6 Feb @12:30, Mr. Phil Winger on alternative energy and conservation
Week 5: 11-13 February
Background topic: Franciscan environmental perspective
Plenary—Wed 13 Feb 13 @ 12:30. Dr. Patrick Dooley on environmental ethics
Week 6: 18-22
February
Background topic: Economics and the environment
Plenary—Wed 20 Feb @12:30, Dr. Tony Murphy on the Franciscan Perspective
Week 7: 25
February—1 March
Background topic: Alternative energy/conservation
Plenary—Wed 27 Feb @12:30, Dr. Bob Florence on economics and the
environment
Week 8: 4-8 March
Background topic: US energy policy
Plenary—Wed 6 March @12:30, Mr. John Holtz of Green Mountain Energy
Week 9: 11-15 March
Background topic: Journalism and the environment
Plenary—Wed 13 March @12:30, Dr. Bart Lambert on politics and energy
Week 10: 18-22 March
Background topic: Catholic perspective on the environment
Plenary: Wed 20 March @ 12:30, Dr. Denny Wilkins on environmental journalism
Week
11: 25-27 March, 3-5 April
Background topic: Environment and the journey motif
Plenary: Friday 22 March @12:30, Dr. John Haught on the Catholic perspective
Week 12: 8-12 April
Background topic: Landscape painting
Plenary: Wed 10 April @12:30, Mr. Robert Perkins, Into the Great Solitude
Weeks 13-15: 15 April-1 May
Student seminar presentations
NOTE: THE BACKGROUND READINGS ARE FROM THE TWO-VOLUME
TEXT, ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT,
AVAILABLE AT THE ST. BONAVENTURE UNIVERSITY BOOKSTORE.
ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Table of Contents: Volume one
Week
1: Ecology Basics
P. Colinvaux, “The Energy Flow Paradigm”
Chapter 2 of Ecology 2 (NY: John Wiley & Sons, 1993): 14-28.
R. E. Ricklefs, “Energy in the Ecosystem”
Chapter 6 of The Economy of Nature, 5th ed. (NY: W. H. Freeman, 2000): 125-141.
J. P. Collins, et. al. “A New Urban Ecology,” American Scientist 88.5 (2000): 416-25.
H. T. and E. C. Odom, “What is Energy.”
Chapter 2 of Energy Basis for Man and Nature (NY: McGraw-Hill, 1976): 25-36.
Week
2: The Physics and Engineering of Energy Generation
Gerard M. Crawley, “An Awkward Alternative: Fission” and “One Hope for the Future: Fusion.” Chapters 11 and 12 of Energy (NY: Macmillan Publishing Co, Inc. 1975): 109-149.
Week 2a: Environmental
Images: Photographs
Rebecca Solnit, “Indivisibility.” No Ordinary Land: Encounters in a Changing Environment, Virginia Beahan and Laura McPhee (NY: Aperture Foundation, nd): 7-10
Week 3: Disposal of Nuclear Waste
The League of Women Voters Education Fund, “Civilian High-level Waste.”
Chapter 3 of The Nuclear Waste Primer (Washington, D C: LWVEF, 1993): 34-63.
Chris G. Wipple, “Can Nuclear Waste Be Stored Safely at Yucca Mountain?”
Scientific American (June 1996): 72-79.
Christine Laurent, “Beating Global Warming with Nuclear Power?” UNESCO Courier (February 2001): 37-41.
Department of Energy, New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, “Executive Summary” of Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Completion of the West Valley Demonstration Project and Closure or Long-Term Management of Faculties at the Western New York Nuclear Service Center. (Washington DC: U. S. Department of Energy 1996): 16 pages.
Week 4: Environmental Ethics
Aldo Leopold, “The Land Ethic,” A Sand County Almanac (NY: Oxford UP, 1968): 201-226.
Patrick Dooley, “The Ambiguity of Environmental Ethics: Duty or Heroism.”
Philosophy Today 30 (1986): 48-57.
Lynn White, Jr. “The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis.” Science 155 (10 March 1967): 1203-1207.
Week 5: Franciscan Ecological Perspectives
Phil Hoebing, “St. Bonaventure and Ecology.” The Cord 40 (1990): 336-345.
Philibert Hoebing, “St. Francis and the Environment.” Divine Representations: Postmodernism and Spirituality, Ann W. Astell, ed. (NY: Paulist Press, 1994): 201-215.
Michael J. and Kenneth R. Himes, “The Sacrament of Creation: Toward an Environmental Theology.” Commonweal 117 (26 January 1990): 42-49.
Timothy Vining, “A Theological of Creation Based on the Life of Francis of Assisi.” The Cord 40 (1990): 101-111.
Robert Muller, “New Genesis, Building Up Our Planet.” The Cord 40 (1990: 71-79.
Week 6: Energy and Economics
Robert Florence, “A Primer on the Economics of the Natural Environment.”
Wallace E. Oates, “An Economic Perspective on Environmental and Resource Management: An Introduction.” The RFF Reader (Washington.DC: Resources for the Future, 1999): xiii-xviii.
A. Myrick Freeman III and Paul R. Portney, “Economics Clarifies Choices about Managing Risk.” The RFF Reader: 15-20.
David Gardiner and Paul R. Portney, “Does Environmental Policy Conflict with Economic Growth?” The RFF Reader: 21-26.
Timothy J. Brennan, “Discounting the Future: Economics and Ethics.” The RFF Reader: 35-41.
Allen V. Kneese, “The Faustian Bargain.” The RFF Reader: 55-60.
Wallace E. Oates, “Taxing Pollution: An Idea Whose Time Has Come?” The RFF Reader: 63-68.
Dallas Burtraw, “Trading Emissions to Clean the Air: Exchanges Few but Savings Many.” The RFF Reader: 75-80.
Douglas R. Bohi and Joel Darmstader, “Twenty Years after the Energy Crisis: What Lessons Were Learned?” The RFF Reader: 161-168.
Robert Cameron Mitchell and Richard T. Carson, “Protest, Property Rights, and Hazardous Waste.” The RFF Reader: 205-210.
ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Table of Contents: Volume two
Week 7: Renewable and Non-renewable Energy Generation
A. W. Kramer. “Power Engineering’s Power Plant Primer.” Barrington, IL: Technical Publishing Co., 1954; revised edition 1972. Reprinted courtesy of the Public Relations Department of Niagara-Mohawk. 35 pages.
Week 8: The U. S. National Energy Policy
National Energy Policy: Reliable, Affordable, and Environmentally Sound Energy for America’s Future: Report of the National Energy Policy Development Group. [Commonly referred to as the Cheney Energy Report]. “Overview,” Chapter 1, “Taking Stock,” and Appendix One: “Summary of Report Recommendations.” 47 pages. For the complete report (170 pages), see www.energy.gov/HQPress, the DOE Web site, Washington DC, 2001.
National Energy Policy:
Energy Information Administration/Annual Review 2000
34 pages. See also www.eia.doe.gov/pub.pdf
Week 9: The Catholic Environmental Perspective
Pope John Paul II, “The Ecological Crisis: A Common Responsibility”
1 January 1990. 14 pages.
The United States Catholic Bishops, “Renewing the Earth: An Invitation to Reflection and Action.” (Washington DC: U. S. Catholic Conference, publication 468-6. 14 pages.
The United States Catholic Bishops, “Global Climate Change: A Plea for Dialogue, Prudence, and the Common Good,” 15 June 2001
http://ww.nccbuscc.org/sdwp/international/globalclimate.htm
Week 10: Journalism and Environmental Regulation
Sharon Friedman, “Two Decades of the Environmental Beat.”
Covering the Environment: Gannet Center Journal
4.3 (Summer 1990): 12-24.
John Burnham, “Of Science and Superstition: The Media
and Biopolitics.”
Covering the Environment: Gannet Center Journal 4.3 (Summer 1990): 25-36.
Donella H. Meadows, “Changing the World Through the Informationsphere.”
Covering the Environment: Gannet Center Journal 4.3 (Summer 1990): 49-62.
Teya Ryan, “Network Earth: Advocacy, Journalism and the Environment.”
Covering the Environment: Gannet Center Journal 4.3 (Summer 1990): 63-72.
Jim Detjen, “The Traditionalist’s Tools (And a Fistful of New Ones.”
Covering the Environment: Gannet Center Journal 4.3 (Summer 1990): 73-84.
Judit Vesarhelyi, “Hungarians
Greens Were Blue,” Covering the Environment: Gannet Center Journal
4.3 (Summer 1990): 143-154.
Week 11: Environment and the Intellectual Journey
Revisited
Robert Perkins, Selections from “Part Two” of Against Straight Lines (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1983): 123-162.
Robert Perkins, “Surely the Loon is a Curious Creature,” Into the Great Solitude: An Artic Journey (New York: Henry Holt, 1991): 1-49.
Robert Perkins, “‘M’ is for Musk-Ox,” Talking to Angels: A Life Spent in High Latitudes (Boston: Beacon Press, 1996): 38-70.
Week 12: Environmental Images: Paintings
Hilarie M. Sheets. “Reinventing the Landscape.” ARTnews (March 2001): 128-33.
John W. McCoubrey. “Thomas Cole: Essay on American Scenery, 1835.” American Art: 1700-1960. (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, 1965): 98-109.
Barbara Novak. “The Nationalist Garden and the Holy Book.” Nature and Culture: American Landscape and Painting, 1825-1875. (New York: Oxford UP, 1980.): 3-17.
Clare
401 “The University Forum” Spring 2002
Course policies
1) Attendance and participation is required at all sessions:
Procedures for missed sessions:
a) For a missed seminar session, a 500-word “make up” commentary on the background reading must be electronically submitted to the seminar mentor by noon the day after the missed meeting.
b) For a missed plenary session
i. View the video of the session
ii. Submit to your seminar mentor a 500-word commentary paper on the plenary session within a week of the missed plenary session.
2) Work load and grading policies:
1. Eleven one-page
(250-300 words) journal reactions to the readings. Seminar mentors will specify content criteria
and due dates. One mark will be dropped. 2%@ = 20%.
2. One 10-page
position paper on an issue raised in a plenary session. Topics arranged by teams of two (or three)
students to provide differing views on the issue.
Seminar mentors will specify content and compositional criteria. Submitted one week prior to class presentation.
30%.
3. Seminar participation including an in-class presentation
of the key points of the position papers focusing on the differing viewpoints
will be required. Abstracts and
complete versions of the position paper will be made available to members
of each seminar one week before the in-class presentation. Seminar mentors
will specify presentation criteria. 30%.
4. Two two-page
(500-word) response papers dealing with the landscape painting exhibit
at the Quick Art Center and one of the listed field trip experiences.
Mentors will specify content and compositional criteria. Papers submitted within one week of gallery tours or field experiences.
10%@ = 20%.
A brief background statement on Clare College Core curriculum and the Senior Capstone course.
About five years ago St. Bonaventure University sought to invigorate and to make more coherent the core course experience required of all our undergraduates. The result has been the creation of “Clare College” which houses all our required core courses. (St. Bonaventure University is a Catholic, Franciscan University—founded in 1858--with an undergraduate enrollment of 2,500 located in the Southern Tier of Western New York about 75 miles south-west of Buffalo).
All our freshmen students now take a seminar “The Intellectual Journey” modeled after St. Bonaventure’s Itinerarium Mentis in Deum. During their sophomore and junior years they take a number of additional required courses in the natural and social sciences, math, arts and humanities. To further the interdisciplinary and integrative impulses of the new curriculum and to underscore the environmental values central to our Franciscan heritage, all our seniors will finish their “Clare College” experience by taking another seminar course “The University Forum.” This capstone two-credit offering is designed to give our graduating seniors an opportunity to study, reflect upon and come to terms with a contemporary ecological problem, if possible one with a “back-yard” Western New York component.
This senior seminar has not been offered before. The Bonaventure class of 2002 will be the first cohort of students who have had the revised curriculum. The theme for the initial offering of “The University Forum” will be “Energy Generation and Consumption and The Environment. The format of the course will be to have weekly plenary sessions (usually using the MWF 12:30 to 1:20 open period but with some evening presentations) as well as small (14 students each) weekly seminars mentored by faculty from various disciplines. We will begin by working our way through ecological, engineering, economic, social and political aspects of energy consumption and generation, including presentations by conventional and nuclear power industry spokespersons and in mid-October we hope to have a Bush administration cabinet (or sub-cabinet) Energy Department speaker. And then armed with some sophistication regarding the empirical and practical aspects of the issue we will turn to the literary, philosophical and theological dimensions of the topic. Naturally we will explore the Franciscan contribution to environmental ethics, Robert Perkins will offer his poetical and literary observations and our plenary sessions will end with a consideration of the US Bishop’s 1991 pastoral “Renewing the Earth.”
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