Western Michigan University | A top 100 national university ... · Web viewThe Institute Director has already developed a schedule matrix incorporating a Freshwater Humanities topics

COAS REQUEST TO COLLEGE CURRICULM COMMITTEE FOR CURRICULAR IMPROVEMENTS

ENVS 4020 - L-2019-ENVS-229

RECD 10/01/2019 @5

Department: ENVS

Initiator name: Maarten Vonhoff

Initiator email: [email protected]

Proposed effective term: 202040

Does course need General Education approval?: N

Will course be used in teacher education?: N

If 5000 level course, prerequisites apply to: U

Proposed course data:

New Course ENVS 4020

New course selected: This new course is not seeking approval as a general education course.

1. Proposed course prefix and number:

ENVS 4020

2. Proposed credit hours:

3

3. Proposed course title:

Selected Topics in Freshwater Humanities

4. Proposed course prerequisites:

ENVS 2150, ENVS 3200, ENVS 3400, and either (ENVS 2250 or BIOS 3010); or instructor approval.

5. Proposed course corequisites:

none

6. Proposed course prerequisites that may be taken concurrently (before or at the same time):

none

7. Minimum grade for prerequisites (default grades are D for Undergrad and C for Grad):

C

8. Major and/or minor restrictions:

Not Applicable

9. List all the four-digit major and/or minor codes (from Banner) that are to be included or excluded:

none

10. Classification restrictions:

Not Applicable

11. List all the classifications (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) that are to be included or excluded:

none

12. Level restriction:

Not Applicable

13. List the level (undergraduate, graduate) that is to be included or excluded.

Not Applicable

14. Do prerequisites and corequisites for 5000-level courses apply to undergraduates, graduates, or both?

Not Applicable

15. Is this a multi-topic course?

Yes

16. Proposed course title to be entered in Banner:

Sel Top Freshwater Humanities

17. Is this course repeatable for credit?

Yes

18. Is this course mandatory credit/no credit?

No

19. Select class type:

Seminar

20. How many contact hours per week for this course?

3

A. Please choose Yes or No to indicate if this class is a Teacher Education class:

No

B. Please choose the applicable class level:

Undergraduate

C. Please respond Yes if this is a current general education course and/or a course being submitted for the new WMU Essential Studies program. Please respond No if it is neither.

No

D. Explain briefly and clearly the proposed improvement.

This proposal creates a new upper-level topics course in Freshwater Humanities, as part of our larger proposal for revisions to the Institute’s Freshwater Science and Sustainability major.

E. Rationale. Give your reason(s) for the proposed improvement. (If your proposal includes prerequisites, justify those, too.).

The Institute is updating and streamlining its two cores of required coursework for our Freshwater Science and Sustainability major: a “Freshwater Core” and a “Sustainability Core.” We wish both cores to expose students to and train them in scientific, social scientific, and humanistic approaches to their major. A rotating topics course in Freshwater Humanities will fulfill an applied water-specific humanities requirement for the updated “Freshwater Core,” while our current ENVS 3200, “Major Environmental Writings,” will fulfill the humanities requirement for the Sustainability Core. Moreover, ENVS 4020 will allow students to build and expand on their work in ENVS 3200, so that the two courses (and two cores) will work synergistically to provide students with breadth and depth in environmental humanities.

F. List the student learning outcomes for the proposed course or the revised or proposed major, minor, or concentration. These are the outcomes that the department will use for future assessments of the course or program.

(1) Literacy: Students will gain literacy in significant writings (essays, poetry, philosophy, fiction), history, and art that express individual and community relationships with water. Students will:

(a)Identify and synthesize the regional literature, history, poetry, and arts that represent at least one Great Lakes community’s diverse, lived experiences with—or struggles over—its water resources.

(b)Identify and explain key ideas of one or more humanities practitioner(s) whose humanities framing and communication, and contributions to conservation, have influenced a global freshwater problem.

(c)Identify historical writings or persons that exemplify major paradigm changes in how society understands human relationships with the natural world, including the Enlightenment, transcendental and romantic movements, and the rise of conservation and environmentalism.

(2) Analysis: Students will develop the ability to examine water issues from multiple perspectives and at different levels and scales of analysis. Students will:

(a)Characterize and analyze the humanistic dimensions of water controversies and problems at local, Great Lakes, and global scales.

(b)Analyze and reason through water case studies using humanities frameworks that account for complex factors, including: race, class, ethnicity; scientific, local/lay, and indigenous knowledges; gendered dimensions of environmental rights, practice, and conservation; environmental ethics and worldviews.

(3) Engagement: Students will gain first-hand experience with networks of writers, artists, scientists, policymakers, and activists who collaborate on important regional water issues. Students will:

(a)Identify and learn about important local or regional water issues.

(b)Identify and communicate or collaborate with an interdisciplinary group of local writers and poets, artists, musicians, scientists, and policymakers for a water-related forum of relevance to the community.

(c)Collaborate with at least one local humanities institution to put on a water-related forum of relevance to the community. (Examples of humanities institutions include bookstores, museums, art institutes, performance venues, and so on.)

G. Describe how this curriculum change is a response to student learning assessment outcomes that are part of a departmental or college assessment plan or informal assessment activities.

This proposal was not prompted by formal departmental or college assessment activities. However, the proposal did emerge in the context of the Institute’s Freshwater curriculum review, which included informal faculty-level assessment and student feedback.

CAS Assessment Index V 1: 4.1; 7.1.

H. Effect on other colleges, departments or programs. If consultation with others is required, attach evidence of consultation and support. If objections have been raised, document the resolution. Demonstrate that the program you propose is not a duplication of an existing one.

This course is targeted for our specialized Freshwater major, and will be taught internally. In addition, the course will not be part of the Essential Studies curriculum. Finally, the pre-requisites for the course are also specific to our majors. Therefore, we expect no effect on the resources, staffing, or courses of other colleges, departments, or programs.

I. Effect on your department's programs. Show how the proposed change fits with other departmental offerings.

The course will affect the Institute’s programs in these ways:

(a) Institute humanities faculty will be able to serve Freshwater students in a way that is relevant for their specific major and professional perspectives, while continuing to serve all of our students (across our three majors) who meet the pre-requisites.

(b) The Institute can be intentional about the humanities coursework we wish to require, without any additional burden on staffing or dependence on a single faculty member.

This course fits our other departmental offerings by:

(a) Complementing coursework in the sciences and social sciences, and offering opportunities for coordination with those; and

(b) Allowing for a water- and humanities-specific Freshwater requirement that does not impinge on or limit opportunities for faculty to teach a wider array of topics (including science, social science, issue-based, or experiential learning topics) in our traditional topics course, “ENVS 4010, Selected Environmental Topics.” i.e., ENVS 4010 and ENVS 4020 will complement but not restrict each other or students. For example, at least two prior topics courses that appeared under ENVS 4010 (“Water Humanities and Community” and “Great Lakes History”) would fall under ENVS 4020 with no impact on staffing, scheduling, or student opportunities.

J. Effects on enrolled students: are program conflicts avoided? Will your proposal make it easier or harder for students to meet graduation requirements? Can students complete the program in a reasonable time? Show that you have considered scheduling needs and demands on students' time. If a required course will be offered during summer only, provide a rationale.

This course is part of a larger revision to the Freshwater Science and Sustainability major that will reduce the total number of required courses in the two Freshwater cores, while allowing for greater flexibility and professional opportunities via elective courses. Therefore, Freshwater students will find it easier to complete their program in a reasonable time, while students in our other majors will have no change in opportunities, scheduling, or completion times.

K. Student or external market demand. What is your anticipated student audience? What evidence of student or market demand or need exists? What is the estimated enrollment? What other factors make your proposal beneficial to students?

The Institute’s Freshwater Science and Sustainability major is a growing program within the College of Arts and Sciences. After five years, we currently have 60 majors at our Kalamazoo and Traverse City campuses. We have twice offered a hybrid-format water humanities topics course. The course had 14 and 12 students, the majority attending our Traverse City campus. We anticipate that offering ENVS 4020 as a seminar course on main campus would increase course enrollment to 20-25 students (which is in the range of our current ENVS 4010 Selected Environmental Topics enrollments).

L. Effects on resources. Explain how your proposal would affect department and University resources, including faculty, equipment, space, technology, and library holdings. Tell how you will staff additions to the program. If more advising will be needed, how will you provide for it? How often will course(s) be offered? What will be the initial one-time costs and the ongoing base-funding costs for the proposed program? (Attach additional pages, as necessary.) There will be no additional impacts on resources. The Institute Director has already developed a schedule matrix incorporating a Freshwater Humanities topics course taught by current faculty within current teaching loads.

M. With the change from General Education to WMU Essential Studies, this question is no longer used.

For courses requesting approval as a WMU Essential Studies course, a syllabus identifying the student learning outcomes and an action plan for assessing the student learning outcomes must be attached in the Banner Workflow system.

Not Applicable

N. (Undergraduate proposals only) Describe, in detail, how this curriculum change affects transfer articulation for Michigan community colleges. For course changes, include detail on necessary changes to transfer articulation from Michigan community college courses. For new majors or minors, describe transfer guidelines to be developed with Michigan community colleges. For revisions to majors or minors, describe necessary revisions to Michigan community college guidelines. Department chairs should seek assistance from college advising directors or from the admissions office in completing this section.

Our Freshwater Science and Sustainability program has an articulation agreement with Northwestern Michigan [community] College. This course will not affect the transfer articulation, as NMC does not offer an upper-level water/environmental humanities course.

O. Current catalog copy:

n/a

P. Proposed catalog copy:

ENVS 4020 – Selected Topics in Freshwater Humanities

This course is an intensive study of humanities approaches to knowing, managing, and conserving freshwater resources at community, regional, and global levels. Topics might include (but are not limited to): water in literature and the arts; water justice and pollution; Indigenous activism in water protection; water history and the maritime Great Lakes; water ethics and theory in an era of scarcity; community studies in a freshwater context. Topic to be announced in the Schedule of Classes. This course may be repeated for credit with a second topic.

Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisites: ENVS 2150, ENVS 3200, ENVS 3400, and either (ENVS 2250 or BIOS 3010); or instructor approval.

Credits: 3 hours

Department Curriculum Chair approver: Maarten Vonhoff

Department Curriculum Chair comment:

Date: 01-OCT-2019

Department approver: Maarten Vonhoff

Chair comment:

Date: 01-OCT-2019

Department: ENVS

Initiator name: Maarten Vonhoff

Initiator email: [email protected]

Proposed effective term: 202040

Does course need General Education approval?: N

Will course be used in teacher education?: N

If 5000 level course, prerequisites apply to: U

Proposed course data:

New Course ENVS 4020

New course selected: This new course is not seeking approval as a general education course.

1. Proposed course prefix and number:

ENVS 4020

2. Proposed credit hours:

3

3. Proposed course title:

Selected Topics in Freshwater Humanities

4. Proposed course prerequisites:

ENVS 2150, ENVS 3200, ENVS 3400, and either (ENVS 2250 or BIOS 3010); or instructor approval.

5. Proposed course corequisites:

none

6. Proposed course prerequisites that may be taken concurrently (before or at the same time):

none

7. Minimum grade for prerequisites (default grades are D for Undergrad and C for Grad):

C

8. Major and/or minor restrictions:

Not Applicable

9. List all the four-digit major and/or minor codes (from Banner) that are to be included or excluded:

none

10. Classification restrictions:

Not Applicable

11. List all the classifications (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) that are to be included or excluded:

none

12. Level restriction:

Not Applicable

13. List the level (undergraduate, graduate) that is to be included or excluded.

Not Applicable

14. Do prerequisites and corequisites for 5000-level courses apply to undergraduates, graduates, or both?

Not Applicable

15. Is this a multi-topic course?

Yes

16. Proposed course title to be entered in Banner:

Sel Top Freshwater Humanities

17. Is this course repeatable for credit?

Yes

18. Is this course mandatory credit/no credit?

No

19. Select class type:

Seminar

20. How many contact hours per week for this course?

3

A. Please choose Yes or No to indicate if this class is a Teacher Education class:

No

B. Please choose the applicable class level:

Undergraduate

C. Please respond Yes if this is a current general education course and/or a course being submitted for the new WMU Essential Studies program. Please respond No if it is neither.

No

D. Explain briefly and clearly the proposed improvement.

This proposal creates a new upper-level topics course in Freshwater Humanities, as part of our larger proposal for revisions to the Institute’s Freshwater Science and Sustainability major.

E. Rationale. Give your reason(s) for the proposed improvement. (If your proposal includes prerequisites, justify those, too.).

The Institute is updating and streamlining its two cores of required coursework for our Freshwater Science and Sustainability major: a “Freshwater Core” and a “Sustainability Core.” We wish both cores to expose students to and train them in scientific, social scientific, and humanistic approaches to their major. A rotating topics course in Freshwater Humanities will fulfill an applied water-specific humanities requirement for the updated “Freshwater Core,” while our current ENVS 3200, “Major Environmental Writings,” will fulfill the humanities requirement for the Sustainability Core. Moreover, ENVS 4020 will allow students to build and expand on their work in ENVS 3200, so that the two courses (and two cores) will work synergistically to provide students with breadth and depth in environmental humanities.

F. List the student learning outcomes for the proposed course or the revised or proposed major, minor, or concentration. These are the outcomes that the department will use for future assessments of the course or program.

(1) Literacy: Students will gain literacy in significant writings (essays, poetry, philosophy, fiction), history, and art that express individual and community relationships with water. Students will:

(a)Identify and synthesize the regional literature, history, poetry, and arts that represent at least one Great Lakes community’s diverse, lived experiences with—or struggles over—its water resources.

(b)Identify and explain key ideas of one or more humanities practitioner(s) whose humanities framing and communication, and contributions to conservation, have influenced a global freshwater problem.

(c)Identify historical writings or persons that exemplify major paradigm changes in how society understands human relationships with the natural world, including the Enlightenment, transcendental and romantic movements, and the rise of conservation and environmentalism.

(2) Analysis: Students will develop the ability to examine water issues from multiple perspectives and at different levels and scales of analysis. Students will:

(a)Characterize and analyze the humanistic dimensions of water controversies and problems at local, Great Lakes, and global scales.

(b)Analyze and reason through water case studies using humanities frameworks that account for complex factors, including: race, class, ethnicity; scientific, local/lay, and indigenous knowledges; gendered dimensions of environmental rights, practice, and conservation; environmental ethics and worldviews.

(3) Engagement: Students will gain first-hand experience with networks of writers, artists, scientists, policymakers, and activists who collaborate on important regional water issues. Students will:

(a)Identify and learn about important local or regional water issues.

(b)Identify and communicate or collaborate with an interdisciplinary group of local writers and poets, artists, musicians, scientists, and policymakers for a water-related forum of relevance to the community.

(c)Collaborate with at least one local humanities institution to put on a water-related forum of relevance to the community. (Examples of humanities institutions include bookstores, museums, art institutes, performance venues, and so on.)

G. Describe how this curriculum change is a response to student learning assessment outcomes that are part of a departmental or college assessment plan or informal assessment activities.

This proposal was not prompted by formal departmental or college assessment activities. However, the proposal did emerge in the context of the Institute’s Freshwater curriculum review, which included informal faculty-level assessment and student feedback.

CAS Assessment Index V 1: 4.1; 7.1.

H. Effect on other colleges, departments or programs. If consultation with others is required, attach evidence of consultation and support. If objections have been raised, document the resolution. Demonstrate that the program you propose is not a duplication of an existing one.

This course is targeted for our specialized Freshwater major, and will be taught internally. In addition, the course will not be part of the Essential Studies curriculum. Finally, the pre-requisites for the course are also specific to our majors. Therefore, we expect no effect on the resources, staffing, or courses of other colleges, departments, or programs.

I. Effect on your department's programs. Show how the proposed change fits with other departmental offerings.

The course will affect the Institute’s programs in these ways:

(a) Institute humanities faculty will be able to serve Freshwater students in a way that is relevant for their specific major and professional perspectives, while continuing to serve all of our students (across our three majors) who meet the pre-requisites.

(b) The Institute can be intentional about the humanities coursework we wish to require, without any additional burden on staffing or dependence on a single faculty member.

This course fits our other departmental offerings by:

(a) Complementing coursework in the sciences and social sciences, and offering opportunities for coordination with those; and

(b) Allowing for a water- and humanities-specific Freshwater requirement that does not impinge on or limit opportunities for faculty to teach a wider array of topics (including science, social science, issue-based, or experiential learning topics) in our traditional topics course, “ENVS 4010, Selected Environmental Topics.” i.e., ENVS 4010 and ENVS 4020 will complement but not restrict each other or students. For example, at least two prior topics courses that appeared under ENVS 4010 (“Water Humanities and Community” and “Great Lakes History”) would fall under ENVS 4020 with no impact on staffing, scheduling, or student opportunities.

J. Effects on enrolled students: are program conflicts avoided? Will your proposal make it easier or harder for students to meet graduation requirements? Can students complete the program in a reasonable time? Show that you have considered scheduling needs and demands on students' time. If a required course will be offered during summer only, provide a rationale.

This course is part of a larger revision to the Freshwater Science and Sustainability major that will reduce the total number of required courses in the two Freshwater cores, while allowing for greater flexibility and professional opportunities via elective courses. Therefore, Freshwater students will find it easier to complete their program in a reasonable time, while students in our other majors will have no change in opportunities, scheduling, or completion times.

K. Student or external market demand. What is your anticipated student audience? What evidence of student or market demand or need exists? What is the estimated enrollment? What other factors make your proposal beneficial to students?

The Institute’s Freshwater Science and Sustainability major is a growing program within the College of Arts and Sciences. After five years, we currently have 60 majors at our Kalamazoo and Traverse City campuses. We have twice offered a hybrid-format water humanities topics course. The course had 14 and 12 students, the majority attending our Traverse City campus. We anticipate that offering ENVS 4020 as a seminar course on main campus would increase course enrollment to 20-25 students (which is in the range of our current ENVS 4010 Selected Environmental Topics enrollments).

L. Effects on resources. Explain how your proposal would affect department and University resources, including faculty, equipment, space, technology, and library holdings. Tell how you will staff additions to the program. If more advising will be needed, how will you provide for it? How often will course(s) be offered? What will be the initial one-time costs and the ongoing base-funding costs for the proposed program? (Attach additional pages, as necessary.) There will be no additional impacts on resources. The Institute Director has already developed a schedule matrix incorporating a Freshwater Humanities topics course taught by current faculty within current teaching loads.

M. With the change from General Education to WMU Essential Studies, this question is no longer used.

For courses requesting approval as a WMU Essential Studies course, a syllabus identifying the student learning outcomes and an action plan for assessing the student learning outcomes must be attached in the Banner Workflow system.

Not Applicable

N. (Undergraduate proposals only) Describe, in detail, how this curriculum change affects transfer articulation for Michigan community colleges. For course changes, include detail on necessary changes to transfer articulation from Michigan community college courses. For new majors or minors, describe transfer guidelines to be developed with Michigan community colleges. For revisions to majors or minors, describe necessary revisions to Michigan community college guidelines. Department chairs should seek assistance from college advising directors or from the admissions office in completing this section.

Our Freshwater Science and Sustainability program has an articulation agreement with Northwestern Michigan [community] College. This course will not affect the transfer articulation, as NMC does not offer an upper-level water/environmental humanities course.

O. Current catalog copy:

n/a

P. Proposed catalog copy:

ENVS 4020 – Selected Topics in Freshwater Humanities


Prerequisites & Corequisites: Prerequisites: ENVS 2150, ENVS 3200, ENVS 3400, and either (ENVS 2250 or BIOS 3010); or instructor approval.

Credits: 3 hours

Department Curriculum Chair approver: Maarten Vonhoff

Department Curriculum Chair comment:

Date: 01-OCT-2019

Department approver: Maarten Vonhoff

Chair comment:

Date: 01-OCT-2019

Lynne Heasley, Water Humanities Syllabus

ENVS 4020

SELECTED TOPICS IN FRESHWATER HUMANITIES

Sample Syllabus For:

“Water Humanities and Community”

Instructor: Professor Lynne Heasley, Ph.D.

Institute of the Environment and Sustainability 3928 Wood Hall

Email: [email protected]

Office Hours: Wednesday Noon-2pm & by appt.

Main Campus Section: Tuesday/Thursday 9:30-10:45

xxxx Sangren Hall

Hybrid Section: Five Friday seminars at WMU’s Traverse City campus

Room 112, 715 E. Front Street, Traverse City

DESCRIPTIONS

Proposed Catalog Description for “Selected Topics in Freshwater Humanities”


Synopsis of topic “Freshwater Humanities and Community” (see longer Overview below) This topic is appropriate for all majors in the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability (Freshwater Science and Sustainability, Environmental and Sustainability Studies, and Sustainable Brewing). “Water Humanities and Community” complements the Freshwater curriculum by providing a humanities overlay to the content and field activities of our aquatic and wetlands ecology and fish biology courses. Through interdisciplinary humanities and arts perspectives, students will explore water-specific collaborations and problem-solving among scientists, writers, artists, musicians, policymakers, conservationists, and activists at community, regional, and global levels. Learning outcomes span literacy, analysis, and engagement.

REQUIRED MATERIALS

- A class journal.

1


· Coursepack: PDFs and URL links posted in Elearning under “Content.” You will be responsible for downloading and printing documents as assigned or needed.

· Access to writings and creative works by our event guests, so that you can familiarize yourself with them as part of event planning (explained on our first day).

· Access to Netflix or Amazon Prime (i.e., the ability to rent an online video or series episode).

· Access to transportation for local field assignments or professional meetings for your event (e.g., public transit, bicycle, or carpooling).

COURSE OVERVIEW AND OUTCOMES

Preliminary: What are the humanities? Why the humanities?

From the Stanford Humanities Center

“The humanities can be described as the study of how people process and document the human experience. Since humans have been able, we have used philosophy, literature, religion, art, music, history and language to understand and record our world. These modes of expression have become some of the subjects that traditionally fall under the humanities umbrella. Knowledge of these records of human experience gives us the opportunity to feel a sense of connection to those who have come before us, as well as to our contemporaries.”

From the Michigan Humanities Council

“Throughout its life, the Michigan Humanities Council has understood that the humanities teach us what it means to be human. They illuminate the lessons of the past, the ideas that motivate us, the principles that guide us, and the questions that perplex us. For over 40 years, the Council has served a central idea: that democracy depends upon educated and thoughtful citizens who fully participate in civic life.”

“Water Humanities and Community”

This course will loosely sync with the content and field activities of our aquatic and wetlands ecology and fish biology courses, but from a humanities and arts perspective. You might not always see the intersections, especially in the first unit (because we’re starting with a poetry kaleidoscope). But many themes and specific content come out of discussions with freshwater scientists in the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.

For an illustration of synergy: In future courses, you’ll carry out stream or wetland sampling. In this class, you might read Ernest Hemingway’s short story, “The Big Two-Hearted River,” and consider the formative influence of Hemingway’s summers on Walloon Lake near Petoskey, or his later fishing excursions in the Upper Peninsula. You might also follow pioneering ichthyologist/glaciologist Louis Agassiz’s early-nineteenth-century expedition up the Great Lakes

2


to identify fish species and examine glacial landforms. Agassiz, by the way, was an intimate friend of transcendentalist poet/philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. They deeply influenced each other’s work. Finally, you might consider the delicate art and deep entomological knowledge of fly-tying, and visit the Kingsley Library, which houses an original “Adams Fly,” apparently “the world’s most popular” trout fishing fly.

In discipline-based college courses, you might not see the ways in which scientists, writers, poets, artists, musicians, policymakers, conservationists (including sportsmen/women), and others form communities around knowing and protecting the natural world. Yet interdisciplinary and multi- disciplinary communities of practitioners will be the professional norm after you graduate. Hence a practical component of this course is to develop your own capacity to build community.

Toward this end, we’ll develop a public forum on water.

One reasonable question you might have: Will I expect you to write poetry or compose music or paint a scene, given that you will be exploring relationships among literature, music, art and water science or water conservation? The answer is no (though perhaps a few of you are already on that road?). We will focus here on literacy, analysis, and engagement at a community level. These include discovery, familiarization, analysis of intersections, and training in community building.

Student Learning Outcomes: literacy, analysis, and engagement

(1) Literacy: Students will gain literacy in significant writings (essays, poetry, philosophy, fiction), history, and art that express individual and community relationships with water. They will:

(a) Identify and synthesize the regional literature, history, poetry, and arts that represent at least one Great Lakes community’s diverse, lived experiences with—or struggles over— its water resources.

(b) Identify and explain key ideas of one or more humanities practitioners whose humanities framing and communication, and contributions to conservation, have influenced a global freshwater problem.

(c) Identify historical writings or persons that exemplify major paradigm changes in how society understands human relationships with the natural world, including the Enlightenment, transcendental and romantic movements, and the rise of conservation and environmentalism.

(2) Analysis: Students will develop the ability to examine water issues from multiple perspectives and at different levels and scales of analysis. They will:

(a) Characterize and analyze the humanistic dimensions of water controversies and problems at local, Great Lakes, and global scales.

3


(b) Analyze and reason through water case studies using humanities frameworks that account for complex factors, including: race, class, ethnicity; scientific, local/lay, and indigenous knowledges; gendered dimensions of environmental rights, practice, and conservation; environmental ethics and worldviews.

(3) Engagement: Students will gain first-hand experience with networks of writers, artists, scientists, policymakers, and activists who collaborate on important regional water issues. They will:

(a) Identify and learn about important local or regional water issues.

(b) Identify and communicate or collaborate with an interdisciplinary group of local writers and poets, artists, musicians, scientists, and policymakers for a water-related forum of relevance to the community.

(c) Collaborate with at least one local humanities institution to put on a water-related forum of relevance to the community. (Examples of humanities institutions include bookstores, museums, art institutes, performance venues, and so on.)

Learning Outcome Assessment

Assessment for learning outcomes for each student includes:

(1) Four inquiry-based quizzes on unit themes and weekly topics—i.e., synthesis of required readings and related activities (40%);

(2) Evidence of ability to develop an independent community tour that integrates humanities literature with environmental field sites (water related) and area cultural institutions (10%);

(3) Evidence of ability to collaborate on and contribute to a community project, including:

(a) the student’s individual contributions to a community forum on a water issue/problem, as demonstrated by my first-hand observations and classmates’ peer evaluations (5%);

(b) the class’s successful identification of and collaboration with local humanists and artists, scientists, policymakers, activists or others who have been active in the forum issue (20%).

COURSE GRADES

Attendance 25 points

4


Group Project: contribution to public event on water 25 points

Submission of peer evaluations for group-mates: 5 points

Graded event based on peer evaluations 20 points

Your group’s baseline community event grade will depend on the group’s purposefulness, planning, groundwork, printed program, and execution the day of the event. Your individual grade will represent the average your peers assess for your group participation and contributions in peer evaluations. This average will be applied to the group’s baseline grade.

Note that it will be possible to fail this assignment, including receiving a “0,” if you check out for the duration of the project and/or let your group down.

Individual Assignments: journaling & quizzes 40 points

Unit 1: Story, Spirit, Self 10 points

Assignment journal for reading/listening/viewing (making connections, asking questions, reflecting); discussions; quiz prompts

Unit 2: Knowing 10 points


Unit 3: Reproducing 10 points


Unit 4: Conserving, Protecting, Caring 10 points


Additional individual assignments policy: A student who does not complete an entire unit (journaling that demonstrates readings/viewings + quiz questions by the deadline) will receive an additional reduction of one grade for the class--e.g., a “B” would become a “C” for the class grade. This will apply for each individual unit skipped.

Final Assignment: self-designed water humanities tour in the community: 10 points

5

Grade

Scale:


A

=

93-100 points

B/A

=

88-92.9 points

B

=

83-87.9 points

C/B

=

78-82.9 points

C

=

70-77.9 points

D/C

=

68-69.9 points

D

=

60-67.9 points

E

=

59 or lower

UNITS AND WEEKLY TOPICS

Introductory Readings

“Environmental Humanities: Why Should Biologists Interested in the Environment Take the Humanities Seriously?”: https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/62/9/788/231186

Read the article, but I do have one critique of the author’s premise: He does not fully recognize that humanists, artists, and scientists have always engaged and collaborated with each other, and have mutually transformed our understanding of humanity’s relationships to the natural world and the consequences thereof. This is not a new interdisciplinary approach, so much as a renewed commitment.

“To Be a Good Doctor, Study the Humanities” and “Medical Students Exposure to the Humanities Correlates with Positive Personal Qualities and Reduced Burnout: A Multi- Institutional U.S. Survey”: https://psmag.com/education/be-a-good-doctor-study-the-humanities and https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs11606-017-4275-8.pdf.

These two pieces are also relevant (one is a science news article, and the other the original science article on which the news piece was based). Substitute “environmental science” for “medicine,” and you can see how many of these arguments might still apply.

Unit 1: Story, Spirit, Self (short unit)

Weekly Topic: From Ancient to Contemporary—the Humanities’ Watery Origins Weekly Topic: Powerful Voices Today

Deepening Knowledge and Synthesis (Quiz 1) Unit 2: Knowing

Weekly Topic: Naming and Knowing

Weekly Topic: Close Studies; or, Seeing and Knowing Weekly Topic: Knowing and the Intimacy of Eating Deepening Knowledge and Synthesis (Quiz 2)

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Unit 3: Reproducing

Weekly Topic: Women, Men, and the Fish Between Them

Weekly Topic: Sex Bending, Gender Bending, and the Fascinating Not-Always-So- Objective Language of Science

Weekly Topic: A Lake Michigan Story: Introducing Salmon Deepening Knowledge and Synthesis (Quiz 3)

Unit 4: Our Blue Marble--Conserving, Protecting, Caring

Weekly Topic: Owning Weekly Topic: Place-Making

Weekly Topic: Last Words From Jim Harrison et al. Deepening Knowledge and Synthesis (Quiz 4)

Capstone: Public Event

Planned throughout the semester Date TBD by the class

Final Assignment Due during our finals time, December xx, 20xx.

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SAMPLE PUBLIC EVENT ON WATER (Spring 2019)

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COURSE POLICIES

Communication

Check both Elearning and your wmich.edu email regularly for materials, scheduling, clarification, and any class logistics (e.g., visits outside the classroom). This will be especially important as the semester unfolds, when you will be planning your class event.

Contributing to a great class

· Online and in person: Strive for curiosity, generosity, courtesy, professionalism.

· Always be prepared for your groups, both online communication and in person.

· In groups: The positive approach. Be collaborative, open, a good listener as much as a “talker.” Normal group cautions: Don’t be overly dominant and directive, or overly silent and non-participatory (silence or withdrawal can be just as toxic to a group as aggressive approaches to group decision-making).

· Be proactive about researching your community and reaching out to people.

· Have fun, embrace the new or new combinations of the familiar, integrate these into your worldview and professional approach.

Plagiarism and Cheating

Consult with me if you have questions about academic honesty. You are responsible for knowing the policies in the Undergraduate Catalogue on academic integrity, including cheating, fabrication, falsification and forgery, multiple submission, plagiarism, complicity and computer misuse. If a case reaches the Office of Student Conduct, students can review charge(s) and ask for a hearing.

Regarding plagiarism: Trying to reword or rephrase someone else’s sequence of sentences or paragraphs is still plagiarism. Attribute other people’s ideas, words, and data to the place where you found them, both in the main text of your work, and in your footnotes. Cite the author(s) by name, title and date the moment you use their work, and put their words within quotation marks. The Chicago Manual of Style format ensures that you cite sources throughout an assignment.

Related expectations: For take-home quizzes, do not substitute long “quoted” passages of someone’s work for your own writing.

WMU statement regarding safety: Students and instructors are responsible for abiding by the “Western Michigan University Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment and Violence, Intimate Partner Violence, and Stalking Policy and Procedures.” See www.wmich.edu/sexualmisconduct.

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Documents

Western Michigan University | A top 100 national university ... · Web viewThe Institute Director has already developed a schedule matrix incorporating a Freshwater Humanities topics