The primary objective of this senior course is to introduce the student to a sociological perspective on ecology and, as ecologist Stan Rowe says, “that blurry concept called environment.” SOCI 450 critically assesses a number of contradictions in the current ways that many social theorists conceive of ecology, the environment, and environmental controversies. To that end, students analyse concepts such as the commons, global ecology, green economics, environmental management, consumption, acquisitiveness and identity, scientific knowledge, and the fashionable term “sustainable development.”
Outline
Unit 1: History and Theory in the Study of Society and the Environment
Unit 2: Local and Global Transformations
Unit 3: Climate Justice
Unit 4: Energy Sovereignty
Unit 5: Food Sovereignty and the Future
Evaluation
To receive credit for SOCI 450, you must achieve a course composite grade of at least a C- (60 percent). You must also achieve a minimum grade of C- (60 percent) on your final research paper. The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:
Activity
Weight
Critical Comm.
25%
Quizzes
20%
Research Paper Proposal
5%
Annotated Bibliography
20%
Final Research Paper
30%
Total
100%
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.
Materials
Shiva, Vandana, Soil Not Oil: Environmental Justice in an Age of Climate Crisis, Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 2015. (Print)
Turner, Terisa E., and Leigh Brownhill, The New Twenty-First Century Land and Oil Wars, New York: International Oil Working Group, 2009. (Print)
Ashnan Film (producers), Hijacked Future, 2009, 43-minute. Reproduced with permission of David Springbett. (Audio/Video)
Other materials
Students will access all other course materials online.
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized study counterparts.
Opened in Revision 2, October 26, 2010
Updated July 15, 2021, by Student & Academic Services