SCIENCE, NATURE, SOCIETY Macalester College Department of Geography Fall 2015

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1 SCIENCE, NATURE, SOCIETY Macalester College Department of Geography Fall 2015 Prof. Claude Péloquin Carnegie Hall 103A Office hours: MW 1:00-3:00 Class time and place: Tuesday and Thursday, 9:40-11:10, Carnegie Hall 105 Course description and objectives How do we know nature? How is this knowledge shaped, communicated, translated, contested, and incorporated into action by diverse publics? What do people mean by Scientists say? How can we make sense of social controversies involving scientific expertise? And how can we make the best use of science s potential contribution to solving many of the world's most pressing problems such as climate change, global epidemics and the biodiversity crisis? The course Science, Nature, Society will explore these questions via an introduction to the study of science as a social practice, with a particular emphasis on the role of scientific knowledge in naturesociety interactions, including natural resource and environmental management and efforts toward environmental sustainability. The class will present concepts, issues, and debates pertaining to the scientific method and the philosophy, history, and geography of science. We will discuss current scholarship on the role of science and technology in shaping social dynamics ranging from colonialism, development, democracy, our ability to navigate the Anthropocene. We will also explore the relationship between conventional science and distinct approaches to knowing the environment, including traditional and local ecological knowledge. Throughout the semester, we will apply the diverse "lenses" provided by this scholarship to shed light on the complex politics of expertise in on-going environmental controversies. By the end of the course, you will be familiar with these concepts and you will be able to incorporate them in scholarly inquiries on the nature and politics of scientific knowledge. You will have a good basic grounding in major issues pertaining to the relation between science and political, cultural, and economic aspects of public life, especially but not exclusively in environmental affairs. Course format This course will meet twice a week, for the most part following a seminar format. These meetings will consist in group discussion of key texts, augmented with in-class problem-solving assignments as well as occasional lectures and videos. Required texts Brocking, Stephen Nature s Experts: Science, Politics, and the Environment. Rutgers University Press. Sismondo, Sergio An Introduction to Science and Technology Studies. Wiley-Blackwell. Additional texts will be provided on Moodle. Moodle Our Moodle site is a crucial resource for this class. It provides the information on this syllabus; it houses our up-to-date daily reading schedule, with links to PDFs of all readings that are not from the textbooks. Link:

2 Assignments and assessments Your grade for this course will be calculated based on your score in the following components. Participation (10%): To succeed in this course students are expected to participate actively in all its components. Active participation includes coming to class prepared by having completed the assigned readings, taking reading and lecture notes, actively listening and constructively contributing to class discussion, leading discussion on assigned dates, asking questions in class, and meeting with me during office hours. Case study (10%): In a group of two, you and your partner, along with my help, will be responsible for producing and organizing the press kit concerning a case study to work through the conceptual issues making the week s topic. This assignment will include: the selection of an issue, the selection of key readings (3-4 texts showing a breadth of perspectives on the issue, the presentation of these items and facilitating discussion via an exercise or debate, and a one page response paper reflecting on this exercise). Exams (30%): There will be two, non-cumulative exams in this class, each worth 15% of the overall course grade. These will be open-ended questions designed to assess both your understanding and ownership of the material covered in class and your ability to connect those concepts to your own understanding of historical and contemporary issues related on the role of science in society. Final project (50%): The final project is actually the outcome of a research project that you will be building through the course of the semester. There is quite a bit of flexibility as to what form this could take. The most conventional approach would of course by a research paper on an issue related to the role of science in nature-society relations, for example, a political-ecological controversy you encountered in the news and that you want to analyze further using concepts from the course. Such a project would call for a number of segments including a proposal, an annotated bibliography, a first draft and a final paper as well as a presentation. There are other options, however, such as a team project or a more focused effort toward an applied, scholarly, public engagement. We will discuss those in the first few weeks of class.

3 Course calendar Topic Dates Notes Course introduction Week 1: Sept 3 Science, nature, society Week 2: Sept 8 & Sept 10 Methods, hypotheses, facts, construction Week 3: Sept 15 & Sept 17 Constructing people Race and gender Week 4: Sept 22 & Sept 24 Case study 1 Colonial and postcolonial technoscience Week 5: Sept 29 & Oct 1 The science and art of perceiving risk Week 6: Oct 6 & Oct 8 Case study 2 Oct 8 Exam 1 Science for the West, myth for the Rest? Week 7: Oct 13 & Oct 15 Making sense of technology as social actor Week 8: Oct 20 & Oct 22 Oct 22 Fall break no class Knowing nature : environmental science and the Week 9: Oct 27 & Oct 29 Case study 3 politics of ecology Climate, models, and the manufacturing of Week 10: Nov 3 & Nov 5 dissent Expertise, trust, and public health Week 11: Nov 10 & Nov 12 Case study 4 Belief and science Week 12: Nov 17 & Nov 19 Synthesis Week 13: Nov 24 & Nov 26 Nov 23 Exam 2 Nov 25 Thanksgiving no class Final project presentations Week 14: Dec 1 & Dec 3 Presentations Conclusion Week 15 : Dec 8 & Dec 10 Final project due Dec 10 Last day of class Note: Dates may change, but not without consultation with the student or at least early announcement. Course policies and expectations This class aims to be a fun, positive, enriching, and inclusive environment where hard work by all is expected and rewarded. To ensure this, I draw your attention to the following policy items and expectations. Attendance and participation Students are expected to attend all class meetings, to take notes, ask questions, and actively contribute to discussions during these meetings. Much of the exam material and essay prompts will be based on lecture and ideas raised in discussion. Class notes, the readings, and additional attention provided by active participation will give you an excellent opportunity to do well in the course. Bringing your notes and texts to class is highly encouraged. Attendance will be taken and it will count toward your participation grade. If you must miss class, please let me know the reason (in broad terms) before or after. Absence may be excused if the student provides documentation from their healthcare provider or other relevant, professional third parties. Students are entitled to excused absence for the purpose of observing their major religious holidays. Should that be the case, please notify your instructor by the end of the first full week of classes.

4 Grades Numeric grades for each of the assessment items will be compiled out of a 100 points. The resulting numerical grade will be converted to letter grade in accordance with the table at the right. Assignments due dates All assignments are due in class at the beginning of the class meetings. Late assignments will be accepted, preferably in person, as soon as possible. Late assignments will be deducted a penalty of 10%, or one-letter grade, per late day. Communication: and office hours Do not hesitate to meet with me to review, discuss, clarify any of the course materials and related issues. Office hours are purposefully set aside to this end: please feel welcome to drop by anytime. Quick chats before or after lectures are also encouraged. s are often the least useful mean of communication for course related matters. If you must write an , make sure that your message subject contains the course number (Geog 294) as well as a brief but descriptive summary of your request. I will try to answer course-related s during normal business hours (Monday through Friday, between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm). Accessibility and accommodations I am committed to supporting the learning of all students in this class. If you are encountering barriers to your learning that I can mitigate, please bring them to my attention. If you need disability related accommodations please contact the Office of Student Affairs at your earliest convenience. More information on accommodation resources and procedures is available at Classroom etiquette Score Letter Comment A Outstanding, clearly exceeds course objectives A- Excellent, exceed objectives B+ Very good, fulfills objectives with remarkable skill B Good, fulfills objectives B- Good, shows clear potential to meet all course objectives C+ Satisfactory, meets the great majority of course objectives C Satisfactory, meets the majority of course objectives C- Satisfactory, meets many of course objectives with clearly identified improvable elements D+ Evidence of progress and/or efforts, but somewhat unsatisfactory outcomes D Fails to meet course objectivs D- Clearly fails to meet course objectives To ensure that this class provides a great learning environment inclusive to all: Please be in the classroom at start time and do not pack up before I have dismissed class. The course ends at 11:10, and the class meeting will usually finish early if not exactly on time. All cell phones are to be turned off before the beginning of class. To foster a positive learning environment, students may not text, chat, make phone calls, play games, read the newspaper, or browse the web during lecture. Thorough note-taking is encouraged. You are also strongly encouraged to ask questions and speak on issues that concern you. A basic professionalism and respect for the classroom and your peers should be shown at all times.

5 Plagiarism and academic dishonesty Students are required to adhere to the College s standards of academic integrity. This includes being careful to avoid forgery, cheating, and plagiarism. Make sure to review these policies and the procedures that will be followed for alleged breeches of academic integrity. If you are unsure as to what constitutes plagiarism, do not hesitate to ask me, one of the teaching assistant, staff at the library and the Macalester Academic Excellence Center Finally If you are having any problems with the material, assignments, or anything else that might be distracting you from your work, please contact me and I will try to help you to the degree that I can.