Tim Wahls
office: Tome 244
office hours: TF 1:30 - 2:45 p.m, W 2:45 - 3:45 p.m., R 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. and by appointment
phone: (717) 245 - 1743
email: wahlst@dickinson.edu
course URL: http://users.dickinson.edu/~wahlst/fysm/

Library Liason: Amelia Brunskill
Writing Center Liason: Zak Rosenberg
Learning Community Coordinators: Kerstin Martin and Brendan Gallagher

Required Texts

American Sportsmen and the Origins of Conservation, 3rd edition. John F. Reiger.Oregon State University Press, 2000. ISBN: 0-87071-487-2

A Writer's Reference, sixth edition. Diana Hacker. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2007. ISBN: 0-312-45025-7

Course Description

Course Goals

• to develop critical thinking and analysis skills, particularly with respect to a subject area where decisions are often based on emotion and anthropomorphism rather than science or ethical frameworks
• to learn more about environment and sustainability issues, and to reflect on your impact on the planet
• to take well-informed positions on important issues, and to argue those positions effectively
• to practice written and oral communication skills
• to become familiar with the library and other research resources

Environmental Change and Human Decisions Cluster

The cluster is supported by two "Learning Community Coordinators" who live with you. The Learning Community Coordinator (LCC) is an upper-level student who has several roles. The LCC handles the many logistical details of LC events. While the LCC is not taking your seminar, he or she has read some of the key texts assigned in the seminar. You may find it interesting to seek out your LCC to speak about the ideas and issues you are encountering. Most importantly, your LCC will be looking for ways to encourage deeper student engagement with the themes of our cluster. Your Learning Community Coordinators are Kerstin Martin and Brendan Gallagher.

Our cluster has a web site which can be accessed from http://www.dickinson.edu/departments/learncomm. When you select the Cluster from the list, you will find that the LCCs have set up a calendar for programs and events that might interest you.

Assignments and Evaluation

Attendance and Class Participation

I will assign a class participation grade to each student immediately following each class that has a significant discussion component. Emphasis will be placed on the quality of your contributions to the discussion, not the quantity. The ideas and opinions that you present should be original, logical and grounded in fact. Dominating the discussion or refusing to listen to others is strongly discouraged. You will be expected to contribute one discussion question for each discussion class, and your participation grade will be based in part on the quality of this question. Your question should be designed to encourage discussion. In particular, questions with a yes-no answer and factual questions from the reading are not acceptable.

Each student will also be required to help with one stream improvement project. These projects are scheduled for four Saturdays: September 20 and 27, and October 4 and 18. See the course schedule for more details. You are encouraged to help with more than one project, and in fact helping with additional projects will count toward requirements for your environmental science class. Failure to participate in at least one stream improvement project will result in a 3% deduction from your course grade for the semester.

Late Assignments

Academic Dishonesty

1. To plagiarize is to use without proper citation or acknowledgment, the words, ideas or work of another. Whenever one relies on someone else for phraseology, even for only two or three words, one must acknowledge indebtedness by using quotation marks and giving the source, either in the text or in a footnote.
2. When one borrows facts which are not matters of general knowledge, including all statistics and translations, one must indicate ones indebtedness in the text or footnote. When one borrows an idea or logic of an argument, one must acknowledge indebtedness either in a footnote or in the text. When in doubt - footnote.

Accommodations for Disabilities

In compliance with the Dickinson College policy and equal access laws, I am available to discuss appropriate academic accommodations that may be recommended for students with disabilities. Requests for academic accommodations are to be made during the first three weeks of the semester (except for unusual circumstances) so that timely and appropriate arrangements can be made.

Students are required to register with Academic Resource Services in the Advising Office located on the first floor of Biddle House (contact ext. 1080 or waybranj@dickinson.edu) to verify their eligibility for appropriate accommodations.

Tentative Course Schedule