Week 8: Evaluating Scientific Claims

We're entering a portion of our class where we will be discussing climate change over the next few weeks. In preparation for this, we will be looking at two websites, each with a message concerning global climate change:

1. Friends of Science

2. Grist's How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic

We will be comparing the purposes of these websites and trying to make sense of them by evaluating the scientific claims they make. We will try to determine if one of the sites is more convincing than the other, and if so, why. Take a look at the websites, and like usual, click "comments" to join in the discussion!

Quote of the Week:

"If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos."
- Edward O. Wilson

Week 7: It's A Great Big World Out There - Is It Worth Saving?

After a brief hiatus for the midterm exam, we're back this week with another timely discussion on the natural world. Over the next few weeks the focus of our class will shift towards biodiversity and environmental ethics. In light of this, we will be answering two key questions:

1. What's the most thrilling/magical/enchanting engagement you've had with the non-human world?

2. Is "saving nature" something we should concern ourselves with? Why, or why not?

These are heavy questions and it is unlikely any two people will have exactly the same answers to them. If you find yourself intrigued, click "comments" to join in the discussion!

Quote of the week:

"Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect."
- Chief Seattle, 1855

Week 6: Eco-Tourism's Impacts

This week we will be discussing the social and environmental impacts of eco-tourism. In class we watched the film Life and Debt by Stephanie Black, which chronicles tourism in and contrasts it against the economic woes of Jamaica. We learned that many rich tourists have little interest in the social and environmental impacts of their visits to nations in the global South.

We will be sharing our thoughts on eco-tourism. For example, should the environmental harms associated with flying be included in the costs of a trip? Our own experiences traveling may be included as well.

For reference, here is the first "webisode" in a six part series on eco-tourism being developed by some of our peers at American University. Like usual, click "comments" to see the discussion!

Quote of the week:

"Oh Beautiful for smoggy skies, insecticided grain,
For strip-mined mountain's majesty above the asphalt plain.
America, America, man sheds his waste on thee,
And hides the pines with billboard signs, from sea to oily sea."
- George Carlin