To understand the interdependencies and complexities involved in the society-environment relationship (the underlining goal of this course), you will develop a semester-long, individual final assignment that critically assesses a common item that is produced and consumed within our society.
You will learn about the historical and cultural ideas, values, and other reasons that inform why it is important for people to consume that item. You will learn about how society organizes and structures itself in order to produce that item. And you will learn about how that item relies on environmental systems and resources for its production and consumption.
Apply a social sciences perspective to critically examine environment and society relations across the globe
Analyze major concepts that are central to understanding the society-environment relationship
Determine how personal and collective decisions and actions affect the environment
Explain how social inequality is both a product and producer of environmental problems
Identify and formulate potential solutions to environmental problems considering the connections that exist between the environment, culture, and societal organization
Assessing the “Secret Life” of an Everyday Item
The final assignment entails the development and submission of an 8- to 9-page (double-spaced) critical assessment essay about the “secret life” of an everyday item. You have the freedom to choose and write about any item that you would like, as long as you can critically assess it in terms of the “Human Infrastructure-Ecostructure” analytic framework.
The Module 3 Lecture explains this analytic framework. In short, it will guide you in uncovering and assessing the “secret life” of your item, including:
the cultural ideas (or values) that inform why it is produced and consumed;
the material infrastructure needed to produce it;
the eco-structure (or environmental system and its resources) that supports its production.
You will also highlight ecological and societal problems associated with the item and suggest alternatives to its production/consumption.
There will be 5 deliverables (topic proposal; annotated bibliography; essay outline; rough draft; final critical assessment essay) to be completed throughout the semester that will form the building blocks of the final assessment of this final assignment.
