3367 (Section 251) * Sustainable 2:00 pm - 3:20 pm TR * Spring 2020 UAC 00409 * Texas State University

Instructor: Matt Clement Office: UAC 459 Office Hours: T 11:30-1:30 Email: [email protected] (please allow 24-48 hours for response)

COURSE OVERVIEW

Urbanization and life are regular topics in discussions of ; this course is a one-semester introduction designed for undergraduates to study issues surrounding the complex socio-historical relationship between environmental change and urban settlements. This relationship continues to attract attention from a growing number of audiences, from natural, social and interdisciplinary scientists to planners, politicians and grassroots organizations. The course aims to develop a broad understanding of key issues, concepts, processes and debates from a social scientific perspective. We will pursue this objective through reading, discussion, and analysis of key theories and methodologies as well as their implications for contemporary environmental activism. Class will be in the format of a traditional undergraduate lecture.

COURSE OBJECTIVES AND GOALS

By the end of the semester students will be able to do the following: •Define the concepts of sustainability and •Identify and analyze sustainability metrics •Understand and distinguish between competing theories regarding the sustainability of cities •Scrutinize the different ways that cities today are actually addressing issues of sustainability •Locate organizations and resources on sustainability to become active citizens in their communities

COURSE MATERIAL

The topic of sustainable cities is currently quite dynamic and multi-disciplinary. Therefore, rather than read a textbook on the subject, we will engage a wider range of classic and contemporary perspectives through book excerpts, articles, and podcasts, which will be available online through links on the syllabus below. COURSE GRADE

Your grade in this class will be based on three criteria: 1) Four exams testing your comprehension of the assigned chapters, lectures, films, podcasts, and other course material. These are open-book, open- note, NO ELECTRONIC DEVICES. 2) Each student will be required to contribute to an informal group presentation of an assigned podcast about some aspect of the environment. 3) Finally, attendance will be taken for a grade. For more information about these components see below. Here is the weighting formula I will use for calculating your course grade:

Attendance/Participation: 5% Exams: 75% Podcast Report: 20% Total 100% COURSE SCHEDULE (with assignments)

Part 1: Weeks 1-4 (Jan 21 – Feb 13):

Lecture Themes: Cities and Sustainability, Urbanization and City Growth, Rural-Urban Divide Readings: Lenton,Timothy, et al. 2019. "Climate Tipping Points" Rockström, Johan et al. 2009. "A Safe Operating Space for Humanity" Grimm, Nancy et al. 2008. "Global Change and the of Cities" Lawler, Andrew. 2012. "Uncovering Civilization’s Roots" Davis, Kingsley. 1955. "The Origin and Growth of Urbanization" Molotch, Harvey. 1976. "The City as a Growth Machine" Bell, Michael and Peter Korsching. 2008. "Town-Country Relations" Foster, John, et al. 1998. "Liebig, Marx, and Soil" Podcasts: “Climate Resilient Cities”, (GROUP 1) “Houston Hurricane ”, (GROUP 1) “The Well-Tempered City”, (GROUP 2) “Big World, Small Planet” (GROUP 2) Film: Anthropocene (on reserve in Alkek) ***Exam1: Thurs, Feb 13***

Part 2: Weeks 5-8 (Feb 18 – Mar 12):

Lecture Themes: Urban , Landscape Transformation, Ecological Footprints Readings: Wachsmuth, David. 2012. "Three : Urban Metabolism and Society- Opposition" Bettencourt, Luis et al. 2007 "Growth, Innovation, Scaling, and the Pace of Life in Cities" Rudel, Thomas. 2009. "How Do People Transform Landscapes?" DeFries et al. 2010. "Deforestation Driven by Urban Growth and Agriculture" Clement, Matthew. 2015. "Urbanization, Land Use, and Environmental Change" pp. 1-27 Rees, William and Mathis Wackernagel. 1996. "Urban Ecological Footprints." York, Richard et al. 2003. "Footprints on Earth" Podcasts: “Rampant City Gas Leaks”, (GROUP 3) “The Spores of Sickness”, (GROUP 3) “Offsetting Your Carbon Footprint”, (GROUP 4) “Wearing Local” (GROUP 4) Film: Urbanized ***Exam 2: Thurs, Mar 12***

Part 3: Weeks 10-13 (Mar 24 – Apr 16):

Lecture Themes: Density and Design, Cars and Sprawl, Globalization, Urban Inequalities Readings: Jacobs, Jane. 1961. "Death and Life of Great American Cities" Ch 11 ***ON RESERVE IN ALEK*** Elliott, Jim and Matthew Clement. 2014. "Urbanization and Carbon Emissions" Fodor, Eben. 2012. "Why Smart Growth Won't Save Us" Mumford, Lewis. 1958. "The Highway and the City" ***ON LMS SITE*** Araghi, Farshad. 2000. "Great Global Enclosure of Our Times" Davis, Mike. 2006. "Slum Ecology" Mohai, Paul et al. 2009. "" ***ON LMS SITE*** Wachsmuth, David et al. 2016. "Expand the Frontiers of Urban Sustainability" Crowder, Kyle and Liam Downey. 2010. "Microlevel Processes of Environmental Inequality" Podcasts: “Slow City”, (GROUP 5) “Cities for Pedestrians”, (GROUP 5) “A Vision to End the Hassle of Urban Parking”, (GROUP 6) “ and the Poor” (GROUP 6) Film: This Changes Everything ***Exam 3: Thurs, Apr 16*** Part 4: Weeks 14-15 (Apr 21 – Apr 30):

Lecture Themes: Gender Relations, , Urban Agriculture, Informal Debate Readings: Hayden, Dolores. 1980 "What Would a Non-Sexist City Be Like?" United Nations' WomenWatch. 2009. "Gender Equality and Sustainable Urbanization" (pp. 164-173) McClintock, Nathan. 2010. "Why Farm the City?" Ergas, Christina. 2013. "Cuban Urban Agriculture as a Strategy for Food Sovereignty" Podcasts: “Drought and Gender”, (GROUP 7) “Hormone Disruptors”, (GROUP 7) “Food Deserts”, (GROUP 8) “Sustainable City Gardening”, “An App for Urban Foraging” (GROUP 8) Film: Just Eat It (on reserve in Alkek) ***Exam 4: Thurs, May 7 @ 2:00-4:30 pm, UAC 409***

COURSE OBJECTIVES AND GOALS

The course has five primary objectives or goals which are listed above.

How to obtain these goals:

Attend Lecture: There are many ways to learn. I will cover many of the important concepts in this course in lecture and you will need to be actively engaged during class time. When you do not understand something, ask questions. Take notes and review your notes after each class. If they do not make sense, ask for clarification. Remember, if parts of the class do not make sense to you, you probably are not alone. During lectures, I will sometimes ask questions; if you've read and taken notes, you will be better prepared to participate in this discussion. I will also occasionally take attendance throughout the semester. Each attendance is worth 1% of your final grade for the course. Being present during lectures is essential for achieving the course goals. Additionally, I do NOT hand out the lecture notes that I discuss in class. If you have to be absent, politely ask your peers to review their notes from the day.

Reading: The required readings for this course have much information. You should not only re-read the information, but you also should take extensive notes as you can use these during the exam. The readings and lectures are complementary. There are many topics covered in the readings that we will not discuss in lecture and vice versa. All of the assigned readings represent potential material for the exams; you are responsible for that material even if it is not discussed in lecture.

Listening: There will be regularly assigned podcasts for the students to listen to and critically evaluate in a group. As with the reading assignments, students will get the most out of the podcasts if they listen to them not once but several times while taking notes.

Study groups: This is not a required part of the course, but many people find peer teaching and learning helpful, for which study groups provide the structure. You may want to consider discussing the idea of a creating a study group with the other students who have been assigned to your podcast group.

EXAMS There will be four exams in the course, each worth nearly 18% of your grade. These exams will be multiple-choice, open-book, open-note. Do not expect to pass any exam without already having completed the assigned readings, attended lecture, and taken notes prior to the exam. Walking into class on exam day without having done these things is a SERIOUS MISTAKE. You have been warned! The exams ask detailed questions that require having already read and taken good notes.

You will not be allowed to use any electronic devices during the exams - no computers, no phones, no mobile devices, etc. The exams are not cumulative, in the traditional sense of the word; however, certain topics and ideas do reappear at various times during the semester. The exams test your comprehension of the material for that particular part of the course, which includes lectures, readings, film clips and class discussion. ALL TEXAS STATE STUDENTS HAVE MADE A PLEDGE TO FOLLOW "THE HONOR CODE" (see below). CHEATING ON EXAMS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED AND WILL BE DEALT WITH APPROPRIATELY. Any exams missed during the semester will made up during our scheduled final exam time.

PODCAST REPORTS About eight times this semester, a small group of students (randomly assigned) will be responsible for presenting to the class an overview of an assigned podcast(s) dealing with some topic in . These podcasts are mostly produced by the radio program called Living on Earth. Their website is www.loe.org. The schedule of and links to the podcasts are found at the end of the syllabus. While only a group of students will present, everyone is required to listen to the podcast(s) assigned for that day; there will be questions about the podcasts on the exams. Thus, the entire class will be held responsible for the material presented by the group. On the day of the presentation, the group will stand in front of the class and report on the following information: 1) summary of the podcast, 2) the basic research question(s) being asked (either by the interviewer or interviewee), 3) the method(s) used to research and answer the question(s), 4) the answers to the question or results from the research, 5) your assessment of and the implications these answers/results have for the world, and 6) three discussion questions for the class. If interested, the group may present this information using a PowerPoint slideshow, but this is NOT a requirement. In other words, you do not need to use any electronic media during the report. I expect each presentation to last about 20 minutes, which will then be followed by questions for the class to discuss as a whole. After the presentation and discussion, the group will submit this information to the instructor on a one-page, single-spaced, printed piece of paper. All the group members' names must be at the top of this page. Twenty-percent (20%) of your course grade comes from individual participation in preparing the group report. A single grade will not be assigned to the whole group; each member will receive a grade based on her/his own individual contribution to the presentation. This grade is not assigned by me; it is determined by your peers. YES, YOUR GRADE IS DETERMINED BY PEER EVALUATION. I do this to encourage mutual respect and to foster a sense of shared responsibilities.

NON-ATTENDANCE AND UNEARNED F University policy regarding non-attendance and a grade of "U" (unearned F) are in place so that the university complies with federal regulations. Both non-attendance (as of 12th class day) and a grade of "U" (a student who fails to complete the coursework, but never drops the class), may result in a student repaying any financial aid from that semester. For details on this policy please see the Withdrawing Non- Passing Grades, and Attendance explanation on the financial aid and scholarship page. DISABILITIES If you are a student with a disability who will require an accommodation(s) to participate in this course, please contact me as soon as possible. You will be asked to provide documentation from the Office of Disability Services. Failure to contact me in a timely manner may delay your accommodations.

CIVILITY IN THE CLASSROOM Students and faculty are full partners in fostering a classroom environment which is conducive to learning. Our actions should promote respect for both one another and the traditions of collegiate learning. Class sizes and emphases can create situations in which acceptable behavior in one course may be unsatisfactory in another situation, as for example when collaborative team work can lead to movement and in-class conversation, which may be totally inappropriate in a large lecture class. Texas State policy (PPS 4.02) describes general behaviors that are always disruptive. Examples of such behaviors include but are not limited to: making loud noises, speaking without recognition, making personal threats or insults, eating or drinking in classrooms, sleeping during class, using electronic equipment prohibited by the instructor or disrespectful of other students, using inappropriate or vulgar language, or taking other actions that others might find offensive, demeaning, or disrespectful. As the instructor in this class I will be the judge of behaviors that threaten the civility of the learning environment, and, when appropriate or necessary, I will bring such behavior to the attention of the class or individuals in the class.

HONOR CODE (http://www.txstate.edu/effective/upps/upps-07-10-01- att1.html)

As members of a community dedicated to learning, inquiry, and creation, the students, faculty, and administration of our university live by the principles in this Honor Code. These principles require all members of this community to be conscientious, respectful, and honest. WE ARE CONSCIENTIOUS. We complete our work on time and make every effort to do it right. We come to class and meetings prepared and are willing to demonstrate it. We hold ourselves to doing what is required, embrace rigor, and shun mediocrity, special requests, and excuses. WE ARE RESPECTFUL. We act civilly toward one another and we cooperate with each other. We will strive to create an environment in which people respect and listen to one another, speaking when appropriate, and permitting other people to participate and express their views. WE ARE HONEST. We do our own work and are honest with one another in all matters. We understand how various acts of dishonesty, like plagiarizing, falsifying data, and giving or receiving assistance to which one is not entitled, conflict as much with academic achievement as with the values of honesty and integrity.

THE PLEDGE FOR STUDENTS: Students at our university recognize that, to insure honest conduct, more is needed than an expectation of academic honesty, and we therefore adopt the practice of affixing the following pledge of honesty to the work we submit for evaluation: I pledge to uphold the principles of honesty and responsibility at our university.

THE PLEDGE FOR FACULTY AND ADMINISTRATION: Faculty at our university recognize that the students have rights when accused of academic dishonesty and will inform the accused of their rights of appeal laid out in the student handbook and inform them of the process that will take place. I recognize students’ rights and pledge to uphold the principles of honesty and responsibility at our university. ADDRESSING ACTS OF DISHONESTY: Students accused of dishonest conduct may have their cases heard by the faculty member. The student may also appeal the faculty member’s decision to the Honor Code Council. Students and faculty will have the option of having an advocate present to insure their rights. Possible actions that may be taken range from exoneration to expulsion.

LECTURE MATERIAL Students are prohibited from photographing and recording during classes, and from transmitting classroom lectures and discussions by students unless written permission from ODS. Permission to allow the audio/visual recording is not a transfer of any copyrights to the material recorded. Photographs, videos and audio recordings may not be reproduced or uploaded to publicly accessible web environments, including GroupMe, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc. Public distribution of lecture recordings may constitute copyright infringement in violation of federal or state law, or University policy (See AA/PPS No. 02.03.31, Commercial Use of Class Notes and Materials for a discussion of copyright ownership). Violation of this policy may subject a student to disciplinary action via the University Honor Code detailed in UPPS No. 07.10.01, Honor Code. If permitted by ODS, a copy of lecture slides can be provided no sooner than one week before the exam; sharing this material with anyone else would be a violation of the ODS agreement. If I see a recording device being held up in the direction of the lecture material, you will be asked to put it down.

(Continued on next page) DETAILED COURSE SCHEDULE

Week 1 Tues, Jan 21 Introduction Thurs, Jan 23 Lecture Week 2 Part 1: Tues, Jan 28 Lecture Lecture Themes: Thurs, Jan 30 Lecture Introduction, Cities Week 3 and Sustainability, Tues, Feb 4 Group 1 Podcast Report Urbanization and City Thurs, Feb 6 Group 2 Podcast Report Growth, The Rural- Week 4 Urban Divide Tues, Feb 11 Film: Anthropocene Thurs, Feb 13 Exam 1 Week 5 Tues, Feb 18 Lecture Thurs, Feb 20 Lecture Week 6 Part 2: Tues, Feb 25 Lecture Lecture Themes: Thurs, Feb 27 Group 3 Podcast Report Urban Metabolism, Week 7 Urbanization and Tues, Lecture Mar 3 Landscape Thurs, Mar 5 Group 4 Podcast Report Transformation, Week 8 Ecological Footprints Tues, Mar 10 Film: Urbanized Thurs, Mar 12 Exam 2 Week 10 Tues, Mar 24 Lecture Thurs, Mar 26 Lecture Week 11 Part 3: Tues, Mar 31 Lecture Lecture Themes: Thurs, Apr 2 Group 5 Podcast Report Density and Week 12 Design, Tues, Apr 7 Lecture Globalization, Thurs, Apr 9 Group 6 Podcast Report Urban Week 13 Environmental Tues, Apr 14 Film: This Changes Everything Inequalities Thurs, Apr 16 Exam 3 Week 14 Tues, Apr 21 Lecture Thurs, Apr 23 Group 7 Podcast Report Week 15 Part 4: Tues, Apr 28 Group 8 Podcast Report / Debate Lecture Themes: Thurs, Apr 30 Film: Just Eat It Gender Relations, Urban Food Production

Week 16 Thurs, May 7 Exam 4

*Week 9: No Class = Spring Break!* SCHEDULE OF AND LINKS TO PODCASTS

WEEK 3: Tues, Feb 4 (Group 1) “Climate Resilient Cities” “Houston Hurricane Risks”,

WEEK 3: Thurs, Feb 6 (Group 2) “The Well-Tempered City”, “Big World, Small Planet”

WEEK 6: Thurs, Feb 27 (Group 3) “Rampant City Gas Leaks”, “The Spores of Sickness”,

WEEK 7: Thurs, Mar 5 (Group 4) “Offsetting Your Carbon Footprint”, “Wearing Local”,

WEEK 11: Thurs, Apr 2 (Group 5) “Slow City”, “Cities for Pedestrians”,

WEEK 12: Thurs, Apr 9 (Group 6) “A Vision to End the Hassle of Urban Parking”, “Climate Change and the Poor”

WEEK 14: Thurs, Apr 23 (Group 7) “Drought and Gender”, “Hormone Disruptors”,

WEEK 15: Tues, Apr 28 (Group 8) “Food Deserts”, “Sustainable City Gardening”, “An App for Urban Foraging”