Course Structure s2

HUMAN POPULATION SPRING 2016

Class Lecture Debate (D--) or Presen- Readings, video. meet- tations (P--) ing 1 The turd in the punchbowl effect — the psychology of population. Dissonance and harmony. History of the population issue. Followed by course requirements, discussion on academic honesty. 2 Logic and fallacy — how to not D — Can you ever re- Chapter from "Truth be fooled. Objectivity. Socratic ally know something for Rationality and Prag- debate. Theory of knowledge. sure? matism" By Christopher Evidence versus authority. Forms Hookway of fallacy — ridicule, rhetorical questions, humor, dismissal, snow job, bandwagon, optimism. 3 Are we smarter than Yeast? -- D — Are we smarter TBD Exponential growth model. Glob- than Yeast? al systems ecology. Food webs. Boom/bust cycles. Adaptation. Cultural adaptation. Biodiversity. The carbon cycle. K/r-selected species. 4 Tragedy of the Commons. D — Privatize or regu- Hardin, G. (1968). Feedback of self-interests and late? The tragedy of the resources. Why is there policy? commons. Science, Feedback of self-interest for poli- 162(3859), 1243- cy makers. 1248.

5 Lifeboat ethics — ethical co- D — Is overpopulation Hardin, G. (1974). nundrums and paradoxes. Com- an ethical paradox? Commentary: Living on passion versus survival. a Lifeboat. BioScience, 24(10), 561-568. 6 Doomsday Model — Positive P — Evidence of Von Foerster, H., Mora, feedback effects on fertility and regime shift? P. M., & Amiot, L. W. the carrying capacity. Regime (1960). Doomsday: Fri- shift. day, 13 november, ad 2026. Science, 132(3436), 1291-1295. Class Lecture Debate (D--) or Presen- Readings, video. meet- tations (P--) ing 7 Logistic growth — Carrying capaci- P — What raised the car- Selected chapters from ty. Limits to growth. UN projections. rying capacity? Meadows, D. H., Mead- Trends in birth rate, death rate. ows, D. L., Randers, J., & Behrens, W. W. (1972). The limits to growth. New York, 102.

8 Limits to growth -- documentary D — Optimists versus in-class video: David film. pessimists. Attenborough “How Many People Can Live on Planet Earth” (2011) (47 min) 9 Water — Habitat loss. Irrigation. P — Feedback mecha- TBD Aquifers. Fossil water. Anoxic nisms between water plumes. Desalination. and population.

10 Anthropogenic Climate D — Can we adapt to TBD Change — Fossil fuels. The en- climate change? ergy economy. Human causes. Solutions.

11 Human evolution — Genetic D — Was global domi- Chapter from Reeder traits leading to culture. Food nance genetically preor- "Africa: Biography of a production. Urbanization. Early dained? Continent" human competition. Evolution of human metapopulations. 12 African diaspora -- Fertility and P -- Feedback loops re- Chapter from Reeder poverty. Early population collapses. garding poverty and fertil- "Africa: Biography of a Plague in Europe. Smallpox in ity. Continent" Americas. 13 Greenland Norse -- Climate change P -- Cultural evolution, a Diamond, J. "Collapse" and unwillingness to adapt good thing? 14 Easter Island -- environmental dam- D -- Would we resort to Diamond, J. "Collapse" age cannabalism? 15 Tha Anasazi -- environmental dam- P -- TBD Diamond, J. "Collapse" age and climate change 16 Tikopia, New Guinea and Japan -- P -- What are the key Diamond, J. "Collapse" management of limited resources components of successful resource management? 17 Rwanda 1994 -- Malthusian col- D -- Will overpopulation Diamond, J. "Collapse" lapse lead to violence? 18 Haiti versus the Dominican Re- P -- Ways in which policy Diamond, J. "Collapse" public -- policy and the environment affects population.

19 China -- Lurching giant. One child D -- China's one child pol- Diamond, J. "Collapse" policy. icy: right or wrong? 20 Australia -- First world consumption P -- What will happen to Diamond, J. "Collapse" affluent societies? Class Lecture Debate (D--) or Presen- Readings, video. meet- tations (P--) ing 21 Technology — Peak oil. WWW. Ter- D -- Where is our energy TBD rorism, war, drones. GPSO. Arab coming from in the spring. future?

22 Women and population -- a docu- P -- How have developed In-class movie — mentary nations influenced popu- “Mother. Caring for 7 lation in developing na- Billion” (55 min) tions? 23 Women’s empowerment — patriar- D -- Who should be in TBD chal versus matriarcal societies. Lin- charge, men or women? ear versus cyclical thinking. Trends in female empowerment. Malala.

24 Family planning — technologies, P -- Ups and downs of TBD social acceptance, first versus third contraception. world issues. Teen pregnancy. 25 United Nations Millenium Devel- P -- Are the MDGs con- Szekeres, D. (2012). opment Goals sistent with science? United Nations Millenni- um Development Goals. Jura: A Pecsi Tudomanyegyetem Al- lam-es Jogtudomanyi Karanak tudomanyos lapja, 198.

26 Review session 27 Term Projects 28 Term Projects

Course structure

Each class period will have one of two formats, Presentation day, or Debate day. • 30 minute lecture + 10 questions The lecture will summarize and augment the reading.

• 30 minute group discussion Debate day -- Class will be divided into two groups, Student and Socrates, and will prepare questions and answers. Presentation day -- Class will be divided into four groups and will prepare slides for the presenter and rehearse the presentation as a group.

• 40 minute debate or presentations Debate day -- Structured debate as described below. Presentation day -- One person from each group, who has a Term Ticket, will present the group's slides. Book

Diamond, J. (2005). Collapse: How societies choose to fail or succeed. Penguin. Chicago

Other sources, to be provided electronically.

Grading

Short essays : 20% In-class presentations : 20% Term project : 20% Debate: 20% Attendance: 20%

Communication intensive course

Human Population is a communication intensive course. Students are expected to crtically read, to watch videos, to engage in debate, to do presentations in front of the class and handle questions afterward, and to write essays.

Serial Socrates: Structured debate

Each student is given a “Day Ticket” when they arrive to class. During Serial Socrates, students will play the role of Socrates or The Student. The Student defends a position, using data and logic. Socrates takes an opposing view, using questions. Half of the class is randomly assigned to be The Student and half will play Socrates. All Socrates' questions must challenge the previ- ous Student statement. All Student's statements must answer Socrates' questions. No repeat questions or statements are allowed. Tickets with names on them will be handed in upon speak- ing, as a tool to keep track of participation. Each student may only speak once until everyone has spoken. The goal is to maintain this dialog until opinion converges to a consensus. Ques- tions/answers will be limiited to 2 minutes each. The instructor will serve as moderator and may choose to nullify a question/answer based on classroom rules. Students will enter an initial and final opinion electronically. This method and the course as a whole will be evaluated by measur- ing the degree of convergence of opinions.

Rules for group discussions

On Debate days, after the lecture the instructor will define the debate topic and the class will di- vide into two groups. Group discussion will start by selecting a group moderator. The moderator will direct the group discussion. Discussion proceeds after up to 10 minutes of reading time (i.e. internet search time) The moderator then calls on each group member to provide (Student) a statement with evidence, or (Socrates) a question with evidence. The group may accept, revise or reject a statement or question by consensus. Each person in the group should make sure their statement or question does not duplicate someone else's. Each person may prepare as many statements/questions as they like, so that they are ready for any dialog. The moderator signals the instructor that the group is ready for debate.

Homework: Readings and essays

A reading (approx two hours worth) or video will be assigned for each class period except the first and last. A total of eight essays are required, as described below. In-class presentations:

Students will be given two "Term Tickets" at the beginning of the course. They will hand in one ticket each time they do a short presentation. The class as a whole will rate the presentation on- line using an “Objectivity Score” (Did the conclusions follow logically from the premises? Were the premises were supported by the evidence?) and a "Subjective Score" (Was the presentation compelling? Was it easy to follow?) The instructor reserves the right to throw out or overrule any or all Objectivity Score and Subjective Score ratings and grade each presentation accord- ingly. Objectivity Score data will be used to monitor the class with regard to critical listening.

Short essays

Students will write eight short essays (2 - 3 pages), each focusing on one of the topics discussed during that week. Essays will be graded on clarity and content. Clarity will be assessed by (1) correct word usage, (2) correct sentence structure, (3) correct paragraph structure, and (4) correct essay structure. Content will be assessed by (1) logical progression of statements, (2) evidential support of statements, (3) correct attribution of evidence. Essays will be text and figures, with citations and bibliography, in Word or Pages format. Essays will be turned in and graded electronically. Students will receive regular updates on number of essays submitted so far. A low "clarity" grade on an essay will require that the student visit the Center for Communi- cation Practices, and the SSP sending a veification email. Essays with low grades may be re- vised by re-write, on invitation only.

Term Project:

A term project will be assigned in which the student will be asked to project the human population into the future are predict the outcome. Students will not be asked to “solve” the population problem, only to predict what will happen. Students should present alternate (optimistic/pes- simistic) scenarios and the conditions for each. Feedback mechanisms and environmental forc- ings must be considered using systems models. Students will work in pairs and present togeth- er. Student Objectivity/Subjective Scores will be used to rate each other's term projects. Howev- er, the instructor reserves the right to grade term projects independent of student input.

Academic honesty

Plagiarism will be detected automatically using XXX [software recommended by the Center for Communications Practices]. Confirmed plagierism, defined as unattributed use of published ma- terial, will result in penalties as follows.

First time F on paper, 2nd time F in course

Egregious plagierism : “F” in the course. Piecemeal plagierism : “F” on the assignment. Unintentional plagierism : First time, “F” on the assignment. Second time, “F” in the course. Dual submission: Copying is a form of plagierism. The first incidence of confirmed copying will result in a warning for both parties. A second incidence will results in an “F” on the assignment. A third confirmed incident will result in an “F” in the course.

Treatment of student ideology in the classroom: This course deals with a sensitive subject for some religions and other ideologies. Students will not be graded on their religious views, political leanings or opinions in general. Religion and pol- itics may be discussed where it is relevant to a course on humanity, but every attempt will be made by the instructor to ensure religious topics and political views are treated with respect, objectivity and non-judgement. Any student who uses this course as an opportunity to judge any religious doctrine or idealogy will be warned and possibly graded down. Any student who uses non-falsifiable statements tied to ideology will be gently warned and may be graded down.

Unexcused absences:

This is a participatory course. Attendence is required. Each unexcused absence will result in a 5% grade reduction.

Pre-requisites: Calc I, BIOL 2010

The course will be limited to 24 students. Minimum class size = 12.