UGS 303 Latin America: Environmental and Unique Numbers 64555, 64560, 64565, 64570, 64575, 64580 Fall 2011

Class Meets MW 11-11:45 in room UTC 3.110 Discussion Sections meet Friday in MAI 220F: 9-10, 10-11, 11-12, 12-1, 1-2, or 2-3

Professor: Gregory Knapp Contact: [email protected], 232-1588 Office hours Wednesday 10-10:45 am, GRG 326

Teaching Assistants: Naya Jones, [email protected], office hours Wednesday 1-2, GRG 416 Eva Hershaw, [email protected], office hours TBA, GRG 416

Overview of Course

The course explores Latin America’s environmental resources, hazards, and human impacts on the environment, in the context of its long-term cultural and environmental history and present day debates about sustainability. The course touches on the methods of geography, ecological , and environmental history, and also interdisciplinary fields such as , Global Studies and Development Studies. Students will learn how to assess a variety of sources of information, and develop skills to interpret them in the context of historical and politics. Each week there will be two lectures, followed by a Friday discussion session.

Prerequisites: Freshman standing. NOTE: This course may NOT be taken if the student has already had GRG 319 / LAS 319, Geography of Latin America. Similarly, students taking this course should not take GRG 319 or LAS 319 in the future.

Course Website: https://courses.utexas.edu/

Textbooks:

Cesar Caviedes and Gregory Knapp, South America (Prentice Hall, 1995) Charles Mann, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus (Yale, 2006) Shawn William Miller, An Environmental History of Latin America (Cambridge University, 2007)

These books serve as background for the lectures, and are resources for the discussion sections.

Additional short required articles and chapters for discussion sections will be posted on Blackboard. Students will be required to explore several websites as announced in lectures.

Lectures

The lectures will be accompanied by Power Points that will be placed online on Blackboard within 24 hours after each lecture. The Power Points are copyright by respective copyright holders and must not be distributed beyond this class. They are not substitutes for good lecture notes.

Summary of Grading:

A total of 100 points will be given for various exams and assignments during the course of the semester. Final grades for the course will be by whole grades only (no plus or minus grades), and will be based on the following scale: 90-100 A, 80-89.9 B, 70-79.9 C, 60-69.9 D, below 59.9 F. In rare cases, students on the borderline who exhibit strong improvement during the semester will be given a higher grade.

Ten short (150-250 word) written commentaries (essays) based on readings, activities and lectures (20%). Detailed instructions for your short essays will be provided at the beginning of each week. Your essays should be sent via email to your TA by noon on the day before your discussion section. Please save your essay documents as follows: [your last name]_[section time]. doc – for example, “Smith_9am.doc”. Please note papers must be provided on time, you must attend the discussion sections in person, and participate well in discussions. Failure to attend, participate, and/or submit papers on time will result in deductions from the 2 points given for each essay, as will significant problems in the essays themselves. Your commentaries may be shared with other students for peer review and/or discussed in class.

Attendance and essay on Signature Lecture: September 13

"Research that Changes the World" Tuesday, September 13, 7 p.m. Bass Concert Hall (tentative)

You will be required to write a brief (150-250 word) essay due noon, September 15 on the role of the university, especially UT, in changing the world (including human-environment relationships in Latin America), drawing on your experience of the Signature Lecture as well as your own ideas. Your papers should be sent via email to your TA. Your TA will provide more instructions.

Commodity Chain Project: 30% of grade, in four parts:

Provide your provisional commodity chain topic to your TA by noon October 20. This can be one word or a longer statement. This is not graded but you will lose 0.5 points if this is late. Remember this is tentative, so you can change it later.

Attendance and feedback on PCL visits October 28 (tentative date): Attend the PCL visit during your discussion section, write a 150-250 word statement of how you will use the library for your written project, and provide to the TA by email by noon the following Thursday. This will be graded as part of the discussion section assignments.

Written project based on analysis of a commodity chain (25%), due at the beginning of your discussion section on Nov 18. Detailed instructions on your written project will be provided on Blackboard. Late papers will not be accepted.

Group Oral presentations (5%). Based on commodity chain exercise. Groups will have several minutes per person to present Power Points to discussion sections or to the class as a whole. Detailed instructions will be provided on Blackboard.

Quizzes before lectures (10%). Short quizzes will be handed out before, during, and/or after certain lectures and will test a simple concept as discussed in class or the readings and also check attendance. They are designed to be finished in less than 2 minutes. Students who arrive late will not be allowed to take quizzes at the beginning of class. In some cases you will be told in advance of the quiz topic, while in others the quizzes may be a surprise. More than one quiz may be administered in the same class; and there may be multiple versions of each quiz. Students missing a quiz will earn a zero; however, the lowest two quiz scores will be dropped. Quizzes may not be excused unless you provide an acceptable reason such as illness (documentation from a physician or student health service must be provided).

Exams (40%)

There are three exams; the lowest of the three scores will be dropped. Students who take both midterm exams and are satisfied with their scores need not take the final. Review sheets of vocabulary terms and practice questions will be posted on Blackboard prior to each exam. There are no make-ups for exams except in cases of documented major health problems.

Exam 1 October 10 Exam 2 November 30 The final exam will be Saturday December 10, 9-12

Class Attendance

Students are expected to attend all lectures and discussion sections and attendance will be monitored via the quizzes and written commentaries required (see above). Extracurricular activities are only excusable if cleared with the professor or TA at the beginning of the semester.

Last Day to Drop Without Possible Academic Penalty September 9 (Friday)

Participation in discussion section

Friday discussion sections will discuss the course material and concepts in a small group setting, based on your submissions of written commentaries on questions provided by the professor. During discussions, some questions will be posed to the entire group and others will be posed to specific people. Your written submissions will be provided (sometimes in edited form) to other students for their commentaries and feedback in small groups or in the section as a whole. To receive full credit for a discussion section you must both attend and submit any required papers.

Classroom Policy on Electronic Devices and Behavior Laptops are NOT allowed. Laptops, tablets, cell phones, MP3 players, and other such devices must be turned off and stowed during classes and exams. Lectures may not be recorded in any way without prior permission. Online materials may not be copied or distributed without prior permission. In exceptional cases, with prior permission, students will be allowed to take lecture notes on their laptops; in these cases, laptop lecture notes need to be provided to the professor for each class, and students need to pledge not to use computers for any other purpose during class. If laptops are used for another purpose that day's attendance/quiz score will be reduced to zero. The professor will not provide feedback on lecture notes. Students will arrive on time, minimize unscheduled personal breaks, and stay until the class ends. They will respect the views and opinions of their colleagues. Disagreement and debate are encouraged. Intolerance for the views of others is unacceptable. Accommodations for Special Needs The University makes reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities. Any student who requires special accommodations must obtain a letter that documents the disability from the Services for Students with Disabilities area of the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement (471-6259 voice or 471-4641 TTY for users who are deaf or hard of hearing). Present the letter to the professor at the beginning of the semester so that needed accommodations can be discussed. The student should remind the professor of any testing accommodations no later than five business days before an exam. For more information, visit http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd/. Religious Holidays By UT Austin policy, students must notify the professor of a pending absence at least fourteen days prior to the date of observance of a religious holy day. If the student must miss a class, an examination, a work assignment, or a project in order to observe a religious holy day, the professor will give the student an opportunity to complete the missed work within a reasonable time after the absence. Use of E-Mail for Official Correspondence to Students Email is recognized as an official mode of university correspondence; therefore, students are responsible for reading their email for university and course-related information and announcements. Students are responsible to keep the university informed about changes to their e-mail address. Students should check their e-mail regularly and frequently—daily, but at minimum twice a week—to stay current with university-related communications, some of which may be time-sensitive. Students can find UT Austin’s policies and instructions for updating their e-mail address at http://www.utexas.edu/its/policies/emailnotify.php. Behavior Concerns Advice Line (BCAL) If students are worried about someone who is acting differently, they may use the Behavior Concerns Advice Line to discuss by phone their concerns about another individual’s behavior. This service is provided through a partnership among the Office of the Dean of Students, the Counseling and Mental Health Center (CMHC), the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and The University of Texas Police Department (UTPD). Call 512-232-5050 or visit http://www.utexas.edu/safety/bcal.

Emergency Evacuation Occupants of buildings on The University of Texas at Austin campus are required to evacuate buildings when a fire alarm is activated. Alarm activation or announcement requires exiting and assembling outside. Familiarize yourself with all exit doors of each classroom and building you may occupy. Remember that the nearest exit door may not be the one you used when entering the building. Students requiring assistance in evacuation must inform their instructor in writing during the first week of class. In the event of an evacuation, follow the instruction of faculty or class instructors. Do not re-enter a building unless given instructions by the following: Austin Fire Department, The University of Texas at Austin Police Department, or Fire Prevention Services office. U.T. Learning Center You may find assistance with specific strategies to help you study effectively at the Learning Center. The Center for Learning offers a range of services to become a better student through assistance in one- on-one tutoring, academic counseling, and other classes. For more information see http://www.utexas.edu/student/utlc/ Academic Integrity and Plagiarism

If you use words or ideas that are not your own you must cite your sources. Otherwise you will be guilty of plagiarism. Students who violate University rules on scholastic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and/or dismissal from the University. Since such dishonesty harms the individual, all students, and the integrity of the University, policies on scholastic dishonesty will be strictly enforced. For further information, the student may refer to the Web Site of the Student Judicial Services, Office of the Dean of Students (http://www.utexas.edu/depts/dos/sjs/).

Tentative Course Schedule and Assignments Subject to revision as the semester proceeds

WEEK 1: August 24 Introduction discussion Sections August 26: Introduction

WEEK 2: August 29, 31 Latin America; Hazards, Volcanoes reading: Caviedes and Knapp chapter 1 discussion Sections September 2: Images of the Americas

WEEK 3: September 7 Mountains reading: Caviedes and Knapp chapter 2 and 3; pp 170-179 discussion Sections September 9: Volcano Hazard Responses

WEEK 4: September 12 and 14 Highlands and Oxisols; Lowlands and Environmental Change Signature Lecture: September 13, Research that Changes the World reading: Caviedes and Knapp chapter 2 and 3; pp 169-171, 180-182 discussion sections September 17: Writing skills; role of University in Changing the World

WEEK 5: September 19 and 21 Tropical Climates and their Hazards; Vegetation, Deserts reading: Caviedes and Knapp chapters 2 and 3 additional short articles will be put on Blackboard for this week's discussion discussion sections September 24: Complexities of Dam development in Brazil (tentative)

WEEK 6: September 26 and 28 topic: The First Americans, Lifeways and Impacts reading: Mann (all), Miller 1-48, Caviedes and Knapp 97-109 discussion sections September 30: Native Americans, Perceptions and Numbers

WEEK 7: October 3 and 5 Civilization and the Environment reading: Mann (all) discussion sections October 7: Pristine , Exam review

WEEK 8: October 10 and 12 Conquest , First Commodity Chains reading: Miller 49-104 Exam 1 October 10 discussion sections October 14: Permanence and Longevity of Civilizations

WEEK 9: October 17 and 19 Mining, New Exports and Activities reading: Caviedes and Knapp 162-228; Miller 105-166 discussion Sections: October 21: Export Commodities Tentative Commodity Chain Topic due noon October 20

WEEK 10: October 24 and 26 Drugs and Nontraditional exports reading: websites assigned in class discussion Sections: October 28: Library Project visits to PCL (tentative)

WEEK 11: October 31 and November 1 Modernization and its Impacts, readings: Caviedes and Knapp 300-315; Miller 167-235 discussion sections November 5; Library reports; The Drug Trade Library Reports due Noon November 4

WEEK 12: November 7 and 9 Modernization's Problems and Alternatives discussion sections November 11: Work on Papers (peer sessions)

WEEK 13: November 14 and 16 Challenges of Conservation and Environmental Change discussion sections Nov 18: Commodity Chain oral reports Commodity Chain Papers due November 18 in discussion sections

WEEK 14: November 21 (no class November 23) Contemporary Issues discussion Sections: none (Thanksgiving)

WEEK 15: November 28 and 30 Conclusion and Review Exam 2 November 30 discussion sections December 2: Commodity Chain oral reports

Exam 3 Saturday December 10, 9-12 am. The exam is not required if you have taken, and are satisfied with your score, from the two midterms.