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Telephone:
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NEW URBAN-BASED, OFF-CAMPUS SUMMER COURSE

Environment, Politics and Sustainable Development

June 11 - July 2, 2001

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* Explore global dimensions of local environmental challenges   * Analyze sources of environmental conflict and strategies for sustainability

* Travel the upper Mississippi River Basin to discover the links between urban and rural environmental concerns     * Gain first-hand experience with activists, planners and business leaders seeking ecologically sound patterns of development * Ideal for students in environmental studies, natural sciences, social sciences, public policy, and business

Program Specifics

FACULTY
Dr. Blake Ratner, primary faculty, holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Sociology from Cornell University. He served as Senior Associate with the World Resources Institute, a leading environmental policy research center in Washington, D.C., where he managed a research program on equity, participation and accountability in public decision-making over watershed resources. He currently teaches at Hamline, Carleton, and the University of Minnesota and has lectured internationally on the role of values and public policy in addressing environmental resource conflict.

THE SETTING:
Twin Cities: Innovation and Activism on the Environment
The Twin Cities has one of the most active networks of citizens' organizations in the country working on a wide range of environmental issues. Minnesota's environmental policies are among the most progressive in the nation. At the same time, significant challenges remain, such as how to manage infrastructure for a booming economy and growing population in the metropolitan area, how to maintain viable livlihoods inrural communities, and how to avert environmental decline in the Mississippi River and Great Lakes ecosystems. The many examples of public-private-community partnerships ­ and the energized public debate over alternative courses of action ­ makes the region prime ground for learning about the contemporary politics of environmental change.

 

THE COURSE:

This is a "hands-on" interdisciplinary course that focuses on the social and economic underpinnings of conflict over natural resources and environmental quality. Students will engage with a diverse range of actors involved in the current debate over watershed protection in the Upper Mississippi River Basin. In this context, the course examines the connections between rural and urban concerns about environmental issues. Through lectures, discussions and group field experiences, students also will explore the relationship between patterns of environmental resource use and current social inequities, analyze the potential social and economic effects of future environmental trends, and assess strategies for sustainability. A list of potential internship experiences can be provided for those students interested.

 

COURSE SCHEDULE AND DATES:

The course meets from June 11^th through July 2^nd, 2001. Class will meet Monday and Friday mornings (9:00-12:00) and Wednesdays (full day) for extended field trips.

 

APPROPRIATE FOR THE FOLLOWING MAJORS:

Environmental Studies, Sociology, Economics, Political Science, Anthropology, Environmental Sciences (Biology, Ecology, Geology, etc.), Business and Management.

 

RECOMMENDED PREVIOUS COURSEWORK:

One environmental studies and one social science course.

E VALUATION:

HECUA programs requires students to participate fully in all aspects of the learning experience. Evaluation will be based on discussion, reading journals, and a final assignment. Students will receive a grade of A, B, C, D, or F.

 

CREDITS:

Students will earn 1 course credit (4 semester hours). Credits will be awarded by the home institution, or a transcript will be issued by Hamline University.

 

COST:

The course fee is $1775, which includes transportation to field sites, planned group excursions, and admission to special events. A $200 deposit will be required to hold your place in the program (non-refundable, due within one month of acceptance into the program), to be credited toward the course fee. All deposits must be in by April 15^th with final payment due May 31^st.

 

ACCOMMODATIONS:

Students will be responsible for their own lodging.

 

TO APPLY:

Submit a HECUA Summer Course application form and $25 non-refundable application fee directly to HECUA. Students applying by March 15th will be given admission preference and will receive notice of acceptance by April 1st. Applications will continue to be acccepted while space is available up to the final deadline of April 11, 2001.

 

PROGRAM CHANGES:

HECUA reserves the right to make changes in the program or to cancel the program if the need arises. The information on this flier does not constitute a contract with students.

 

HECUA reserves the right to make
any necessary program or location changes.

Copyright (c) 2001. Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs, Inc. All rights reserved.     Rev. 3/22/01