Environmental Science and Technology of NYC

Printable Syllabus

Course Goals and Learning Objectives
In the third Honors College seminar, students will learn about the many facets of environmental science and technology, using New York City as a template for the issues being faced by cities around the world. While there are numerous issues that we could examine, we will limit our focus to three pressing urban sustainability topics: transportation, parks, and food. How sustainable is New York City in terms of its transportation system, park system, and food system? To what extent do they hurt and/or harm the environment? Which groups have greater access to these systems? Which less? In what ways do they contribute to economic stability and/or instability? Throughout the course we will compare NYC to other cities to see in what ways NYC is doing better or worse than other cities. We’ll also pay special attention to experiments/innovations/alternatives that are taking place in our city.

A major component of the class will be thinking about how issues of environmental science and sustainability are communicated to the public and to politicians. We will examine the role between science and public policy decisions. To this end, students will work on collaborative research projects focused on communicating science. Team projects will be presented at an Honors College symposium at the end of the semester. These presentations will include websites and posters as well as short documentaries.

The course will include field trips, a visit to a museum, guest speakers, and four events at Macaulay Honors College throughout the semester (note the opening event is the evening of September 15th).

Required texts

• Low, Setha, Dana Taplin and Suzanne Scheld. 2005. Rethinking Urban Parks: Public Space and Cultural Diversity. Austin: University of Texas Press.
• Owen, David. 2009. Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less are the Keys to Sustainability. New York: Riverhead Books. (ISBN: 978-1-59448-882-5)
• Pollan, Michael. 2006. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. New York: The Penguin Press. ISBN: 9780143038580 (paperback)
• Other readings available on-line and on Blackboard (see end of syllabus).

Evaluation. Your grade is based on the following assignments: [handouts will be provided for assignments 3-5]
1. Participation-10%
2. Reading quizzes-30%
3. Group website-20% (individual portion = 10%; final product = 10%)
4. Group poster-20% (individual portion = 10%; final product = 10%)
5. Group short documentary-20% (individual portion = 10%; final product = 10%)

Important University Information:
University policy on Academic Integrity:
The faculty and administration of Brooklyn College support an environment free from cheating and plagiarism. Each student is responsible for being aware of what constitutes cheating and plagiarism and for avoiding both. The complete text of the CUNY Academic Integrity Policy and the Brooklyn College procedure for implementing that policy can be found at this site: http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/policies. If a faculty member suspects a violation of academic integrity and, upon investigation, confirms that violation, or if the student admits the violation, the faculty member MUST report the violation.

Academic Regulations of the College
Please read the Brooklyn College Bulletin, especially pp. 35-59 and 74-83, for a complete listing of academic regulations at the College.

Center for Student Disability Services:
In order to receive disability-related academic accommodations students must first be registered with the Center for Student Disability Services. Students who have a documented disability or suspect they may have a disability are invited to set up an appointment with the Director of the Center for Student Disability Services, Ms. Valerie Stewart-Lovell at 718-951-5538. If you have already registered with the Center for Student Disability Services please provide your professor with the course accommodation form and discuss your specific accommodation with him/her.

State Law regarding non attendance because of religious beliefs.
See p. 53 of the Bulletin.

A few more things:
Classroom behavior: Show up on time. Respect the instructors and your classmates. Turn off all electronic devices during class. Participate.

E-mail correspondence: I will regularly use e-mail to send out announcements, changes in the syllabus, reminders about tests or due dates etc. It is your responsibility to check e-mail regularly to keep up-to-date with these announcements. I will use the e-mail address you have listed with the College. Therefore, please make sure that this is indeed the correct address.

Introduction to Course

5:00-7:30 pm, Seminar 3 Opening Event

Eric Sanderson, the author of Manahatta will speak.
 The Center for Ethical Culture
, Proshansky Auditorium, CUNY Graduate Center
, 365 5th Ave. (between 34th and 35th Streets)

Case 1: Transportation, Buildings, and Energy Use

Case 2: Food in Urban Environments

Case 3: Parks in the City

Communicating Science: Websites, Posters, and Short Documentaries

Readings available on-line and/or on Blackboard

• Agyeman, Julian. 2005. Sustainable Communities and the Challenge of Environmental Justice. New York: NYU Press [excerpt].
• Bullard, Robert D. 2009. “Addressing Urban Transportation Equity in the United States.” Pp. 49-58 in Breakthrough Communities: Sustainability and Justice in the Next American Metropolis, edited by M. Paloma Pavel. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
• Cashin, Sheryll. 2009. “Race, Class, and Real Estate.” Pp. 59-66 in Breakthrough Communities: Sustainability and Justice in the Next American Metropolis, edited by M. Paloma Pavel. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
• Daniels, Tom. 2008. “Taking the Initiative: Why Cities Are Greening Now.” Pp. 11-27 in Growing Greener Cities: Urban Sustainability in the Twenty-First Century, edited by Eugenie L. Birch and Susan M. Wachter. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
• Dunlap, Riley E. and Aaron M. McCright. 2008. “A Widening Gap: Republican and Democratic Views on Climate Change”. September/October.
• Evans, Peter. 2002. “Looking for Agents of Urban Livability in a Globalized Political Economy.” Pp. 1-30 in Livable Cities? Urban Struggles for Livelihood and Sustainability, edited by Peter Evans. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Gould, Kenneth A. and Tammy L. Lewis. Forthcoming. ““The Environmental Injustice of Green Gentrification: Socio-Ecological Change in the Neighborhoods of Brooklyn.”
• Gould, Kenneth A. and Tammy L. Lewis. 2009. “The Paradoxes of Sustainable Development: Focus on Ecotourism.” Pp. xxx-xxx in Twenty Lessons in Environmental Sociology, edited by Kenneth A. Gould and Tammy L. Lewis. New York: Oxford University Press).
• Karlenzig, Warren with Frank Marquardt, Paula White, Rachel Yaseen and Richard Young. 2007. “New York City, NY: Sustainability Out of Necessity.” Pp. 39-41 in How Green Is Your City? The SustainLane US City Rankings. Canada: New Society Publishers
• Karlenzig, Warren. 2008. “What Makes Today’s Green City?” Pp. 346-363 in Growing Greener Cities: Urban Sustainability in the Twenty-First Century, edited by Eugenie L. Birch and Susan M. Wachter. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
• Liu, Amy and Bruce Katz. 2009. “Katrina Is Everywhere: Lessons from the Gulf Coast.” Pp. 81-94in Breakthrough Communities: Sustainability and Justice in the Next American Metropolis, edited by M. Paloma Pavel. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
• Vitiello, Domenic. 2008. “Growing Edible Cities.” Pp. 259-278 in Growing Greener Cities: Urban Sustainability in the Twenty-First Century, edited by Eugenie L. Birch and Susan M. Wachter. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.