Sociology (SOCI) 450

Environmental Sociology (Revision 2)

Status:

Open

Delivery mode:

Individualized study online

Credits:

Areas of study:

Arts or Social Science

Prerequisites:

An introductory sociology or one other social science course.

Course start date:

If you are a:

Self-funded student: register by the 10th of the month, start on the 1st of the next.
Funded student: please check the next enrolment deadline and course start date.

Precluded:

None

Challenge:

SOCI 450 is not available for challenge.

Faculty:

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

Notes:

This is a Reading course.

Overview

The primary objective of this senior course is to introduce the student to a sociological perspective on ecology and, as ecologist Stan Rowe says, “that blurry concept called environment.” SOCI 450 critically assesses a number of contradictions in the current ways that many social theorists conceive of ecology, the environment, and environmental controversies. To that end, students analyse concepts such as the commons, global ecology, green economics, environmental management, consumption, acquisitiveness and identity, scientific knowledge, and the fashionable term “sustainable development.”

Evaluation

To receive credit for SOCI 450, you must achieve a course composite grade of at least a C- (60 percent). You must also achieve a minimum grade of C- (60 percent) on your final research paper. The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:

Activity	Weight
Critical Comm.	25%
Quizzes	20%
Research Paper Proposal	5%
Annotated Bibliography	20%
Final Research Paper	30%
Total	100%

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.

Materials

Shiva, Vandana, Soil Not Oil: Environmental Justice in an Age of Climate Crisis, Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 2015. (Print)

Turner, Terisa E., and Leigh Brownhill, The New Twenty-First Century Land and Oil Wars, New York: International Oil Working Group, 2009. (Print)

Ashnan Film (producers), Hijacked Future, 2009, 43-minute. Reproduced with permission of David Springbett. (Audio/Video)

Other materials

Students will access all other course materials online.

Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized study counterparts.

Opened in Revision 2, October 26, 2010

Updated August 14, 2023

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Sociology (SOCI) 450

Overview

Outline

Evaluation

Materials

Other materials

Important links