| Degradation
and Development in Tropical Forests
Tutorial
- Fall 2003 |
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Meeting
T, Th 8:00-10:00
Fine Arts Rm 269
Course webpage: http://web.grinnell.edu/courses/tut/F03/tut100-30/index.html
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Instructor
Monty Roper
Goodnow Rm 204
Tel: 269-3017
e-mail: roperjm@grinnell.edu
Webpage: http://web.grinnell.edu/individuals/roperjm/
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Office Hours: 10-12 M-F, and by appointment. During office hours, you are welcome to stop
by without an appointment. During
non-office hours, you are also welcome to stop by, but I will often
be occupied and unable to meet.
I will be happy, though, to schedule appointments during
non-office hours. If you are having problems with course materials
for any reason, I strongly encourage you to come see me. If you need to get in touch with me and are
unable to do so by phone (or prefer not to), you can e-mail me. I check my e-mail regularly.
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Course Content: What’s happening to the
world’s tropical forests?
Why are they disappearing, why should we care, and what can
be done about it? In this course, we will take an interdisciplinary
social science examination of deforestation and development in tropical
forests, focusing on Latin America and
particularly on the Amazon basin.
We will examine the various stakeholders in tropical forests
and the relations between them, and how these actors relate to the
causes and consequences of unsustainable development.
Finally, we will explore the costs and benefits for people
living in and around these areas of a variety of alternative development
options.
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| Course
Objectives and Expectations: The
Tutorial is the only course required for graduation from Grinnell College, and its primary goal is to help you develop skills
that will form the backbone of your liberal education. While this course does encompass a defined
set of materials, it is unlike others in that it is less concerned
with content than about learning some basic academic skills. The principal among these is writing. Indeed, the main focus of this
tutorial is to write a single research paper.
We will work on this project over the entire semester, alternating
the focus of our class from lectures and discussions on assigned
readings to focused writing and editing sessions.
Other important skills that we will work on over the semester
include: research, reading, analysis, engaging in discussion, and
public speaking and presentations.
In addition, the course will introduce you to resources available
on campus that are available to further develop these skills over
the next four years.
Everyone is expected to come prepared to participate
everyday. On some days, you
may be assigned to lead the discussion.
You are also expected to actively engage one another in discussion
in class. Proper participation requires a careful and
thoughtful reading of the required texts.
You must learn to truly engage the writer and the text in
your reading. What is the
author’s argument? What
evidence is used to support the argument?
Is the argument sound and compelling?
What is the logic of the organization?
A reading and writing journal will help you to get in the
habit of taking notes on readings and preparing questions to ask
in class. In class discussions, you must be respectful
to one another, but this does not mean that we need to come
to agreement on issues. Reasoned
debate/argument is one of the principal means of learning as well
as understanding our own basic values and biases. In reviewing the readings, it is likely that
we will occasionally engage in semi-structured debates.
Attendance is required. Each
unexcused absence will result in the loss of one grade (e.g.
from a B+ to a B). Excused
absences include illness (with a note from the health center or
student affairs), family emergencies (with a note from student affairs),
or by prior agreement of the instructor (an e-mail or note from
me). You should arrive on
time for class. Each two
late arrivals will count as one absence in affecting your grade. Anyone who does not by habit wake up sufficiently
before 8:00
am should purchase
or borrow a functioning alarm clock.
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| Assignments
(To
see more detail on assignments, go to the assignments
page) |
| Activity |
Due |
% of final
Grade |
| Academic
Honesty Exercise |
Sept 2 |
Not graded. |
| Class
participation |
Always |
15% |
| Presentations/leading
discussion |
TBA |
10% |
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Writing Assignments |
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| Reading/Writing
journal |
Weekly |
10% |
| Research
Paper Sections |
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Tues, 9/9 |
Not Graded |
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Mon, 9/22 |
5% |
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Mon, 10/13 |
10% |
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Mon, 11/11 |
10% |
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Mon, 12/2 |
5% |
| Final
Paper |
Mon, 12/9 |
25% |
| Annotated
Bibliography |
(with papers) |
10% |
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Topic
1: The state of tropical forests
Week 1
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| Sun, Aug 25 |
1st
Meeting. |
| Th, Aug 28
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Assignments:
- Write a one paragraph
summary of the reading
Activities:
- Academic Honesty
- What’s the Point - Summarizing an article
- Choosing a focus country
- Forests on the Map
Reading:
- Tropical Forests and Deforestation around the world
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Week 2
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| Sept 2 |
Assignments:
- Academic honesty exercise.
- Begin preparing bibliography.
Identify useful books and journals.
- Choose a focus country
Activities
- Library workshop: IAF Room 9:00-9:45
- Building a bibliography.
- Annotating a bibliography
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| Sept 4
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Assignments:
- Identify useful websites
and articles.
Activities:
- Library workshop: IAF Room 9-9:45
- Building a bibliography
- Annotate several websites
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Topic
2: Perceptions of the Forest
Week 3
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| Sept 9
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Assignments:
- Paper 1 Due. Forests and deforestation in my focus
country/region.
- Preliminary Bibliography
Due, with 5 annotations.
Activities:
- Finish discussion on bibliography
- Discussion on each person’s focus country.
- Discussion of articles
Reading:
1. Henry Walter
Batges, Spring, Summer and Autumn in One Tropical Day
2. John Vandermeer and Ivette Perfecto, A Spider
Web or a House of Cards?
3. José Eustasio
Rivera, The Champion of Destruction
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| Sept 11
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Activities:
Reading:
4. Betty J. Meggers and Clifford Evans, Environmental
Limitations on Culture in the Tropical Forest
5. Katherine Milton, Civilization and Its
Discontents
6. Gerardo
Reichel-Dolmatoff, A Well-Adapted Life |
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Topic
3: The Consequences of Deforestation and Degradation
(Why Save
the Forest?)
Week 4
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| Sept 16
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Assignments
Activities
Readings:
13. John Terborgh, A Glimpse at Some Tropical
Habitats
14. David Francis, Natural Resource Losses
Reduce Costa Rican GNP Gains
15. Norman Myers, A Cornucopia of Foods
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| Sept 18
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Activities
Readings:
16. Mark Plotkin, An Earthly Paradise Regained
17. Wendy Call,
Mexico's Highway to Hell
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Week 5
Paper 2 (due Mon 9/22): The Consequences of Forest Degradation |
| Sept 23 |
Activities: Group reading and editing. |
| Sept 25 |
Activities:
Group reading and editing. |
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Topic
4: Causes of Deforestation and Forest Degradation
Week 6
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| Sept 30 |
Activities:
Reading:
7. Manuel Moreno Fraginals, The Death of
the Cuban Forests
8. Philip Howard, The History of Ecological
Marginalization
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| Oct 2 |
Activities:
Reading:
9. Myrna Santiago, Rejecting Progress in
Paradise: Huastecs, the Environment, and the Oil Industry in Veracruz,
Mexico 1900-1935.
10. Daniel Faber, Revolution in the Rainforest
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Week 7
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| Oct 7
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Activities
Reading:
11. José A. Lutzenberger, from Who Is Destroying the Amazon Rainforest
12. Tadeu Valadares, Deforestation: A Brazilian
Perspective |
| Oct 9
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Activities
- Wrap up discussion
- My Bolivian case study
Reading:
Roper, Whose Territory is it? Resource Contestation and Organizational Chaos
in Bolivia’s Multiethnic Indigenous Territory. |
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Week 8
Paper 3 (due 10/13): The Causes of Deforestation |
| Oct 14 |
Activities:
group editing and paper revisions. |
| Oct 16 |
Activities:
group editing and paper revisions. |
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Week 9 |
Fall Recess
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Topic
5. Local People and Other
Stakeholders (Amazonian case studies)
Week 10
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| Oct 28
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Activities
- Films
- Discussion of films and reading
Reading: Amazon
Journal |
| Oct 30
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Activities
- Films
- Discussion of films and reading
Reading: Amazon
Journal |
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Week 11
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| Nov 4
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Activities
Reading: Amazon
Journal |
| Nov 6
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Activities
Reading: Amazon
Journal |
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Week 12
Paper 4 (due 11/10): Stakeholders and Their Relations
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| Nov 11 |
Activities: Group editing and paper revisions |
| Nov 13 |
Activities: Group editing and paper revisions |
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Topic
6. Solutions
Week 13
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| Nov 18
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Assignments: Paper 4 revision due
Activities: Discussion of readings
Readings:
18. Chico Mendes, Fight for the Forest: Building Bridges
19. Darrell A. Posey,
Alternatives to Forest Destruction: Lessons from the Mebengokre
Indians
20. William Booth,
U.S. Drug Firm Signs Up to Farm Tropical Forests
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| Nov 20
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Activities: Discussion of readings
Readings:
21. A.B. Cunningham, Indigenous Knowledge
and Biodiversity
22. John O. Browder, Alternative Rainforest
Uses
23. Rhona Mahony, Debt-for-Nature Swaps: Who
Really Benefits?
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Week 14
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| Nov 25
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Activities: Discussion
Readings:
24. David Rains
Wallace, Reefs, Rainforests, Caves, Ruins, and Rookeries.
25. Susan E. Place,
Ecotourism and the Political Ecology of "Sustianable Development"
in Costa Rica
26. Kathryn Stafford,
Peten Crafts a Future.
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Nov 27 (No
Class - Thanksgiving Nov 27-Dec 2nd)
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Week 15
Paper 5 (due 12/1): Solutions, past and future.
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| Dec 2 |
Activities: Group editing and revisions |
| Dec 4 |
Activities: Group editing and revisions |
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Week 16
Final Paper and Poster Presentation
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| Dec 9 |
Activities: Group editing and revisions |
| Dec 11 |
Activities: Group editing and revisions |
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