Degradation and Development in Tropical Forests

 Tutorial - Fall 2005

Meeting T, Th 8:00-10:00 ARH RM 315

Instructor Monty Roper Goodnow Rm 204 Tel: 269-3017 e-mail: roperjm@grinnell.edu

Office Hours: M-F 1:15-2:00, M/W/F: 4:15-5:00, T/TH 10-12 (excluding convo dates), and by appointment. Basically, I am happy to have you stop by at any time; however, sometimes during non-office hours, I might be occupied and unable to meet. I will be happy, though, to schedule appointments during non-office hours.

Course Content: What’s a “Tropical Forest”? Why are they disappearing? Should we care? And what can be done about it? In this course, we will make an interdisciplinary examination of deforestation and development in tropical forests, focusing on Latin America and particularly on the Amazon basin. We will examine the ecological structure of the forests, the various stakeholders in tropical forests and the relations between them, and how these actors relate to the causes and consequences of forest degradation and unsustainable development. Finally, we will explore the costs and benefits for people living in and around these areas and for society in general of a variety of alternative development and forest protection options.

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. 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 to class prepared to participate everyday and to actively engage one another in discussion. 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? 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.

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.

Grading

Assignment	Percentage of Final Grade
Academic Honesty Exercise	No Grade. Required for completion of course.
Class Participation: Includes participation in class discussions, peer reviews of papers, and honest effort on non-graded assignments.	30%
Outline and Summaries: outline and summary writing will be graded from Sept 15^th onward. All entries will be equally weighted.	10%
Discussion Leaders: 1^st set of group led discussions will not be graded.	10%
Essays P3 – P6: Only the best three will count towards final grade.	30%
Final research paper	15%
Final presentation	5%

Course Outline

Day	Reading (Reading assignments are tentative)	Assignments (Additional instructions will be provided for many of the assignments.)	Class Activities
Topic 1: Images of Tropical Forests
Aug 25		P1. 300 word essay – What is a tropical forest?	The function of Tutorial. Overview of the course. Discussion discussion. Sharing and discussion on essays.
Aug 30	Vandermeer and Perfecto Ch 9 “Who Constructs the Rain Forest?” Bates, “Spring, Summer, and Autumn in One Tropical Day” (Ch 1, Place) Eustasio “The Champion of Destruction” (Ch 3, Place) Reichel-Dolmatoff, “A Well-Adapted Life” (Ch 6, Place)	P2. 400 word essay – choose an image of a tropical forest from any form of media and explain what you think is being portrayed.	In-class presentation of essays. Discussion.
Sept 1	John Dickenson, “Too Many Trees: Not Enough Wood? A Review of Recent Literature on Brazilian Amazonia.” Vandermeer and Perfecto, “A Spider Web or a House of Cards?” (Ch 2, Place)	Summarize one of the readings – no more than 250 words.	Discussion of images/views of tropical forests. Initial discussion of Academic Honesty.
Topic 2: The Biological and Ecological Structure
Sept 6	J. Terborgh 1992 Diversity and the Tropical Rain Forest. (Ch1 “The Biological Exuberance of the Tropics”)	Academic Honesty Exercise	Academic Honesty Exercise Discussion of readings.
Sept 8	J. Terborgh, “The Paradox of Tropical Luxuriance.” Article 2 TBA	Outline one of the readings, and write a summary of no more than 250 words and a discussion question based on the text.	Discussion of readings.
Sept 13	No Reading – work on report.	P3. Report: Write a report describing 3 main features of the biology/ecology of tropical forests. No more than 500 words.	Library Presentation and Information Literacy Exercises (Meet in the current periodicals and catalog/ computer area)
Sept 15	P. Stahl, “Halocene Biodiversity: An Archaeological Perspective from the Americas” W. Denevan, “The Pristine Myth: The Landscape of the Americas in 1492.” N. Smith, “Anthrosols and Human Carrying Capacity in Amazonia.”	Outline one of the readings, and write two discussion questions based on the text. Anonymous peer review comments due, Review of a peer’s paper	Discussion of readings. Each student assigned to read and be prepared to discuss one of the 3 readings.
Topic 3. The Social Structure - Local People and Other Stakeholders
Sept 20	Indigenous People Leslie Sponsel. 1986 Amazon Ecology and Adaptation. B. Conklin and L. Graham 1995 The Shifting Middle Ground: Amazonian Indians and Eco-Politics.	Prepare for group discussion	Group led discussions
Sept 22	Peasants, Caboclos, Cities E. Ross 1978 The Evolution of the Amazon Peasantry. B. Godfrey 1990 Boom Towns of the Amazon	Prepare for group discussion	Group led discussions
Sept 27	The State J. Martins Filho and D. Zirker 2000 Nationalism, National Security, and Amazonia: Military Perceptions and Attitudes in Contemporary Brazil		Class discussion
Sept 29	NGOs G. Gereffi, R. Garcia-Johnson, E. Sasser 2001 The NGO-Industrial Complex. P. Nelson 1997 Deliberation, Leverage or Coercion? The World Bank, NGOs, and Global Environmental Politics B. Conklin and L. Graham 1995 The Shifting Middle Ground: Amazonian Indians and Eco-Politics.	P4. Essay: No more than 500 words. Compare how Environmental NGOs are portrayed in two different articles. Information Literacy Exercise due.	Class discussion
Topic 4. The Causes of Deforestation and Degradation
Oct 4	Karen Ehrhardt-Martinez 1998 Social Determinants of Deforestation in Developing Countries: A Cross-National Study.	Outline one of the readings, and come up with two discussion questions. Revision of P3. Report.	Class discussion
Oct 6	M. Leach and J. Fairhead 2000 Challenging Neo-Malthusian Deforestation Analysis in West Africa’s Dynamic Forest Landscapes.	Outline one of the readings, and come up with two discussion questions.	Class discussion Making a formal presentation
Oct 11	R. Godoy, D. Wilkie, and J. Franks 1997 The Effects of Markets on Neotropical Deforestation: A Comparative Study of Four Amerindian Societies R. Gullison and E. Losos 1993 The Role of Foreign Debt in Deforestation in Latin America	Outline one of the readings, and come up with two discussion questions.	Class discussion
Oct 13	TBA	Individual Presentations: Each student will select a country with tropical forest and present to the class on the state of these forests. P5. Essay: Make an argument for who is to primarily to blame for deforestation in a particular area. No more than 800 words.	Individual Presentations
Fall Break
Topic 5. Case Study: The Amazon
Oct 25	R. Bryant, J. Rigg, and P. Stott 1993 Introduction: Forest Transformation and Political Ecology in SoutheastAsia		Library – Information Science Refresher Class discussion
Oct 27	Amazon Journal	Prepare for group discussion	Group led discussions
Nov 1	Amazon Journal	Prepare for group discussion	Group led discussions
Nov 3	Amazon Journal	Academic Honesty & Information Literacy revisions. Outline essay P6 on Amazon Journal.	Preregistration Prep Share outlines in class
Topic 6. Why Save the Forest? The Consequences of Deforestation and Degradation
Nov 8	Norman Meyers 1992 The Primary Source. Chaps 10 (A Cornucopia of Foods) and 11 (Pharmaceutical Factories)	P6. Essay draft on Amazon Journal.	Class discussion. Each student assigned to focus on one article.
Nov 10	Norman Meyers 1992 The Primary Source. Chaps 14 (Environmental Services) and 15 (Climatic Linkages).	Peer Review Comments on P6 (Nov 11 – revision of P6 Due)	Peer review meetings
Nov 15	Daniel Faber "Revolution in the Rainforest".	P5 Revisions Due	Class Discussion on reading
Topic 6. What Can be Done? Alternatives to Deforestation and Degradation.
Nov 17	Conservation Interview with David Kaimowitz, Director of CIFOR. S. Schwartzman, A. Moreira, and D. Nepstad 2000 Rethinking Tropical Forest Conservation: Perils in Parks. K. Redford and S. Sanderson 2000 Extracting Humans from Nature (a reply to Schwartzman et. Al.) J. Terborgh 2000 The Fate of Tropical Forests: A Matter of Stewardship (reply to Schwartzman et. Al.)	P7. Research Paper Bibliography of 20 sources related to topic of research paper.	Class discussion
Nov 22	Anthony Anderson 1990 “Deforestation in Amazonia: Dynamics, Causes, and Alternatives” (pp 10-19) Robert Goodland 1992 “Neotropical Moist Forestes: Priorities for the Next Two Decades”	P7. Research Paper Outline	5-7 minute individual Presentations: State of the forests in selected country
Nov 24	Thanksgiving Break
Nov 29	http://www.geo.coop/KallariC1203.htm (about the Kallari project) http://www.grist.org/comments/interactivist/2004/09/27/logback/index1.html (interview with guest speaker)	P7. Research Paper Draft 1	Guest speaker on kallari project. Class discussion
Dec 1	No Reading		Discussion of Kallari Project and other Solutions
Dec 6	No Reading	Prepare presentations	Final Presentations
Dec 8	No Reading	Prepare presentations	Final Presentations
Dec 15th	Final Draft of Research Paper is Due.