Society and Natural Resource: Introduction to the course and online project

Society and Natural Resource came into being in the year 1998 at a faculty meeting where it was suggested that Society and Natural Resource can serve as a companion course focusing on human dimensions of environmental problems. the idea was well received and Dr. Heywood, the person who was rooting for the course was asked to develop the course.

The idea was to develop a course focusing on social science theories, where these social science theories act as perspectives to analyze and understand environmental and natural resource problems, issues and social conflicts that frequently developed.

There are three theories that remain as the foundation for this course: 1. Structural Functionalism, 2. Social Dilemmas and 3. Symbolic Interactionism.

As a General Education Curriculum (GEC) course, ENR 2300, fulfills the requirements for Category 2 Breadth: Social Science. Such courses develop students’ understanding of the systematic study of human behavior and cognition; of the structure of human societies, cultures, and institutions; and of the processes by which individuals, groups, and societies interact, communicate, and use human, natural, and economic resources.

Course objectives

At the conclusion of this course, students will be able to:

·     Describe key concepts and variables of three theories of social scientific inquiry – structural functionalism, social dilemmas, and symbolic interactionism.

·     Apply concepts from these theories to understand the complexity of coupled human and natural systems and potential policy and management responses to environmental challenges

·     Identify and explain the multiple factors and processes that influence the behaviors and decisions of individuals, society, and organizations

·     Examine the psychological and social factors that influence their own perspectives on today’s environmental challenges and potential responses

The Project:

This blog activity encourages students to find articles that are relevant to the course. Along with the article the students are also required to include a summary of the article an explain how it applies to the course concepts. The idea is to improve understanding of the course concepts and also enable students to apply those course concepts to the real world examples. This activity is also expected to trigger student's interest and awareness in various environment issues.