Re: Crichton's "State of Fear"

[Michael Maniates]

Sorry...I meant "email me off-list."  

MM


> Good stuff to point out.  I let me students discover this on their own, 
> which leads to all kinds of interesting discussions 'round the table.  
> For those who'd like additional references to/analyses of The Great 
> Global Warming Swindle, email me off-line.
> 
> Cheers,
> Mike Maniates
> 
> > If you’re using the ‘great global warming swindle’, it’s worth
> know> ing that
> > Channel 4, the UK channel which produced it, is currently being done 
by 
> the
> > TV regulators there for blatantly distorting things scientists they
> > interviewed said, and various other specious claims in the film. See:
> > http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jul/19/channel4.climatechange. Of
> > course being done by the regulators only proves how deep the 
conspiracy 
> is
> > :-)
> > 
> > It’s also worth noting that Martin Durkin has been behind a series 
of
> > ‘controversial’ documentaries, many of which have ended up in the
> court> s for
> > telling lies about all sorts of things, notably one which denied 
there 
> was
> > a
> > concentration camp at Srebrenica, as well as an earlier anti-green one
> > called ‘against nature’. There’s an interesting political twist 
in
> th> at
> > Durkin is closely associated with a group which was formerly the
> > Revolutionary Communist Party in the UK. They were a weird group,
> officiall> y
> > lefty but held a bizarre highly libertarian line which aligned them 
well
> > with what you might expect from the Heritage Foundation et al. they 
> still
> > get extraordinary exposure in the UK given how tiny they have always 
> been.
> > 
> > Mat
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > -- 
> > Matthew Paterson
> > Professor of Political Science
> > School of Political Studies
> > Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa
> > 55, rue Laurier est / 55 Laurier East
> > Ottawa, Ontario
> > K1N 6N5
> > Canada
> > 
> > tel: +1 613 562-5800 x1716
> > Fax +1 613 562-5371
> > E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > Web site: http://www.socialsciences.uottawa.ca/pol/eng/index.asp
> > Co-editor, Global Environmental Politics:
> > http://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/glep
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > From: Michael Maniates <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > Date: Sun, 20 Jul 2008 18:55:51 -0400
> > To: <gep-ed@listserve1.allegheny.edu>
> > Subject: Re: Crichton's "State of Fear"
> > 
> > (Ooops.  I posted this earlier note this morning, but inadvertently 
> sent it
> > only to Michelle.  MM)
> > 
> > Michelle and others,
> > 
> > I've used portions of the book, along with showing the 
> short "documentary"
> > titled The Great Global Warming Swindle.  I then invite my students to
> > burrow into the natural science record and critically evaluate the 
> claims
> > and uncover the "cherry picking" of the natural-science record 
present 
> in
> > both sources.
> > 
> > I've found this to be a useful exercise.  In my experience (and I've 
> come
> t> o
> > learn this the hard way), if we don't teach students about the
> > pseudo-science (i.e. all warming is due to variations in sun-spot 
> activity,
> > etc.), they're utterly flummoxed the first time they hear these 
> arguments
> > and critiques.  I do this in my global environmental politics course 
as 
> an
> > example of how public perception can be easily swayed by pseudo-
science,
> bu> t
> > how it can also be significantly swayed in the other direction by 
> coherent
> > rebuttal.  I like the outcomes: students are empowered to "check up" 
on 
> all
> > sort of claims, mainstream and skeptic, around climate change and 
other
> > topics.
> > 
> > I'd be far less satisfied with this exercise if it didn't ask the 
> students
> > to assess the veracity of the skeptic arguments (and write a tight,
> > referenced paper), drawing on an array of sources (print and 
Internet) 
> to
> > which I point them, and which they discover on their own.
> > 
> > Mike Maniates
> > 
> > At 06:58 PM 7/18/2008, you wrote:
> > > Has anyone used Michael Crichton‚s STATE OF FEAR book in a 
course? I
> wa> s
> > > thinking of having students read it the same week we watch AN
> INCONVENIEN> T
> > > TRUTH in my climate politics class.
> > >  
> > > Thoughts?
> > > Michele
> > >  
> > > ____________________________
> > > Michele M. Betsill, Ph.D.
> > > Associate Professor
> > > Department of Political Science
> > > Clark B350
> > > Colorado State University
> > > Fort Collins, CO 80523
> > > USA
> > > 970-491-5270
> > > 970-491-2490 (fax)
> > > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > >  
> > 
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
>