For a decent movie check out The 11th Hour released in 2007. It touches all aspects of the course title.
On Thu, Feb 2, 2017 at 12:54 AM, Jane Shevtsov <jane....@gmail.com> wrote: > I taught a similar seminar a few years ago that was built around David > Brin's novel "Earth:. It's idea-dense science fiction that gives students a > lot to sink their teeth into and provides a framework for discussing a lot > of science. I also strongly recommend "The World in 2050" by Laurence C. > Smith, which looks at big environmental and demographic trends. "Thinking > in Systems" by Donella Meadows is also a good supplement. > > Hope that helps, > Jane > > On Wed, Feb 1, 2017 at 6:53 PM, Neufeld, Howard S. <neufel...@appstate.edu > > wrote: > >> Dear All – >> >> This semester I am teaching an experimental Honors seminar course to >> juniors/seniors titled *The Future of Human Civilization: Climate >> Change, Population Growth and the Possibilities for Sustainability*. >> >> >> >> I know the title may sound pretentious, but I purposely wanted to make it >> provocative. The students are a mix of STEM and non-STEM majors. >> >> >> >> I would welcome suggestions for ancillary materials for the course. We >> have a large number of primary journal articles and a large cadre of books, >> including the updated *Limits to Growth*, *2050* and *2052* (yes those >> are two books about the future!), Al Gore’s *The Future*, Oreskes & >> Conway’s *Collapse of Western Civilization*, and Ron Scranton’s *How to >> Die in the Anthropocene*. >> >> >> >> I almost included Diamond’s *Collapse*, which was high on the list, but >> I didn’t think it had the proper perspective. I'm currently reading David >> Biello's *The Unnatural World*. >> >> >> >> I’d be particularly interested in any high quality videos that pertain to >> the course subject, plus further suggestions for readings. We opened with >> Nick Bostrom’s article “*The Future of Humanity*” to set the stage for >> the rest of the course, then followed up with the Ehrlichs’ recent PNAS >> article on whether global civilization can avoid a collapse. Then we read >> Schramski et al.’s article in PNAS on the analogy of Earth as a discharging >> battery. >> >> >> >> Thanks! >> >> Howie Neufeld >> >> -- >> Dr. Howard S. Neufeld, Professor >> Director, Southern Appalachian Environmental Research and Education Center >> (SAEREC) >> Chair, Appalachian Interdisciplinary Atmospheric Research Group (AppalAIR) >> >> Mailing Address: >> Department of Biology >> 572 Rivers St. >> Appalachian State University >> Boone, NC 28608 >> Tel: 828-262-2683 <(828)%20262-2683>; Fax 828-262-2127 <(828)%20262-2127> >> >> Websites: >> Academic: http://biology.appstate.edu/faculty-staff/104 >> Personal: http://www.appstate.edu/~neufeldhs/index.html >> SAEREC: http://saerec.appstate.edu >> AppalAIR: http://appalair.appstate.edu >> Fall Colors: >> Academic: http://biology.appstate.edu/fall-colors >> Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FallColorGuy >> >> > > > -- > ------------- > Jane Shevtsov, Ph.D. > Lecturer and DBER Fellow, UCLA > co-founder, www.worldbeyondborders.org > > "Muad'Dib learned rapidly because his first training was in how to learn. > And the first lesson of all was the basic trust that he *could* learn. > It's shocking to find how many people do not believe they can learn, and > how many more believe learning to be difficult." --Frank Herbert, *Dune* >
