This course involves two major components: A "workshop" in environmental institutions and an in-depth research paper.
I. The workshop dimension of the course exposes participants to a range of Washington environmental policy-making and policy-influencing institutions, including government agencies and NGOs. Each week, we spend the afternoon at a different location, meeting with environmental professionals in their home offices to try to understand the missions and strategies of the diverse actors who create, affect, and implement international and domestic environmental policy and programs. To prepare for each visit, we study the institution's web-site and publications and read other appropriate materials. We hope to understand contemporary environmental debates and analyze how the institution positions itself to engage and influence policy. Course work includes readings on non-governmental organizations, site visit preparation, and informal on-line “reactions” to each visit, to be posted on Blackboard within a day or two. These postings are REQUIRED, since they are the only way we will be able to check in with each other to share our reactions. You should try to respond to each other when you post, and if you are one of the first to post, check back later and read what others have written. Feel free to post as many times as you like and do try to respond to one another.
The broad topics to be addressed include: What (if anything) makes each institution unique? What is its history, philosophy, culture, mission, strategy, program scope, financing source(s), membership base (if any), evaluation method (if any)? What strategies lead to effective activism and/or effective policy? What is the relationship among environmental institutions and between environmental institutions and other types of institutions? You are expected to be able to ask well-informed questions and engage in intelligent discussion. Remember: host institution staff are sharing their time. Please help make them feel glad to have done so!
II. This course, which serves as a strongly recommended Capstone course for those obtaining their Masters in Global Environmental Policy or Natural Resources and Sustainable Development, also provides a structure for writing a major research paper. In many cases, this will be your SRP, or part of it. The feedback of the group is an essential part of the writing process, and periodic participation in giving this feedback is also a course REQUIREMENT. Since we will be engaged in site visits during much of class time, some of this feedback may be given via Blackboard and/or by exchanging drafts with revolving partners assigned by the professor.
The research component is intended to foster expertise in a particular area of environmental politics and to develop analytical, theoretical and writing skills. With the help of deadlines and feedback, you will be guided through the stages of research, including defining a topic and argument, creating an annotated outline, conducting and writing a review of relevant literature, carrying out research, writing a draft, and revising, editing, and polishing the final text. The final product will be presented semi-formally to outside listeners during the last one or two course sessions, depending on class size. The final paper must be double-spaced, and it must have page numbers, footnotes (or endnotes or parenthetical citations), and list of references. You may use any citation style you wish, but it should be consistent. The paper is due the final day of class. (If you are writing the SRP, you technically have until August 1 to turn that in, without penalty, but you must complete parts of it, polished and perfect, for this class by the due date.)
Logistics: This course meets off campus, and we will travel individually. Plan to arrive at the host institution by 2:30 at the latest. You are responsible for getting there on time -- it may seem rude if we straggle in, and some institutions require that we all be present before any of us can be escorted in (especially true at the State Department and EPA). Class will be dismissed by around 4:45, in time for you to get to 5:30 classes on campus. Metro stops, addresses, and web-sites are provided here.
January 18 NO CLASS – Martin Luther King Day observed
January 23 Organizational Meeting
A written statement of your research area and core research question should be brought to class to share with others. Briefly answer these questions: Why is the topic interesting and important? What do you want to find out? What kinds of sources will you use? What “methods” will you use? What do you expect to argue? What is your provisional title? Some of you have already done much of the work for the paper – please write up what you have along the lines above. Others of you may just be beginning. Please do your best and provide your best estimates at this time.
January 30 Chemonics
www.chemonics.com
Preliminary bibliography due on Blackboard the Monday before class. You should have at least 15 sources, including print sources, at this stage. Please decide NOW which citation style you will be using and familiarize yourself with it. Your bibliographic information should be complete and in the correct format (this will save you a huge hassle down the line). You can start to alphabetize as well.
February 6 NRDC
www.nrdc.org
TWO TASKS FOR RESEARCH:
1) Preliminary statement of argument due – no more than several sentences or a paragraph
What is your position on this issue?
Of what would you like to persuade the reader? (e.g. a new way to understand an issue, something to be done about the issue, etc.)
What approaches or ideas or positions are you disagreeing with?
Could someone reasonably disagree with you? If not, this isn’t an “argument.”
2) Preliminary annotated outline due
Please make your outline quite detailed, but try to limit the number of sections to 3, 4, or 5 so that the paper is “doable.” Use clearly marked subheadings within sections.
February 13 Worldwatch Institute
www.worldwatch.org
Introduction/overview due (3-4 pages, by Monday). This is your first piece of exposition. Try to grab the reader and also tell the reader what s/he can expect in the coming pages.
February 20 TBD, President’s Day. Meet on Campus
“Literature review” due. See the library’s website for what a literature review is. The idea is to familiarize yourself with the arguments about your topic, so that you don’t reinvent the wheel and also so that you can insert yourself appropriately into the discussion through your own work. In many cases, the literature review will follow immediately after the introduction, or be part of the introduction.
You may wish to revisit and revise your argument after you write the literature review.
February 27, State Department
www.state.gov/g/oes and www.sdp.gov
First substantive chapter due. In many cases, this will be some sort of historical review.
March 6 Competitive Enterprise
Second chapter due. This is probably the heart of the paper.
March 13 Spring Break – No Class
March 20 EPA
www.epa.gov
Third chapter due. In many cases this will be an analysis and discussion of what you have done in the second chapter.
March 27 Conservation International
www.conservation.org
Conclusion due (sound the themes of the Introduction once again, tell us what we have learned, cast an eye toward the future).
April 3 World Resources Institute
www.wri.org
REVISIONS
April 10 Friends of the Earth
REVISIONS
April 17 Ocean Conservancy
WORK ON PRESENTATION
April 24
Final Presentations on Campus
May 1 TBA
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