课程编号：			课程性质：	Optional
课程名称：	环境冲突、安全与发展		学时/学分：	36/2
英文名称：	Environmental Security, Conflict and Development		考核方式：	Open book test
选用教材：	Jeffrey Sachs, The Age of Sustainable Development , Columbia University Press, 2015		大纲执笔人：	J. Harrington
先修课程：	None		大纲审核人：	J. Harrington
适用专业：	All

 

COURSE OBJECTIVES AND DESIRED COMPETENCIES

 

Students will demonstrate skills and competencies in the following areas:

 

· Demonstrate adequate skills of expression including grammar and rhetoric.

· Demonstrate appropriate analytical skills, comprehension and insight.

· Demonstrate effective research skills.

· Demonstrate an ability to develop logical arguments.

· Demonstrate a working knowledge of major IR theories and how they may apply to the study of global environmental governance.

· Demonstrate a working knowledge global environmental governance laws and regimes.

· Demonstrate an understanding of the major strands of environmentalism.

· Demonstrate an understanding of possible political ramifications of ecosystem degradation, depletion and resource scarcity on domestic political structures.

· Demonstrate a capacity to compare and contrast multiple theoretical approaches.

· Demonstrate an understanding of how changing external circumstances such as the alteration of global ecosystems may influence global governance and challenge existing theoretical approaches.

 

SCHEDULE OF READINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Week 1 What is sustainable development: An introduction

Reading:

Sachs Chapter 1: The Age of Sustainable Development.

Harrington (2008). The Climate Diet

Lecture:

What is sustainable development and why should we care?

Watch Jeffrey Sachs lecture on Age of Sustainable Development book.

Week 2 Inequality and sustainable development

Reading:

Sachs Chapter 2: An Unequal World

Review Millennium Development Goals Report 2015. Focus on progress made.

English version: http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/mdg/the-millennium-development-goals-report-2015.html

Chinese version: http://www.un.org/zh/millenniumgoals/

Lecture:

What you do think development is?

 

Week 3 Global development: What can be done to bring prosperity to all?

Reading:

Sachs Chapter 3: A brief history of economic development.

Sachs Chapter 4: Why are some countries developed while others are poor?

Lecture:

Causes of poverty and the Bottom Billion.

 

Week 4 Traditional economics: It is not enough

Reading:

Sachs Chapter 6: Planetary boundaries

Lecture:

Eco-economics: An alternative approach

 

Week 5 The science of climate change

Reading:

Sachs Chapter 6: Climate change

Lecture:

The effects of climate change:

Quiz 1

 

Week 6 The link between environment and security

Read:

Sachs Chapter 7: Climate change

Homer-Dixon (1994). Environmental Scarcities and Violent Conflict: Evidence from Cases. International Security. Vol. 19, No. 1, (Summer, 1994), pp. 5-40.

Lecture:

The Kyoto Protocol and climate change

Begin discussion of environmental security case studies:

http://www1.american.edu/ted/ICE/iceall.html#Dec2010 and the Institute for Environmental Security http://www.envirosecurity.org/espa/. Pick one case and be prepared to discuss in class.

Homer Dixon: The world is way from equilibrium https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-Oqd2dZIhM.

Cleo Pascal: Global warring? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYR5SGqoOGo.

Week 7 Biodiversity

Reading:

Sachs Chapter 13: Saving biodiversity and protecting ecosystem services.

Continue discussion of environmental security case studies:

http://www1.american.edu/ted/ICE/iceall.html#Dec2010 and the Institute for Environmental Security http://www.envirosecurity.org/espa/. Pick one case and be prepared to discuss in class.

 

Week 8 Food Security

Readings:

Sachs Chapter 10: Food security

World food program website http://www1.wfp.org/.

Lecture:

Environmental change and global conflict: Could it happen?

Videos: http://www1.wfp.org/

South Sudan food crisis

Week 9 Gender and Development

Readings:

Sachs Chapter 9: Health for all

World Health Organization: Global partnership for health

Lecture:

Gender & development and Health & culture: Are you sick?

 

Videos:

Global Gender Gap Report

Why gender quality is good for everyone

Climate change and pandemics

 

Week 10 Education and Development

Readings:

Sachs Chapter 8: Education for all

Quiz 2

 

Week 11 Cities and Sustainable Development

Readings:

Sachs Chapter 11: Resilient cities

Lecture:

Urban Transport, Urban Planning

Sustainability & Good Urban Governance

 

Week 12 The Promise of New Technologies

Readings:

 

Week 13 Social Transformation and Sustainable Development

Readings:

Sachs Chapter 7: Social Inclusion

Videos: Stiglitz: The price of inequality https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYHT4zJsCdo.

Stiglitz: Making globalization work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzhD7KVs-R4.  

 

Week 14 Putting it all Together

Detailed analysis of the Sustainable Development Goals: What is possible?

Detailed analysis of the sustainable Development Goals: What is desirable?

Lecture:

Is it too late?

Possible futures?

UNTV Our future https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YQIaOldDU8.

Leonardo Di Caprio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ka6_3TJcCkA.

Elon Musk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QygpaIJclm4.

 

Week 15 -16 Final exam

 

METHODOLOGY

Classroom teaching: lectures, discussions, presentations, questions & answers.

 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Discussion (20%)

Class discussion is an important component of this course. You cannot participate if you are not in class (regular logging into BB).  I reserve the right to make additional grade deductions beyond 50 points for excessive absences at my discretion. Of course, I also expect you to contribute to daily class discussion in a collegial/constructive manner.

Quizzes (20%)

The students are supposed to take a quiz in week 5 and 10.

Article reviews (20%)

Each student is required to write one article review (book chapter or article) from our course readings. I will assign these articles by the beginning of week 2 of the term. The result of this collaborative effort will be to create a stack of article reviews that everyone can use. More details on this assignment and sample reviews are provided in our BB shell. I will assign the readings during the second week class. Please post your article reviews on the appropriate discussion thread in Blackboard. The article reviews are due at the end of week 4. Reviews should also be posted under the Turnitin tab by the due date.

 

case study (20%)

Each student is expected to develop one 12-15 page case study. We will use a methodology presented in the appendix in Homer-Dixon’s Environment, Scarcity and Violence, pp. 169-176. See Homer-Dixon (1994) Environmental Scarcities and Violent Conflict: Evidence from Cases. International Security, Vol. 19, No. 1, (Summer, 1994), pp. 5-40 (posted under the course documents tab in BB. Also check out cases from the Mandala Project http://www1.american.edu/ted/ICE/iceall.html#Dec2010 and the Institute for Environmental Security http://www.envirosecurity.org/espa/. Cases should be posted under the Turnitin tab by the end of week 8.

Exams (20%)

We will have one take home exam in this class. The exam questions will be distributed to the class during week 8. You will have one week to complete.

 

MAKE-UP WORK POLICY

All classes missed must be made up, regardless of whether the absences were excused or unexcused. Make-up assignments may or may not be given by the instructor at his discretion.

 

Required Textbooks & Other Materials

1. Jeffrey Sachs, The Age of Sustainable Development, Columbia University Press, March 2015.

2. Thomas F. Homer-Dixon, Environment, Scarcity, and Violence (Paperback), Princeton University Press, July 2, 2001;

3. Pamela S. Chasek , David L. Downie, Janet Welsh Brown, Global Environmental Politics (Dilemmas in World Politics), Paperback, Westview Press, 7^th Edition, August 2, 2016;

4. Cleo Paska, Global Warring: How Environmental, Economic, and Political Crises Will Redraw the World Map, Hardcover , St. Martin's Press; 1^st edition, January 5, 2010.