I. General Information

1. Course Title:
Culture & Environment

2. Course Prefix & Number:
SOCL 2422

3. Course Credits and Contact Hours:

Credits: 3

Lecture Hours: 3

Lab Hours: 0

4. Course Description:

Students will examine environmental issues from a sociological perspective. The focus will be on social, political, and economic factors which encourage or discourage protection of the natural life support systems of earth. What steps are going to be required to restore our damaged resources and create a sustainable society for future generations? Considering the implications of what we have studied, students will be encouraged to develop a personal philosophy.

5. Placement Tests Required:

Accuplacer (specify test):

Reading College Level CLC or Reading College Level

Score:

6. Prerequisite Courses:

There are no prerequisites for this course.

9. Co-requisite Courses:

There are no corequisites for this course.

II. Transfer and Articulation

1. Course Equivalency - similar course from other regional institutions:

Bemidji State University, SOC 3050 Environmental Sociology, 3 credits
St. Cloud Technical and Community College, SOCI 2305 Environmental Sociology, 3 credits

III. Course Purpose

2. MN Transfer Curriculum (General Education) Courses - This course fulfills the following goal area(s) of the MN Transfer Curriculum:

• Goal 5 – History and the Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Goal 10 – People and the Environment

IV. Learning Outcomes

1. College-Wide Outcomes

College-Wide Outcomes/Competencies	Students will be able to:
Demonstrate written communication skills	Submit written responses to academic journal articles that have been assigned.
Demonstrate reading and listening skills	Read assigned materials in textbooks.
Discuss/compare characteristics of diverse cultures and environments	Apply sociological concepts to help understand themselves and the world around them.

2. Course Specific Outcomes - Students will be able to achieve the following measurable goals upon completion of the course:

• Employ the methods and data that historians and social and behavioral scientists use to investigate the human condition. MnTC Goal 5
• Examine social institutions and processes across a range of historical periods and cultures. MnTC Goal 5
• Develop and communicate alternative explanations or solutions for contemporary social issues. MnTC Goal 5
• Use and critique alternative explanatory theories. MnTC Goal 5
• Explain the basic structure and function of various natural ecosystems and of human adaptive strategies within those systems. MnTC Goal 10
• Describe the basic institutional arrangements (social, legal, political, economic, religious) that are evolving to deal with environmental and natural resource challenges. MnTC Goal 10
• Evaluate critically environmental and natural resource issues in light of understandings about interrelationships, ecosystems, and institutions. MnTC Goal 10
• Discern patterns and interrelationships of biophysical and sociocultural systems. MnTC Goal 10
• Articulate and defend actions they would take on various environmental issues. MnTC Goal 10

V. Topical Outline

Listed below are major areas of content typically covered in this course.

1. Lecture Sessions

1. What is Environmental Sociology?
• People and the Environment
• Socio-Cultural Evolution
2. Population Issues
• Dynamics of Population Growth
• Theory: Thomas Malthus and Karl Marx
3. Water Resources
• Water as a Scarce Resource
• Water Contamination
4. Waste
• Chemical and Toxic Waste
• Over-Consumption
5. Air Pollution
• Types of Air Pollution
• Air Pollution and the Environment
6. Soil, Crops, Food
• Industrial Farming
• Protecting Farmland From Non-Farm Use
7. Energy
• Energy Consumption
• The Present Energy System
8. Climate Change
• Is the Planet Really Warming?
• Human Causes of Global Warming
9. Ozone Layer
• What has caused ozone layer depletion?
• What has humankind done to alleviate the problem of ozone layer depletion?
10. Social Movements
• Environmentalism
• Promoting Social Change