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Current
and Recent Courses
005 | 022 | 94GX | 187 | 188 |
195 | 205 | 227 | 292
Here is some information on the courses I teach, listed in numerical
order from lower-division undergraduate through graduate. Click on the
course URL to go to the most recent website. I've provided an estimate
of when I next plan to offer each course; please email
me to confirm
as these plans may change.
Course number: |
Geography 5 |
Course title: |
Introductory Human Geography |
Course URL: |
http://real.geog.ucsb.edu/005 (not active) |
GE: |
Area D (Social Science) |
Next offered: |
Spring 2005 (taught by other faculty as well) |
Description: |
Geography 5 is an introduction
to human geography, the study of people on earth. Most people
think of geography as maps and spatial analysis, but when I teach
the course I stress the three interrelated, but quite different,
geographical themes of space, place, and human-environment
interaction. If you take this course from me you'll gain not
only a background in human geography, but a larger perspective on
the ways people are studied in the social and behavioral sciences
and the humanities. You may download a PDF version of the syllabus and class
schedule from spring 2004; the online course site was unfortunately
trashed due to a disk failure. |
Course
number: |
Geography 22 |
Course title: |
Nature, Science, and Religion |
Course URL: |
http://real.geog.ucsb.edu/022 |
GE : |
Areas C, D, or E-2; Writing Requirement |
Next offered: |
Winter 2005 |
Description: |
Geography 22 is offered
in connection with UCSB's New
Visions of Nature, Science, and Religion program, and will be
taught to lower-division UCSB students as well as interested
members of the public via an online UCSB
Extension course. The course focuses on five different metaphors
or "visions" of nature spanning the sciences and humanities;
each has important implications for how we think about science, religion,
and their relationship. Students will participate in several innovative
learning features, including weekly movies, reading seminars, and
online forums and assignments. |
Course
number: |
Interdisciplinary Studies 94GX |
Course title: |
Nature, Science, and Religion |
Course URL: |
http://real.geog.ucsb.edu/94 |
Next offered: |
Summer 2004 |
Description: |
This freshman seminar utilizes movies, readings,
online resources, and face-to-face discussions to introduce you
to five important "visions" or metaphors for biophysical
and human nature spanning the physical and life sciences, social
and behavioral sciences, and humanities, each of which carries
important implications for science, religion, and their relationship.
The five metaphors presented in the course will allow us to explore
the competing ways society understands the relationship between
nature, science, and religion through such topics as evolutionary
theory, complexity theory, advances in genetics, and the role of
spirituality and culture. See the New
Visions of Nature, Science, and Religion website for
background information on this topic.
|
Course
number: |
Geography 187 |
Course title: |
The Idea of Nature |
Course URL: |
http://real.geog.ucsb.edu/187 (login as Guest User/guest) |
Next offered: |
Spring 2005 |
Description: |
Consider a simple question posed by
Neil Evernden: "What is this 'nature' that we hasten
to defend?" (see The Social Creation of
Nature, 1993). The answer
may be far less straightforward than people commonly assume. "Nature," declares
Raymond Williams, "is perhaps the most complex word in the language";
he concludes that "The idea of nature is the idea of man [sic]." Nature
is of course not just an idea in our heads: it is both social construct
and autonomous process. But these facets of nature intermingle in
complex ways. The objective of Geography 187 is equip students
with theoretical perspectives to help them think critically about
how nature is understood in science and society, and ultimately to
help you come to terms with your own idea(s) of nature. |
Course
number: |
Geography 188 |
Course title: |
Environmental Ethics |
Course URL: |
http://real.geog.ucsb.edu/188 (login as Guest User/guest) |
Next offered: |
N/A |
Description: |
I taught this course for many years at UCSB,
and have recently moved on with new courses, but I'm
still interested in ethical questions, and plan to incorporate some
relevant material into my 187 course. There's a good reason why:
concepts of what is and what ought to
be (i.e., 187 and 188
domains) are generally intermingled, even though epistemology and
ethics are generally treated as distinct fields of philosophy, and
facts and values are commonly understood as separable. My preference
is to examine the relationship between these two domains rather
than dismiss it a priori. |
Course
number: |
Geography 195 |
Course title: |
Nature, Science, and Religion: A Pilot Course |
Course URL: |
http://real.geog.ucsb.edu/195 |
Next offered: |
Fall 2004 |
Description: |
Debates over biophysical and human nature abound:
should we save the rainforest? should we have designer babies? what
about biotechnology? are people any different than other mammals?
These debates are fed by contemporary scientific research as well
as religious and spiritual beliefs; the result is a vast array of
conflicting concepts of nature. This pilot course examines the relations
between nature, science, and religion, seeking ways to bring differing
views of nature into closer dialogue in order to resolve these disputes.
You will do weekly online assignments, supplemented by readings,
movies, and in-depth discussions; your feedback on these course elements
will help us finalize a new lower-division course to be offered winter
term 2005. Geography 195 is appropriate for a wide variety of majors;
click
here for a flyer. |
Course
number: |
Geography 205 |
Course title: |
Seminar in Environmental Geography |
Course URL: |
http://real.geog.ucsb.edu/205 |
Next offered: |
Fall 2004 |
Description: |
Geography 205 is my generic seminar in
environmental geography; recent themes have included "Theory in Environmental
Social Science" and "Nature and Authority in Popular Culture: From
Environmental Science to Ecotheology." Currently, Geography 205 is
offered in conjunction with UCSB's New
Visions of Nature, Science, and Religion program, and offers
graduates advanced reading on five "visions" or metaphors for biophysical
and human nature, and their scientific and religious dimensions.
The seminar is offered for either 2 or 4 units: the 2-unit option
allows busy grads to participate in all activities without doing
a major research project (required of 4-unit participants). In addition to the current course website, click here for the Winter 2004 seminar (see note at bottom). |
Course
number: |
Geography 227 |
Course title: |
Scientific Reasoning in Geography |
Course URL: |
N/A |
Next offered: |
Unknown (taught by other faculty as well) |
Description: |
Geography 227 offers grads the opportunity to
reflect on the use of science in physical and human geography. In
past I've taught it as a general seminar in geographic thought, and
as an opportunity to explore the possibility of cross-disciplinary
integration by means of complexity theory. I see geography as a microcosm
of the whole academic spectrum, from (these are caricatures) the
positivists to the postmoderns, differential equations to deconstruction.
That makes 227 a fun class for me to teach, and I hope to do it
again soon. |
Course
number: |
Religious Studies 292 |
Course title: |
Science, Religion, and the Human Experience |
Course URL: |
http://www.srhe.ucsb.edu/292
|
Next offered: |
N/A |
Description: |
I taught Religious Studies 292, Special Topics
in Religious Studies, in fall 2001 and 2002 in conjunction with
UCSB's Science,
Religion, and the Human Experience program. Here was the theme
of the program, and our reading seminar:
Science and religion are two major forces shaping our world. How
do they relate to each other? Some people think of science and
religion as separate domains, of reason versus faith, facts versus
values, or an emphasis on the material versus the spiritual world.
Other people think of science and religion as overlapping domains,
marked either by warfare arising from conflicting claims, or harmony
arising from similar claims. Whether separate or overlapping, one
important and often neglected similarity is the human face of science
and religion: both operate in, yet seek to reach beyond, specific
historical, political, ideological, and psychological contexts
defining the human experience. How may we understand science and
religion as arising from, yet somehow transcending, the human experience? |
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