I. Proposal for Approval for Eperimental Course: SOLA TRS 140: TOPICS: SUSTAINABILITY, RELIGION, AND SPIRITUALITY 1.0 units, Pre-requisite: TRS 097 or 189

II. This course is being proposed as part of the process by which the instructor moves from a full time administrative to a full time teaching role at the College. During spring, 2018, Dr. Carp will teach two sections of TRS 097 and one upper division elective section in an area of his specialization – sustainability. This course also supports the EES program by providing a required course that integrates their interdisciplinary programmatic studies with the upper division theology requirement. Dr. Carp taught this course in spring, 2014, as a Special Topics class in TRS.

III.

a. Course Objectives :

1. Students will be able to articulate at least three sets of claims about the religious causes of unsustainable behavior and the evidence and reasoning on which those claims rest;

2. Students will be able to articulate at least three contrary responses to those claims and the evidence and reasoning on which those claims rest;

3. Students will demonstrate through an in-class presentation an in-depth knowledge of the mutual interpenetrations of one religious tradition and ecology;

4. Students will demonstrate through examination the ability to summarize in one paragraph key components of the mutual interpenetrations of religion and ecology in eight religious traditions;

5. Students will be able to articulate the idea of deep ecology and the evidence and reasoning supporting it, and at least three critiques of deep ecology and the evidence and reasoning for them;

6. Students will be able to articulate the difference between the idea of religion and the idea of spirituality, and to articulate at least two arguments in support of their necessary integration and at least two arguments in support of their intrinsic separation, and evidence and reasoning supporting them;

7. Students will be able to identify the meaning of humanism in the context of the religion and sustainability conversation, and articulate the main argument that humanism is the only appropriate course to sustainability and the main argument that humanism is a quasi-religion at the root of unsustainability.

b. I am at a loss to understand the meaning of this question. The academic study of the worlds’ religions is a fundamental hybrid humanities/social science discipline. Linking this field with significant topics that lie beyond it (e.g., sustainability) is a basic trope within the field. This course requires students to achieve an advanced undergraduate ability in humanities and social science research. In addition, since it is interdisciplinary, the course requires evidence of the capacity to integrate methods and data from diverse discplines. As befits a world religions course, it also requires students to engage meaningfully materials from outside their acculturated experience.

IV. Grading:Class participation 20%First mid-term 20% (see sample prompt, below)Presentation 20% (see rubric, below)Second mid-term 20% (see sample prompt, below)Final exam 20% (see sample prompt, below)

SUSTAINABILITY, RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY

First mid-term, March 12th

Spend no more than four hours on this exam: one hour (total) to prepare and one hour per question to write. Please stop writing after an hour. You may complete the exam at one time or have up to three separate writing times – one for each question. You may prepare each question at a separate time, but total preparation time should not exceed one hour. You may, however, read the questions now and let them rattle around in your brain until you begin to work. If you discover you need to complete additional reading before beginning the exam, you may do so. You may attach notes, outlines, quotes you meant to use but didn’t have time for, etc., to the end of the essay to which they pertain. I will take them into consideration in grading.

This exam is due, printed, at the beginning of class Monday, March 17th, except for the members of the Hinduism and Ecology team, whose exams are due, printed, at the beginning of class, Wednesday, March 19th.

1. Describe and discuss the dispute between religious and humanistic interpretations of/responses to perceived threats to world and local ecology. Make specific and detailed references to the articles by White, Moncrief, Ehrenfeld, and Pepper. If possible, set them in the context provided by Hay and reflect on them in the light of one or more articles in Kearns and Keller. Conclude by adding your own contribution to the conversation, if you like.

2. Hay gives us a narrative intellectual history of Western environmentalism. Each chapter is a somewhat self contained narrative of episodes in the larger story he is telling. Recount here what are for you the most important components of the narrative in

EITHER “Ecophilosophy” OR “Ecofeminism.” If the former, locate White, Pepper, Ehrenfeld, and Kearns and Keller within the narrative. If the second, locate Reuther within it, and critique Hay’s discussion of ecofeminism from the standpoint Reuther articulates in “Ecofeminist Philosophy, Theology, and Ethics.”

3. Making detailed and specific references to McDaniel’s article “Ecotheology and World Religions” and at least two other chapters from Kearns and Keller, reflect on how religious responses to ecological decline both reflect and generate religious interpretations of being-human-in-the-world. What role(s) do you think religious organizations can and should play in responding to ecological decline. How do you think they can best do this?

Presentation – Sustainability, Religion, Spirituality: Beginning with the next class, each student group will take one class period to present their text from The Religions of the World and Ecology. This will take eight classes - ( One tradition Indigenous Traditions, Confucianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, Judaism, Islam, Jainism). Presentations should run about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes. The remainder of each class will be devoted to a general discussion of religious traditions and sustainability and to the additional readings.

SUSTAINABILITY, RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY

Second mid-term, April 9th, 2014

Spend no more than four hours on this exam: one hour (total) to prepare and one hour per question to write. Please stop writing after an hour. You may complete the exam at one time or have up to three separate writing times – one for each question. You may prepare each question at a separate time, but total preparation time should not exceed one hour. You may, however, read the questions now and let them rattle around in your brain until you begin to work.. If you discover you need to complete additional reading before beginning the exam, you may do so.

This exam is duem, printed, at the beginning of class April 23d.

1. In class, we heard presentations on eight great religious traditions and ecology (Judaism, Islam, Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Indigenous Religions, Confucianism, and Taoism). In addition we have read a variety of materials from and about Christian traditions. In one substantial paragraph each, discuss these religious traditions as they affect and are affected by ecology, except the one on which you presented. Some questions you might consider:

Are there aspects of each tradition’s practice that tend to support ecological well-being?

Are there aspects of each tradition’s practice that tend to support ecological decline?

Are there aspects of each tradition’s thought that tend to support ecological well-being?

Are there aspects of each tradition’s thought that tend to support ecological

decline?Are there important distinctions within each religion that affect its effects on

ecologies?How have the actual cultural forms that have developed from/in close relationship

with each tradition interacted with various ecological communities?Do the practices and/or ideas of the tradition reflect in some way the ecological

contexts of its origin and development?

2. David Orr proposes four challenges of the transition to sustainability, the fourth of which is “a higher level of spiritual awareness.” What does he mean by spiritual awareness? How is spiritual awareness related to the other three challenges he poses? Why does he think it spiritual awareness is necessary to achieve sustainability. How, if at all, is it related to religion? Jay McDaniel, Jonathon Porritt, and Ian Christie have each responded to Orr’s proposal. Summarize their contributions to the conversation. In what ways, to what extent, and for what reasons do you agree with any or all of these authors?

3. Taken together, our seven articles from Ecospirit explore resources within Western traditions which may provide guidance for supporting ecological well-being. Which of these do you find most helpful, and why? Which seems to you least helpful, and why? Are there helpful ways to connect several of these approaches ? Describe and critique. What would you add to the conversation? What questions seem most urgent to you? In considering these questions, consider Hawken’s thesis of a dispersed world-wide social movement and the ways in which these resources within Western traditions do or do not (or can or cannot) contribute to it, should it exist.

SUSTAINABILITY, RELIGION, SPIRITUALITY - Final exam, May 19, 2014

Spend no more than four hours on this exam: one hour (total) to prepare and three hours to write. Please stop writing after three hours. If you discover you need to complete additional reading before beginning the exam, you may do so. Answer one of the two questions.

This exam is due at the beginning of class, 3:30 pm on Monday, May 19th.

1. You are a participant in Western environmental thought. By making careful comparisons and contrasts between your own understandings and those we have considered over the course of this semester, situate yourself within the main currents of this tradition. Articulate your position on the nature, role,, and importance of place and your political understandings in relation to the three traditions of political thought (authoritarian/conservative, liberal, socialist) that Hay discusses. You may also want to consider your relationship to the question of anthropo/eco-centrism and to the positions contained in ecofeminism. Explain the reasoning and evidence behind your position. Link your position to those of people we have read or read about in this class. Make sure to address those with whom you agree and the major critics/criticisms of your positions.

We have seen that the question of religion/spirituality emerges everywhere within this tradition, and Ecospirit presents a wide range of conceptual and practical responses to ecological degradation that are explicitly religious. Moreover, many concepts that now appear to be secular have religious inspirations. The world’s religions are responding in various ways to claims of ecological disruption, even as religion and/or particular religious responses are variously blamed for creating the crisis, hailed as potentially successful responses, and excoriated as damaging responses. Some believe religion is irrelevant to sustainability, some think it is necessary, and some think we need new forms of religion. Others call for a return to spirituality, distinct from

religion. At the same time, non-Western religions, too, are making their own responses to ecological damage, even as they are being mined by Western thinkers for resources. Because religion/spirituality is so embedded in Western environmental thought and action, your answer will need to take this into account. You may, but are not required to, discuss your own spiritual and/or religious situation and how this affects your current understanding. This might take the form of a discussion of how your religious/spiritual affinities affect your understanding of environmental crisis and appropriate response, how your understanding of environmental crisis and appropriate response affects your understanding of or participation in your religious/spiritual context, or both. You may also, of course, reflect on other religious traditions and their roles in (or resources for) creating, maintaining, and/or resolving ecological crisis.

Obviously there is much more you could write than you will be able to complete in three hours. One of your most difficult tasks will be to prioritize, so that you discuss what is most important first.

2. As completely as you are able, discuss and articulate the various ways in which religion, spirituality, and environmental thought are intertwined and how this has developed and changed over time. Make sure to refer directly and in specific detail to a broad range of our readings from throughout the semester, especially those since the second mid-term. Be especially certain to consider closely the Hay and Kearns & Keller readings on place and on the three political traditions (authoritarian/conservative, liberal, socialist), as well as the readings in Ecospirit since the second midterm. Connect, as well, to large questions (such as anthropo/ecocentrism) and main movements (such as ecofeminism).

Obviously there is much more you could write than you will be able to complete in three hours. One of your most difficult tasks will be to prioritize, so that you discuss what is most important first.

3. EXTRA CREDITFor up to two points extra credit on your final grade: During the last third of the semester, there were four articles from Ecospirit on the recommended reading list. Professor Marie Pagliarini also made an in class presentation on her work. Choose two of these five resources, and in a well formed essay of approximately one printed double spaced page, compare and contrast them. The recommended readings are listed below.

Kearns and Keller:Lee, “The Hope of the Earth: A Process Eschatology for South Korea”Bauman, “Creatio ex Nihilo, Terra Nullius, and the Erasure of PresenceHiggins, “Toward a Deleuze-Guattarian Micropneumatalogy of Spirit-

Dust”Wood, “Specters of Derrida: On the Way to Econstruction”

V. This course satisfies a Core upper division requirement. It also fits nicely into the concerns of students in the EES program. When offered in spring 2014 the class was full at 25. I anticipate it will run at capacity in any Saint Mary’s College classroom, depending only on class size limits.

VI. The course meets three of the criteria for upper division status. It has college level prerequisites, demands rigor characteristic of advanced students, and includes course objectives with a high level of cognitive achievement.

VII. This is one of a number of upper division classes offered in rotation within TRS. It should require no deletions of other courses in the department, though offering it would reduce by one the number of upper division elective courses available in the department to other faculty members.

VIII. No resources need be expended to add this class. I have taken care over the y years to ensure the adequacy of the Library holdings in this area.

IX. This is a standard Saint Mary’s College class, with 3 hours and ten minutes/week in class and an expectation of twice that amount out of class. It counts 1. The class is normally graded, although P/F may be allowed in exceptional circumstances.

X. Pre-requisite: TRS 097 or 189XI. Since Lynn White’s groundbreaking article in 1967, debate has raged among

scholars, activists, and members of religious communities about the role(s) of religion and of specific religions in fostering unsustainability and in achieving sustainability. As part of this debate, some have proposed the existence and importance of a spirituality unconnected with historical or new religions as a key component of moving toward sustainability. This course provides an interdisciplinary introduction to these questions both in their historical and contemporary forms. Pre-requisite: TRS 097 or 189

XII. Attached

TRS 160: Sustainability, Religion, Spiritualityrev. March 3, 2014

Richard M. CarpDante 110rmc8@stmarys-ca.edu

Since Lynn White’s groundbreaking article in 1967, debate has raged among scholars, activists, and members of religious communities about the role(s) of religion and of specific religions in fostering unsustainability and in achieving sustainability. As part of this debate, some have proposed the existence and importance of a spirituality unconnected with historical or new religions as a key component of moving toward sustainability. This course provides an interdisciplinary introduction to these questions both in their historical and contemporary forms.

Course Objectives:

1. Students will be able to articulate at least three sets of claims about the religious causes of unsustainable behavior and the evidence and reasoning on which those claims rest;

2. Students will be able to articulate at least three contrary responses to those claims and the evidence and reasoning on which those claims rest;

3. Students will demonstrate through an in-class presentation an in-depth knowledge of the mutual interpenetrations of one religious tradition and ecology;

4. Students will demonstrate through examination the ability to summarize in one paragraph key components of the mutual interpenetrations of religion and ecology in eight religious traditions;

5. Students will be able to articulate the idea of deep ecology and the evidence and reasoning supporting it, and at least three critiques of deep ecology and the evidence and reasoning for them;

6. Students will be able to articulate the difference between the idea of religion and the idea of spirituality, and to articulate at least two arguments in support of their necessary integration and at least two arguments in support of their intrinsic separation, and evidence and reasoning supporting them;

7. Students will be able to identify the meaning of humanism in the context of the religion and sustainability conversation, and articulate the main argument that humanism is the only appropriate course to sustainability and the main argument that humanism is a quasi-religion at the root of unsustainability.

Grading:Class participation 20%First mid-term 20%Presentation 20%Second mid-term 20%Final exam 20%

The primary texts, available at the bookstore, are:

Hay, Peter. 2002. Main Currents in Western Environmental Thought. Bloomington: University of Indiana Press.

Kearns, Laurel and Keller, Catherine, eds. 2007. Ecospirit:  Religions and Philosophies for the Earth. Fordham Univ. Press, distributed by NYU Press.

The Religions of the World and Ecology book series, distributed by Harvard UniversityPress. (Each student will purchase one of these.)

Other readings will be provided on-line through the library reserves page. From the Library's homepage click on the “Course Reserves” tab to search for material by INSTRUCTOR NAME (Carp) or COURSE NAME.  You will need the password TRS160 (no spaces) to access ERes from the Library's homepage. Click “accept” to acknowledge the copyright page not “enter.”

Readings and Assignments:

Class 1 Introduction

Class 2 Lynn White, 1967. “On the Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis”

Eckberg, Douglas Lee and Blocker, Jean, 1989. “Religious Involvement and Environmental Concerns: Testing the Lynn White Thesis” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 28 (4) 509-517.

Moncrief, Lewis W. 1970. “The Cultural Basis for The Environmental Crisis: Judeo- Christianity is Only One of Many Cultural Factors Contributing to the Environmental Crisis” Science, 170 (3957) 508-512.

Class 3 Hay, “Preface,” and “The Ecological Impulse”

Students will be assigned to small groups, each group will choose one of the nine texts from the Harvard Series The Religions of the World and Ecology. (Indigenous Traditions, Confucianism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, Judaism, Islam, Jainism). We will consider eight of

the nine. Group reports on these texts will be due beginning March 17.

Class 4 Kearns and Keller, Kearns and Keller, “Preface,” and “Introduction: Grounding Theory – Earth in Religion and Philosophy” McDaniel, “Ecotheology and World Religions”

Class 5 Hay, “Ecophilosophy”

Class 6 Kearns and Keller:

Peterson, “Talking the Walk: A Practice-Based Environmental Ethic as Grounds for Hope” Mazis, “Ecospirituality and the Blurred Boundaries of Humans, Animals, and Machines”Keller, “Cooking the Truth: Faith, Science, the Market, and Global Warming”

Class 7 Hay, “Ecofeminism”Kearns and Keller:Reuther, “Ecofeminist Philosophy, Theology, and Ethics: A Comparative

View”Betcher, “Grounding the Spirit: An Ecofeminist Pneumatology”

Class 8 Small group work on presentations.

Class 9 Pepper, D. 1993. “Anthropocentrism, Humanism and Eco-Socialism: A Blueprint for the Survival of Ecological Politics.” Environmental Politics, 2, 428-52.

Class 10 Selections from Ehrenfeld, David. 1978. The Arrogance of Humanism. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.

TAKE HOME MIDTERM

Beginning with the next class, each student group will take one class period to present their text from The Religions of the World and Ecology. This will take eight classes - ( One tradition Indigenous Traditions, Confucianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, Judaism, Islam, Jainism). Presentations should run about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes. The remainder of each class will be devoted to a general discussion of religious traditions and sustainability and to the additional readings.

Additional readings:

Conservation Biology, December 2002, “Four Challenges of Sustainability,” “Spirituality and Sustainability,” “Sustainability without Spirituality: A Contradiction in Terms?”, “Sustainability and Spiritual Renewal: the Challenge of Creating a Politics of Reverence.”

Sponsel, Leslie E. “Religion, Nature and Environmentalism,” Encyclopedia of Earth, www.eoearth.org/article/Religion,_nature_and_environmentalism

Hay, “Religion, Spirituality, and the Green Movement”

Kearns and Keller:Muraca, “Getting over ‘Nature’: Modern Bifurcations, Postmodern PossibilitiesO’Brien, “Toward an Ethics of Biodiversity: Science and Theology in

Environmental Dialogue”Grim, “Indigenous Knowing and Responsible Life in the World”Primavesi, “The Preoriginal Gift – and Our Response to It”Rigby, “Prometheus Redeemed? From Autoconstruction to Ecopoetics”Wallace, “Sacred-Land Theology: Green Spirit, Deconstruction, and the Question

of Idolatry in Contemporary Earthen Christianity”Troster, “Hearing the Outcry of Mute Things: Toward a Jewish Creation

Theology”

Hawken, Blessed Unrest, “The Beginning” and “Restoration”

Class 11 Student PresentationClass 12 Student Presentation

Class 13 Student PresentationClass 14 Student Presentation

Class 15 Student PresentationClass 16 Student Presentation

Class 17 Student PresentationClass 18 Student Presentation

TAKE HOME MIDTERM. (Due beginning of class April 23d)

Class 19 Hay, “Green Critiques of Science and Knowledge,”

Kearns and Keller:Gorman, “Surrogate Suffering: Paradigms of Sin, Salvation, and Sacrifice”Spencer, “Restoring Earth, Restored to Earth: Toward an Ethic for

Reinhabiting Space”

Recommended: Kearns and Keller:Lee, “The Hope of the Earth: A Process Eschatology for South Korea”

Class 20 Hay, “Reclaiming Place: Seeking an Authentic Ground for Being,”

Recommended: Kearns and Keller:Bauman, “Creatio ex Nihilo, Terra Nullius, and the Erasure of Presence

Class 21 Hay, “Green Political Thought: The Authoritarian and Conservative Traditions”

Recommended: Kearns and Keller:Higgins, “Toward a Deleuze-Guattarian Micropneumatalogy of Spirit-

Dust”Wood, “Specters of Derrida: On the Way to Econstruction”

Class 22 Hay, “Environmental Liberalisms: Green Thought Meets the DismalScience”

Kearns and Keller:Spencer, “Restoring Earth, Restored to Earth: Toward an Ethic for

Reinhabiting Space”Grau, “Caribou and Carbon Colonialism: Toward a Theology of Arctic

Place”Daniell, “Divining New Orleans: Invoking Wisdom for the Redemption

of Place”

Class 23 Hay, “Green Political Thought: The Socialist Traditions”Kearns and Keller:Bohannon II, “Constructing Nature at a Chapel in the Woods”Roskos, “Felling Sacred Groves: Appropriation of a Christian Tradition

for Antienvironmentalism”Tucker, “Ethics and Ecology: A Primary Challenge of the Dialogue of

Civilizations”

Class 24 Hay, “Seeking Homo Ecologicus: Ecology, Democracy, Postmodernism,” “Thoughts by Way of Conclusion: The Tenacity of Environmentalism.”

Class 25 Kearns and Keller:Harper, “Religion and the Earth on the Ground: The Experience of Green

Faith in New Jersey:Nickell and Troster, “Cries of Creation, Ground for Hope: Faith, Justice,

and the Earth Interfaith Worship Service”Elkins and Wood, “The Firm Ground for Hope: A Ritual Planting

Humans and Trees”Baker-Fletcher, “Musings from White Rock Lake: Poems”

Class 26 FINAL EXAM

Resources:

American Academy of Religion Religion and Ecology Group,http://www.religionandnature.com/aar/

Catholicism and Sustainability: A Toolkit. www.aashe.org/files/documents/.../ catholic - he-sustainability-toolkit.pdf

Catholic Climate Covenant. catholicclimatecovenant.org/

Berry, Thomas. 2006. Evening Thoughts: Reflecting on Earth as a Sacred Community. ed. Mary Evelyn Tucker. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.

Cajete, Gregory. 2000. Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence. Santa Fe, NM: Clear Light Publishers.

Canadian Forum on Religion and Ecology, http://www.cfore.ca/

Carroll, John E. 2004. Sustainability and Spirituality. Albany: SUNY.

Centre for Religion and the Biosciences, http://www.chester.ac.uk/crb/index.html

Conservation Biology, December 2002

Creation Care (Evangelical Environmental Network), http://www.creationcare.org

Earth Charter Initiative, www.earthcharter.org

Ehrenfeld, David. 1978. The Arrogance of Humanism. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.

European Christian Environmental Network, http://www.ecen.org/

Forum on Religion and Ecology, www.religionandecology.org

God’s Green Earth: Creation, Faith, Crisis, a special issue of Reflections, 24, 1.

Gottlieb, Roger S. 2006. The Oxford handbook of religion and ecology. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. 2004. This Sacred Earth: Religion, Nature, and Environment. New York: Routledge.

Griffin, Susan. 2004. Woman and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her. Sierra Club Books.

Grim, John, Ed. 2001. Indigenous traditions and ecology : the interbeing of cosmology and community. Cambridge, MA: Distributed by Harvard University Press for the Center for the Study of World Religions.

Hawken, Paul. 2007. Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Social Movement in History is Restoring Grace, Justice, and Beauty to the World. New York: Penguin Books.

Hay, Peter. 2002. Main Currents in Western Environmental Thought. Bloomington andIndianapolis: Indiana University Press.

Hellas, Paul, et. al. 2005. The Spiritual Revolution : Why Religion is Giving Way to Spirituality. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers.

International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture. http://www.religionandnature.com/society/

Kearns, Laurel and Keller, Catherine. 2007. Ecospirit : religions and philosophies for the earth. New York: Fordham University Press.

Kellert, Stephen R. and Farnham, Timothy J. 2002. The Good in Nature and Humanity: Connecting Science, Religion, and Spirituality with the Natural World. Washington, DC: Island Press.

McDunough, William and Braungart, Michael. 2002. Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. North Point Press.

Merchant, Carolyn. 2005. Radical Ecology: The Search for a Livable World. New York: Routledge.

www.naturalcapital.org

Network of Earthkeeping Christian Communities in South Africa, http://www.neccsa.org.za/

Quinn, Daniel. 1995. Ismael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit. Bantam.

Shepard, Paul. 1999. Encounters with Nature: Essays by Paul Shepard. Florence R. Shepard, ed. Washington, DC: Island Press.

Shepard, Paul. 2003. Where We Belong: Beyond Abstraction in Perceiving Nature. Florence Rose Shepard, ed. Athens and London: The University of Georgia Press.

Snyder, Gary. 1969. Earth House Hold: Technical Notes & Queries to Fellow DharmaRevolutionaries. New York: New Directions.

Stapledon, Olaf. 2000. Last and First Men. Gollance, New Edition.

The Religions of the World and Ecology book series, distributed by Harvard UniversityPress

Vidyarti, Varun and Wilson, Patricia A. 2008. Development from Within: Facilitating Collective Reflection for Sustainable Change. Herndon, Va: Apex Foundation.

Walker, Bryan, Salt, David and Reid, Walter. 2006. Resilience Thinking: Sustaining Ecosystems and People in a Changing World. Island Press.

2013. Resilience Practice: Building Capacity to Absorb Disturbance and Maintain Function.

White, Lynn, “On the Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis”

Whitehead, Alfred North. 1971. The Function of Reason. Beacon Press.

Wilson, E. O. 2006. The Creation: An Appeal to Save Life on Earth. New York: Norton.

www.wiserearth.org

World Council of Churches Ecumenical Earth,http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/jpc/ecology.html

College policiesACADEMIC HONOR CODE  Saint Mary’s College expects every member of its community to abide by the Academic Honor Code.  According to the Code, “Academic dishonesty is a serious violation of College policy because, among other things, it undermines the bonds of trust and honesty

between members of the community.”  Violations of the Code include but are not limited to acts of plagiarism.  For more information, please consult the Student Handbook at www.stmarys-ca.edu/your-safety-resources/student-handbook. The Collegiate Seminar Governing Board has set the following requirements for seminar classes:

1. Students read only the assigned texts in preparation;2. Students give their own thoughts about the assigned readings;3. Students do not introduce opinions of experts into the conversation;4. Student essays present the student’s own thoughts on the agreed-upon topic;5. Instructors advise whether and how essays should respond to, use, or cite opinions which other students have voiced in class. 

STUDENT DISABILITY Student Disability Services extends reasonable and appropriate accommodations that take into account the context of the course and its essential elements for individuals with qualifying disabilities.  Students with disabilities are encouraged to contact the Student Disability Services Office at (925) 631-4358 or sds@stmarys-ca.edu  to set up a confidential appointment to discuss accommodation guidelines and available services.  Additional information may be found at:  http://www.stmarys-ca.edu/sds. STUDENT CONDUCT   In order to maintain a positive, respectful classroom for everyone, disruptive or inappropriate behavior is discouraged.  Students are required to adhere to the Undergraduate Student Code of Conduct as described in the 2013-2014 Student Handbook. 

Alice Baldridge 3:33 PM (9 minutes ago)

to me

Awesome ! Thanks!Alice

Alice M. Baldridge, Ph.DAssistant ProfessorDirector, Environmental and Earth SciencesSaint Mary’s College of California1928 St. Mary’s Rd, Moraga, CA 94575(925) 631-8140amb19@stmarys-ca.edu

On May 11, 2017, at 3:04 PM, Richard Carp <rmc8@stmarys-ca.edu> wrote:

Hi, Alice,

I'll be offering "Sustainability, Religion, Spirituality" next spring (as TRS 140).  You've been asking when it might reappear and, with my return to the faculty, the time has finally arrived.

Be well,Richard

David Gentry 12:56 PM (18 minutes ago)

to me, Kathy, Sheila

Hi All, This course was vetted in the TRS Department when Richard first proposed to teach it some years ago.  It was taught, experimentally, once.  Because of the pressure of his duties as VPUA, Richard was not able to teach the course again, and so the course never made its way through the usual process of UEPC approval leading to catalog inclusion. The course has the approval of the TRS Department.  We understand that, because of Richard’s sabbatical in Fall 2017, it will be possible for him to submit it for permanent approval and catalog inclusion in the Fall.  Therefore, it has to be taught again, experimentally.  The course is on the TRS Spring 2018 schedule.  Richard will teach it then, and then submit it to the UEPC and the TUWG for permanent approval and catalog inclusion. Please consider this note as approval of the TRS Department for the experimental teaching of the course in Spring 2018.

Sheila Hughes 10:36 AM (12 minutes ago)

to me, David

Hi Richard,

I have reviewed the proposal for experimental status for TRS 140: Sustainability, Religion, and Spirituality. It seems to me an interesting and worthy addition to the TRS offerings, and I am happy to lend my support.

cheers,

Sheila