The Course

A seminar on the problems of energy policy formation in response to natural resource and environmental constraints.

This seminar course is based on the book, Energy: Science, Policy, and the Pursuit of Sustainability and was offered at the Indiana University Collins Living and Learning Center in the Spring of 2004.

Introductory Lecture

Paper Guidelines

Topics

Paper Topics & Class Handouts

Clipping Example

Grading
and
Student Evaluations

Student Evaluation
Grades
Chart 2

These PDF files open in new windows.

THE COURSE

ENERGY: SCIENCE, POLICY, AND THE PURSUIT OF SUSTAINABILITY

Course No. L330 Sec. No. 9643
Prof. Robert Bent

Prerequisites

Concern about world energy and environmental problems and some background in one or more of the following areas: physical, biological, or environmental science, anthropology, political science, economics, philosophy, or other areas related to energy and environmental issues.

A genuine concern about what's happening to the planet, a sense of what morality requires regarding our legacy for the world of the future, interest in looking at sustainability issues from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, and the willingness to play an active role in the seminar. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the subject, it is important to have students with a broad range of interests and majors in the seminar.

Course Description and Textbook

In this interdisciplinary seminar course, we study global energy and environmental problems from a wide range of perspectives, with emphasis on understanding how the different disciplinary approaches are interrelated. The course is based on the recent book Energy: Science, Policy, and the Pursuit of Sustainability Edited by Robert Bent, Lloyd Orr, and Randall Baker of Indiana University. Students are expected to use this book, and the references therein, as the starting point for their papers and presentations, and to supplement it with what they can find on their own from current newspapers and periodicals and the internet. A list of useful web sites is provided.

Authorization for Registration

Class enrollment is limited to 15 students, and admission is by permission of the instructor. Email the Collins Course Coordinator to schedule an interview.

Instructor

Why is this an appropriate course for Collins Living-Learning Center Students?

Few problems facing humankind today suggest more strongly the need for an interdisciplinary perspective than the interrelated problems of energy, the environment, and sustainability. Understanding the complex and intertwined set of issues surrounding the energy-environment problem requires a high level of student motivation and maturity. Students at Collins are generally eager to learn and well-suited for the give-and-take of a seminar course in which they are expected to participate actively.

Purpose of the Course

For thirty years the U.S. has struggled to develop a sustainable energy policy. The difficulty is that in a democracy, policy is an expression of the prevailing values and desired futures of the voting public and can evolve to meet the long-term needs of society only when the general public understands what these needs are and the realistic options it has for meeting them.

The purpose of this course is to add breadth and perspective to the students' understanding of the world energy-environment problem - to raise public awareness of what is at stake and our limits and opportunities, and to develop the political will that's needed in a democratic society to move us toward a sustainable future.

Assignments and Grading

Students are required to write four 6-10 page (double spaced) papers during the semester on *topics of their own choosing and to lead class discussions based on their *papers . In addition, they are required to write a short one-page paper each week based on news *clippings on current events. *Grades are based on these papers and presentations, as well as general participation in all class discussions. Students are expected to come to class each week prepared to contribute something to the topics of discussion for that week. There are no examinations.

* See links to PDF files on the left for details regarding Clippings, Grades and Introductory Lecture. Each file opens in a new window.

Story Line

The basic reference for this course is the new book Energy: Science, Policy, and the Pursuit of Sustainability edited by Robert Bent, Lloyd Orr, and Randall Baker (Island Press, 2002).

We begin with the physical dimension of the energy-environment problem: the physical laws of nature that humans must live by and the daunting challenges of finding ways to provide the world with the energy it needs to sustain and advance human well-being worldwide while simultaneously dealing with the environmental consequences of energy use that threaten human health and ecosystems.

This is followed by study of the human dimension of the problem, which involves the psychological and cultural factors that determine how we use energy, the political and economic factors that determine its governance in a democratic society, the limits of markets in responding to environmental and long-term energy problems, and the ethical problem of motivating people to protect the interests of future generations. Although there are no absolute laws such as those in the physical sciences that govern human and social behavior, there are effective laws of human nature that limit what people are willing and able to do in specific personal and cultural situations. These limits can be just as constraining as the laws of science, and understanding them is crucial to the development of effect energy policy.

The chapters of Energy: Science, Policy, and the Pursuit of Sustainability determine the basic structure of the course:

Chapter 1 Rules of the Game - the fundamental laws of nature that govern how we use energy.
Chapter 2 Future World Energy Needs and Resources.
Chapter 3 Environmental Impacts of Energy Use
Chapter 4 Culture and Energy Consumption
Chapter 5 Energy Policy: The Problem of Public Perception
Chapter 6 Energy and Sustainable Economic Growth
Chapter 7 Protecting Future People: The Motivation Problem

Students are expected to use this book, and the references therein, as the starting point for their papers and presentations, and to supplement it with what they can find on their own from current newspapers and periodicals and the Internet. A list of useful web sites is provided.

Introductory and connecting material and a summary at the end of the course are presented by Prof. Bent.

Robert Bent (right), Professor of Physics, and Lloyd Orr, Professor of Economics, discuss plans for an interdisciplinary faculty seminar on the problems of energy policy formation in response to natural resource and environmental constraints. This seminar was the precursor of the book Energy: Science, Policy, and the Pursuit of Sustainability, which was published by Island Press in May 2002.

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Robert D. Bent
URL:http://www.indiana.edu/~bentweb/
bent@indiana.edu

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