COURSE DESCRIPTION€¦ · A2— January 9: Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World Anthropologist Wade Davis is alarmed at the threat of extinction facing many

Semester at Sea, Course Syllabus

Colorado State University, Academic Partner

Voyage: Spring 2017

Discipline: English

Course Number and Title: 339: Literature of the Earth

Division: Upper

Faculty Name: Gregory Mason

Semester Credit Hours: 3

Pre-requisites: Freshman composition course

COURSE DESCRIPTION

In this course we will read and write about the earth and nature from many perspectives:

mythological and religious, historical and social, lyrical and scientific. Our extended ocean

voyage away from and finally back to home will offer students a direct visceral encounter, as

well as a powerful metaphor to reflect on their own life journeys. We will read creation

narratives from different religious and cultural traditions. We will consider how humankind has

both worshipped and abused the earth through history. Beyond this, we will read accounts,

nonfictional and fictional in a range of genres, both of specific places, as well as of the elements

of earth, sea and sky. We will read of the life on earth of our fellow creatures, from ants to larks

to whales, reflecting on what we might learn from them, and how we might better live together.

Looking ahead, we will also study some science fiction scenarios to better speculate on “the fate

of the earth” and on our shared futures. Students will engage in both reflective and analytical

writing as they investigate and report on their readings and on their voyage experiences. You will

be required to write journals, informal and formal papers and in-class examinations.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Study literatures of the earth and of nature in a variety of genres, with a special focus on works

from the countries and regions of the voyage.

Gain a stronger sense of our planet Earth as a living entity—material, spiritual, social—of its

unfolding changes and of the dazzling variety of its inhabitants.

Situate ourselves individually in this drama of interrelationships, to see where we each belong

spatially, temporally, and relationally in this brief juncture of, in Pablo Neruda’s words, “our

residence on the earth.”

Become more critical and discerning readers of literature through textual analysis, class

discussion and individual and group projects in interpretation.

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Develop students’ skills in analytical and reflective writing about literature through short

response papers and a more formal piece involving comparative research on an approved topic of

the student’s choice.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS

AUTHOR: Wade Davis

TITLE: The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World

PUBLISHER: Anansi

ISBN #: 978-0-88784-766-0

DATE/EDITION: 2009/ paperback

AUTHOR: Bill McKibben, editor

TITLE: American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau

PUBLISHER: Library of America

ISBN #: 978-1598530209

DATE/EDITION: 2008/ hardcover

AUTHOR: Anthony Doerr

TITLE: The Shell Collector

PUBLISHER: Viking/Penguin

ISBN #: 0142002968

DATE/EDITION: 2002.

AUTHOR: Katherine Boo

TITLE: Behind the Beautiful Forevers

PUBLISHER: Random House

ISBN #: 978-0812979329

DATE/EDITION: 2014/ paperback.

AUTHOR: Dava Sobel

TITLE: Longitude

PUBLISHER: Walker Publishing

ISBN #: 978080271529X

DATE/EDITION: 2007.

TOPICAL OUTLINE OF COURSE

DEPART ENSENADA—JANUARY 5

A1—January 7: Introduction

Introduction to scope of the course: to study literatures of the earth in several genres, with a

special focus on works from the regions of the voyage. Through readings from many

perspectives: mythological and religious, historical and social, lyrical and scientific, we will gain

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a stronger sense of our planet Earth as a living entity, of its unfolding changes and of the rich

variety of its inhabitants. Our focus will also be subjective, reflecting on, writing about, and

situating ourselves individually in this drama of interrelationships during, in Pablo Neruda’s

words, “our residence on the earth.” Overview of course expectations and formal requirements:

engaged participation, and timely completion of reading, discussion leading, investigative and

reflective writing assignments. Collect writing sample from each student.

A2— January 9: Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World

Anthropologist Wade Davis is alarmed at the threat of extinction facing many of the world’s older

cultures. Such cultures, he asserts “are not failed attempts at modernity…but unique answers to a

fundamental question: What does in mean to be a human being and alive?” How should we judge

the success or failure of a culture? What has our culture achieved and win what ways has it failed?

What do these many cultures under threat have to teach us about how to relate to the Earth?

Reading: Davis, 1-34, 116-130, 140-147, 159-161.

A3— January 11: Wayfinders: Finding Hawaii by Reading the Stars, Waves and Birds

Following the voyage of the Hokule’a to appreciate the astonishing navigational skills of the

ancient Polynesians. Seeing this voyage as showing skills comparable to a moon shot and landing.

How can we recapture a sense of the earth as a sacred place, and what can we learn from the

various cultures around the world that have lived gently and successfully on the earth in times past

and today, in contrast to our Western predatory, consuming approach to nature? How did the

ancient Hawaiians imagine and describe the creation of their islands

Readings: Davis: 35-78, 162-171, 192-202, 216-223. Kumulipo 58-60, 97-98 (E)

HONOLULU—JANUARY 12

A4—January 14: Earth Seen Through Spiritual Eyes

Reflection on Hawaii port stay. The Earth and its majesties and mysteries seen through pre-

scientific eyes. Native American views of the Earth and the place of humankind in the larger

scheme of nature. How did our relationship to the earth change from an organic one to a

mechanistic one? What aspects of organic and mechanistic views of the Earth are satisfying and

what aspects are inadequate and frustrating for our modern sensibilities?

Readings: Momaday, M 570-581; Walker, M 659-670

GROUP JOURNAL COLLECTION & DISCUSSION LEADING ASSIGNMENTS TBA

A5—January 17: The Christian Earth Heritage: Domination or Stewardship?

Review of the religious beliefs and social practices that we in the West share through our Judaeo-

Christian heritage. Comparing two Christian traditions, one of domination, and the other of

stewardship. How much have our achievements and civilization been built on dominating the Earth

and harnessing it for our use? What are the requirements for an ethic of stewardship and what

would be its cost for our accustomed way of life?

Readings: White, M 405-412; DeWitt, M 920-928, Eiseley (E) 5p.


NO CLASS JANUARY 19

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A6—January 20: At Sea: Experiencing the Ocean in Its Primal Terror and Wonder

The Ocean as a primal element, a source of great beauty and possibilities and a source of great

danger and the dark unknown. What is most arresting and memorable about the Ancient mariner’s

tale? Why is he loitering around a wedding feast and what does he have to teach his listeners?

What is the experience of the “Open Boat?” What language do we use to describe the experience

of “boundary situations” at sea? How do they differ from such experiences on land? Why do often

think of the sea and the ocean in mystical terms? How does life in and on the ocean relate to our

life on earth?

Readings: Coleridge (E), Crane (E), Merwin (E)


A7—January 22: Nature Observed and Experienced

Directly observed accounts of the natural world and how it operates. Unsentimental records of the

wonder and the beauty beside the ugliness and horror of the natural world. Is nature moral,

immoral or amoral in how it operates? Which aspects of nature are beautiful and which are

sometimes shocking and ugly? How can nature nurture and comfort us? What can observing the

living processes of the Earth teach us about how to behave as a social human group living among

the rest of creation?

Readings: Eiseley, M 337-347; Dillard, M 531-550; Wilson, M 671-679;


FIRST PAPER DUE

YOKOHAMA – JANUARY 24-25

TRANSIT – JANUARY 26

KOBE – JANUARY 27-28

A8—January 29: Industrial Civilization and Its Discontents

“Living lives of quiet desperation” is how Henry David Thoreau describes the lot of his fellow

citizens in 1854. Review of the American tradition of cultural dissenters from Thoreau through

Muir to Leopold. What specific changes in our behavior are these prophets calling for? Can we go

backwards on technological changes, once they have been instituted? How “content” are we with

our lot today, and what changes could we make to feel a greater sense of wellbeing?

Readings: Thoreau, M 9-25; Muir, M 84-89; Leopold, M 274-285; Chuangtse, (E) 2p.


SHANGHAI – JANUARY 31 – FEBRUARY 1

TRANSIT – FEBRUARY 2 – 3

HONG KONG – FEBRUARY 4-5

A9—February 6: Earth Seen Through Scientific Eyes

Reviewing the behavior of homo sapiens in relation to the earth we walk on and the rest of creation

that we live with. Considering the Earth as a total system, “Spaceship Earth.” In what ways is

spaceship earth and astonishingly efficient and robust entity, and in what ways is it fragile and

imperiled? How should we attend to the care and feeding of our “only home?”

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Readings: Marsh, M 71-80; Shaler, M 140-144; Fuller, M 464-468; Thomas, M 550-553;

Boulding, M 399-404; Brower, M 555-558


HO CHI MINH CITY – FEBRUARY 8-12

A10—February 13: Finding Exactly Where We Are: The Search for Longitude

The Move from a Flat Earth to Navigating a Circular globe, with its attendant practical,

psychological and spiritual consequences. The “discovery,” exploitation, and colonization of the

Earth by competing European powers. Traditional Western navigational practices, frequent losses

at sea, and the need to easily and accurately discover longitude. What were the previous alternative

methods for calculating longitude?

Reading: Sobel, 1-87.


FIRST PORT FIELD ASSIGNMENT DUE

A11— February 15: The Search for Longitude, Continued

The race to solve the longitude problem. John Harrison as an outsider to the aristocratic circles of

court astronomy. How did Harrison finally prevail with his chronometers? Why had it been so hard

and why was his triumph bittersweet? How has the successful calculation of longitude changed

world travel and our knowledge of the Earth?

Reading: Sobel, 88-175


A12— February 17: Poisoning the Well

What did Rachel Carson alert us to with her book The Silent Spring? Why was it so original and

groundbreaking? Where does her work stand today in the context of what we have learned and

done or not done to heed her warning since 1962? How has further research on the food chain

confirmed or otherwise modified Carson’s findings. What precautions or new practices should we

be adopting to protect ourselves, at the top of the food chain, from further contamination?

Readings: Carson, M 366-376; Steingraber, 929-938;


RANGOON – FEBRUARY 18-22

A13— February 24: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity

Annawadi is a mud and cardboard city illegally built on a reclaimed, snake infested swamp in the

shadow of Mumbai’s ultramodern airport and luxury hotels. To the outsider it is merely squalid

and chaotic, but it has a complex life to be discovered. Who built Annawadi, and what are its

cultural and social associations? What are the principal places or physical markers of Annawadi?

Who are the main players in the domestic drama of the undercity? How do they relate to each

other, and what do they want from each other compared to the citizens of a “normal” city?

Reading: Boo, Prologue plus Parts One and Two.


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A14—February 26: The Life and Times of Annawadi, Continued

How does the lot of those living in rural India compare to those urbanites living in slums like

Annawadi? Why do 1,000 men and women wait at the crossroads every morning and where have

they come from? What do we learn about the typical distribution of nonprofit funding in the Indian

context? How is corruption viewed by Annawadians? What are the relative benefits and risks of

working in the overcity versus working in the undercity? How do you now feel about the situation

of those living in Annawadi compared to how you were feeling about such communities before

you read this book? Which character or characters did you come to feel most invested in, and

which did you most dislike? Why?

Reading: Boo, Parts Three and Four.


COCHIN – FEBRUARY 27 – MARCH 4

A15— March 6: IN CLASS WRITING ASSIGNMENT

A16—March 8: Global Warming

The Long Term and Proximate Causes of Global Warming. The influence of the greenhouse effect

and of different kind of pollution, industrial, vehicular and animal, on the progress of global

warming. What is meant by a carbon footprint? What can be done by individuals, institutions and

nations to counteract and reverse the progress of global warming? What might be the likely

consequence of unchecked global warming 20, 50, or 100 years from today? What progress is

being made to address the looming catastrophe?

Readings: McKibben, M 718-724; Gore, M 855-859.


NO CLASS – MARCH 10

A17—March 11: Tales of Life Lived Close to the Earth

In The Shell Collector, What drives the shell collector in his passion to collect, classify and

understand shells? What aesthetically pleasing and what dangerous qualities do shellfish possess?

How is the shell collector an iconic or symbolic figure in the landscape and culture of the ocean? In

Chances, What role does the ocean play for the immigrant teenager Dorotea who at the Maine

coast sees the for the first time. How does her interaction with the shore and with fishing help her

successfully negotiate the difficult passage of coming of age? How does her close contact with

nature nurture her when her parents and social situation cannot?

Reading: Doerr: Shell Collector, Chances


A18—March 13: Tales of Life Lived Close to the Earth

Analysis of further tales from The Shell Collector

Reading: Doerr: Shell Collector stories TBA


CAPE TOWN—MARCH 16-21

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A20—March 23: Public Choices to Make Living on Earth

Considering our Earth as altered by human presence. How can we improve our life on earth, make

it more beautiful, make our earth more livable. What are our living spaces and our communities

like to live in? How can they be transformed to better serve our needs? Why should we live in

commerce-serving ugliness? Do we need to consume as much as we do of our Earth’s bounty?

Does this make us happy? Could we reset our habits and values to live more directly and simply in

harmony with the earth?

Readings: Barnum, M 81-83; Jane Jacobs, M 359-364; Durning, 770-780;


SECOND PAPER OR PORT FIELD ASSIGNMENT DUE

NO CLASS – MARCH 25

A21—March 26: Private Choices to Make Living on Earth

How will we order our private lives and personal relationships to live more purposefully and

happily? Are we merely driven to consume and perpetuate our species, or can we devise other,

better pleasures and goals? Are we eating right? Do we care enough, not just about the fate of the

earth, but also about the fate of all of us living on it. What choices do we need to be making about

our own carbon footprint, our own drain upon the earth resources, our own bequests to the future?

Readings: Mills, M 469-472; Pollan, M 948-960; Solnit, 971-974.


TEMA – MARCH 28-30

TAKORADI – MARCH 31-APRIL 1

A22—April 2: Living in a Mediated Cyberworld and its Challenges How has the arrival of the computer and the smartphone affected how we live on the earth and how

we relate to each other? Have we lost touch with the Earth and with each other or are we live in an

enhanced expanded reality? How do we distinguish between reality and virtual reality? What have

we gained and what have we lost by having irretrievable entered a cyberworld?

Readings: TBA


A23—April 4: Imagined Scenarios of the Future

Possible future scenarios involving space travel, gene splicing and human modification, and radical

realignment of our relationship to Earth. How do earthlings appear to extraterrestrials? Can our

species be improved through modification? What would be the price? Are we capable of further

positive evolution to become a superior species on a superior planet than ourselves on present

Earth?

Readings: Bisson: (E)


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A24––April 7: Which is my Earth? Where is Home For Me?

Summary of materials and themes covered in the course. Finding each person’s sense of place,

comfort zone, “home.” Meditations on the idea of home. Why is it that there is no pace like home?

Is home a fixed entity or are we in danger of losing it? Should we free our notion of home from a

rigidly fixed location? If so, where on earth do we want or need to be and why?

Reading: Kingsolver, M 939-947; Hogan, M 809-814; Berry, M 523-727.


OTHER, EITHER SECOND PAPER OR PORT FIELD ASSIGNMENT DUE

CASABLANCA – APRIL 9-APRIL 13

Study Day – April 14

A25 Final – April 15:

ARRIVE SOUTHAMPTON—APRIL 19

FIELD WORK

Field Class proposals listed below are not finalized. Confirmed ports, dates, and times will be

posted to the Spring 2017 Courses and Field Class page when available.

Field Class attendance is mandatory for all students enrolled in this course. Do not book individual

travel plans or a Semester at Sea sponsored trip on the day of your field class. Field Classes

constitute at least 20% of the contact hours for each course, and will be developed and led by the

instructor.

FIELD CLASS AND ASSIGNMENT

I hope that my Field Class for this course will involve an intense and full day of involved

participation where the students have many opportunities to question local resource persons and

come away with a strong intellectual and emotional experience.

My first choice of site is Honolulu. Our class would first visit the Bishop Museum in Honolulu.

Together with viewing the artifacts at the museum, we would also visit the Planetarium, where

we would attend a presentation that illustrates and dramatizes the Wade Davis class readings in

The Wayfinders and the voyage of the Hokukle’a that we will be studying. This will provide a

splendid illustration and reinforcements of our studies. In addition, if the Hokule’a itself is

docked anywhere near us on the island of Oahu when we visit, it would be wonderful to have a

chance to see the vessel “in the flesh” and, best of all to meet with Captain Nainoa Thompson, if

possible. Other activities to complete the day’s experiences could be to hike the Diamond Head

Volcano, or to undertake a brief snorkeling outing to Hanauma Bay.

My second choice of site is Ghana. It would be very educational for the class to get to visit a

http://www.semesteratsea.org/voyages/spring-2017/

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rural environment, and to catch first hand a glimpse of village life. Perhaps this could be

incorporated or combined with a visit to a school, or an encounter with some village elders.

Again, it would be very important to have a good guide who could connect the class to resource

knowledgeable resource people who could provide local insights and answer our questions

Students will be evaluated for this assignment by 1) their engaged participation in all aspects of

the day’s program and 2) by a written reflection on the day’s events. This should be both

impressionistic, conjuring the feel and texture of the day, and critical, reflecting on what was said

by whom, and how the student himself feels and where he/she stands in relation to all that was

seen, spoken and heard in the course of the day. This reflection must also refer to and incorporate

references not just to the sites we visit, but also to the student’s reading in preparation for our

visit. Beyond this, each student can use a camera or sketchpad to record visual evidence to

complement the written record. Students will be evaluated for this field lab, based on attendance

at all parts of the day’s program, on curious and engaged participation, and on the quality of their

response papers. First informal drafts of response papers must be submitted within 48 hours.

Revised versions may be submitted at a later date, after receiving instructor feedback. Minimum

final length: 1500 words. Field Lab is worth 20% of course grade.

INDEPENDENT FIELD ASSIGNMENTS

Beyond our required Field Class, you will be required to complete the following assignment at

TWO ports of call of your choice during the voyage: conduct a personal investigation and file a

brief report on some aspect of the situation you encounter there that relates to our study of the

Earth . This could be a visit to a school other non profit, or an encounter with a teacher or

environmental worker of some kind, or with someone or somewhere that gives you an insight

into local conditions. Beyond this, you may use a camera or sketchpad to record visual evidence to

complement the written record. These two pieces will provide you material to draw on for your

reflective, synthesizing final paper, and are together worth 20% of your final grade. Required

length: two-page maximum, including written copy and visuals.

FORMAL REQUIREMENTS (grade values in parentheses)

1. Attend all classes, carefully complete all reading assignments and participate in class

discussions. With a partner, each student will be responsible for leading two discussions in the

course of the semester. (20%)

2. Attend and participate in our course Field Class, and complete the assigned paper reporting

and reflecting on the Field Class experience, required of all class members. (20%)

3. Keep an intellectual journal, including brief written responses to reading assignments and their

study questions, together with personal reflections. (20%)

4. Write two brief literary response papers. (15%)

4. In two ports of your choice, conduct a personal investigation and file a brief report on some

aspect of the situation you encounter there that relates to our study of the Earth (10%)

5. Write a paper at the Final Hour time that attempts to synthesize what you have learned about

the Earth and your relationship to it during the semester (15%)

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METHODS OF EVALUATION / GRADING SCALE

The following Grading Scale is utilized for student evaluation. Pass/Fail is not an option for

Semester at Sea coursework. Note that C-, D+ and D- grades are also not assigned on Semester at

Sea in accordance with the grading system at Colorado State University (the SAS partner

institution).

Pluses and minuses are awarded as follows on a 100% scale:

Excellent

Good

Satisfactory/Poor

Failing

97-100%: A+

94-96%: A

90-93%: A-

87-89%: B+

84-86%: B

80-83%: B-

77-79%: C+

70-76%: C

60-69%: D

Less than 60%: F

ATTENDANCE/ENGAGEMENT IN THE ACADEMIC PROGRAM

Attendance in all Semester at Sea classes is mandatory, but it is at the instructor’s discretion to

assign a grade to the participation and attendance requirement. Remember to include information

concerning the evaluation of Field Assignments and the Field Classes, which must constitute at

least 20% of the total grade in a course.

Students must inform their instructors prior to any unanticipated absence and take the initiative to

make up missed work in a timely fashion. Instructors must make reasonable efforts to enable

students to make up work which must be accomplished under the instructor’s supervision (e.g.,

examinations, laboratories). In the event of a conflict in regard to this policy, individuals may

appeal using established CSU procedures.

LEARNING ACCOMMODATIONS

Semester at Sea provides academic accommodations for students with diagnosed learning

disabilities, in accordance with ADA guidelines. Students who will need accommodations in a

class, should contact ISE to discuss their individual needs. Any accommodation must be discussed

in a timely manner prior to implementation. A memo from the student’s home institution

verifying the accommodations received on their home campus is required before any

accommodation is provided on the ship. Students must submit this verification of accommodations

pre-voyage as soon as possible, but no later than December 15, 2016 to [email protected].

STUDENT CONDUCT CODE

The foundation of a university is truth and knowledge, each of which relies in a fundamental

manner upon academic integrity and is diminished significantly by academic misconduct.

Academic integrity is conceptualized as doing and taking credit for one’s own work. A pervasive

attitude promoting academic integrity enhances the sense of community and adds value to the

educational process. All within the University are affected by the cooperative commitment to

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academic integrity. All Semester at Sea courses adhere to this Academic Integrity Policy and

Student Conduct Code.

Depending on the nature of the assignment or exam, the faculty member may require a written

declaration of the following honor pledge: “I have not given, received, or used any unauthorized

assistance on this exam/assignment.”

RESERVE BOOKS AND FILMS FOR THE LIBRARY

FILMS:

Longitude. BBC Horizon Special, 1999.

The Light at the Edge of the World: The Wayfinders. Wade Davis. National Geographic. 2007?

Winged Migration. 98 mins. 2001

Planet Earth. Richard Attenborough. 5 part DVD (instructor could provide)

AUTHOR: Bill McKibben, editor

TITLE: American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau

PUBLISHER: Library of America

ISBN #: 978-1598530209

DATE/EDITION: 2008/ hardcover

ELECTRONIC COURSE MATERIALS

AUTHOR: Martha Beckwith

ARTICLE/CHAPTER TITLE:

JOURNAL/BOOK TITLE: The Kumulipo

VOLUME:

PUBLISHER: U of Hawaii P

ISBN #: 0824807715

DATE: 1972

PAGES: 58-60, 97-98.

AUTHOR: Chuangtse

ARTICLE/CHAPTER TITLE: “The Man Who Spurned the Machine.”

JOURNAL/BOOK TITLE: The Wisdom of China and India, ed. Lin Yutang

VOLUME:

PUBLISHER: Modern Library

ISBN #: ?

DATE: 1955

PAGES: 1054-1055

AUTHOR: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

ARTICLE/CHAPTER TITLE: “The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner” (poem)

JOURNAL/BOOK TITLE:

VOLUME:

12

PUBLISHER:

ISBN #:

DATE:

AUTHOR: Stephen Crane

ARTICLE/CHAPTER TITLE: The Open Boat (short story)

JOURNAL/BOOK TITLE:

VOLUME:

PUBLISHER:

ISBN #:

DATE:

PAGES: (instructor supplied)

AUTHOR: Terry Bisson

ARTICLE/CHAPTER TITLE: They’re Made of Meat (short story)

JOURNAL/BOOK TITLE:

VOLUME:

PUBLISHER:

ISBN #:

DATE:

PAGES: (instructor supplied)

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

A laptop computer and a digital camera are both highly desirable, if not essential additional

resources. It would be possible but difficult for students to complete all their assignments without

these two devices. Students will also need a sturdy notebook to hold their journal entries, or a

binder to hold their loose sheets.

COURSE DESCRIPTION€¦ · A2— January 9: Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World Anthropologist Wade Davis is alarmed at the threat of extinction facing many

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