Assignments and Expectations

1. 1st Day Survey: a brief response to the question "What are the key issues surrounding the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge?" Please list no more than 5, and your response to this will not be graded.
2. Preparation & participation: Students are expected to be active, thoughtful and prepared participants in discussion every day of class. The assigned readings are to be completed prior to each class meeting, as they provide the basis for in-class discussions and activities. Because the topics build on each other, regular attendance is essential for informed discussion.
3. Essays: four short essay assignments will be given to both test your understanding of the reading materials covering wilderness literature, economics, the natural and political history of the Arctic Refuge, and to demonstrate your ability to develop a persuasive and logical response to the given essay question. Essay questions will be posted at least 3 days in advance of their due date.

   #1 is due Monday June 26th: This week’s readings offered several perspectives on the concept of wilderness. There were several perspectives offered on the relationship of humans to wilderness:
   * “where man himself is a visitor who does not remain”
   * “[residents] only as hunter-gatherers”
   * “anywhere on Earth”
   What are your criteria for a proper wilderness area designation and personal experience? Please compare and contrast your perspective with those described in Cronon, Kaye, Kaufmann, Stegner and Kollin.

   #2 is due July 3rd: Provide answers to both questions below, and aim for 3-5 pages in total.
   
   A.  In class, we discussed some of the benefits and costs of oil development in section 1002 of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.  The class notes from June 22 sketch the beginning of a benefit-cost analysis. Develop your own analysis of the benefits and costs of oil development in ANWR. In doing so, be as explicit as you can about the benefits and costs of oil extraction, and their relative magnitudes.  Does your analysis inform your view of ANWR development?  Does it reflect your view?
   
   B.  Some people have proposed that the rights to manage oil development in section 1002 be granted to an environmental organization.  The idea is that any development, if it occurred, would be managed by a trusted environmental steward.  Suppose such an arrangement actually happened. That is, suppose the rights to manage and extract oil from section 1002 were allocated to an environmental group – say, the Audubon Society.  As owner of the rights, the Society could sell the lease rights to oil companies and could collect royalties from the oil extracted. Currently, the Audubon Society is a leading opponent of oil development in ANWR.  Do you think it would change its position if it had a stake in the oil lease rights and royalites?  Explain your reasoning.

   #3 is due July 17th: The theme of this essay is personal transformation: How have your perceptions of the issues surrounding the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge changed as a result of your in-class experiences (if they've changed at all)? If they have changed significantly, what were the key presentations, readings, interactions, or observations that were most important in catalyzing those changes? If your perceptions haven't changed, have your pre-class perceptions been reinforced by specific experiences?

   #4 is due July 19: Your assignment is to write an op-ed piece with your recommendations for the future management of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s 1002 Area.  This should be written so that it can be submitted for publication in the newspaper of your choice (and we encourage you to submit your op-ed piece after we have the opportunity to provide you with feedback).

We would like you to go beyond the readings in your writing (but to use them as your foundation); to present a clear, focused, well-developed and substantiated argument; to write clearly and carefully; and to get the facts right. Length = 750 words maximum! Essays will be graded on the 4.0 scale.

4. Individual Research Journals: This is an assignment to be conducted while in Alaska, and is to contribute to the database for the development of the final group powerpoint presentation. Students will negotiate their research journal assignment with instructors before leaving for Alaska. Assignments can be selected from the following areas (though students can make proposals for alternates). Instructors will endeavor to distribute the assignments so that as many types of research as possible are covered. Possible research journal areas are:
   
   
   • written journal 1 - a written, first person sensory, emotional point of view
   • written journal 2 - a field diary of nature, place, etc
   • research journal 1 - a written journal that links statistical information or data to tangible observations and experiences while in the Arctic. Think of this as making the library research come alive with real examples.
   • research journal 2 - other???
   • visual journal 1 - still photographs, high resolution digital images (be prepared to bring adequate memory storage with you) of the place
   • visual journal 2 - documentary photographs of trip experience, high resolution digital images (be prepared to bring adequate memory storage with you) documenting the trip itself, all of the mundane details of preparation, travel, fellow students, meetings in the arctic, etc.
   • visual journal 3 - moving images, video data of the arctic and of the trip. documentary combined with raw footage. must be edited for interest before handing it in.
   • audio journal 1 - an edited collection of audio data to include sounds of the arctic at various times of day/night, as well as highly edited selective conversations.

The Research Journals must represent good quality data collection!! They also must be ready to share with class members upon our return from Alaska. The final Research Journal materials are due by 5pm July 19th.

5. Final Powerpoint Presentation Project: This is a team-developed powerpoint presentation with work broken into sub-group categories, all to be a single meshed project. Students will do the following Full Group tasks together:

Full group tasks:

• Primary theme or message – boiled down to a single sentence
• Significant statements / key messages / general messages – one sentence for each
• Determine Subthemes / secondary messages - one sentence for each
• Description of target audience
• overall sequencing and organization of subthemes

Subgroup tasks:

• Students will divide into subgroups of their own choosing to each work on a sub-group theme (according to the subthemes that they have chosen). We are expecting 3-4 students per subgroup.
• Research information will be roughly edited and organized according to subtheme areas.
• The complete powerpoint presentation can be no longer than 60 minutes long, and may include short audio, video, digital photographs, journal entries, and/or other imagery deemed necessary to communicate key messages to the target audience.
  

A more detailed assignment description and opportunity for discussion will take place on Wednesday June 21st from 11:15-11:50am. Final presentations will be given in class on July 19th, and hard-copy research journal materials are due by 5pm July 19th. [ top ]  

Grading

Final Presentation Project: (1/3 project participation, 1/3 subgroup assigned grade, 1/3 subgroup grade)	25%
Research Journals from Alaska	35%
In class Participation	15%
Essays (4)	25%

We will grade each of you on the quality of your work; we will not grade on a curve.

Because the assignments are essential for helping you keep up with the topics, and because the essays will often form the basis of class discussions, we hope you will make every effort to turn all assignments in on time. Late assignments (without prior approval) will have a 10% penalty subtracted for each day late.[ top ]