Greg Wiles gwiles@wooster.edu
Office: Scovel 119
Department of Geology
The College of Wooster
Wooster, OH 44691
Office phone 2298

 General: This is the web syllabus for the fall 2003 First Year Seminar course at The College of Wooster (http://www.wooster.edu/geology/FYSWiles/FYS_2003.html). Web resources via links, announcements and assignments will be added to these pages each week. Please send me an e-mail message if you discover links concerning the weekly topics or if you have suggestions about this page. See class notes at the bottom of this page for general class logistics. For conduct in the course refer to the Scot's Key and The Code of Academic Integrity. Pay close attention to the Code's language on plagarism (we will discuss this section during class).

Introduction: Understanding large-scale environmental change will be approached by developing an appreciation for the natural history of Northeast Ohio through observing, reading, thinking and writing. Emphasis will be placed on local natural history focusing on the human dimensions of land-use change associated with European settlement, agriculture and development. Local field trips and case studies on the impact of environmental change on civilizations will ground discussions of the human role in the issues of global warming, resource use, and biodiversity. A Sand County Almanac and Bringing the Biosphere Home will instruct us in learning to appreciate our immediate surroundings and guide us in placing our local natural history into the larger context of global environmental change. Land images, computer simulations and readings with a twenty-first century global change perspective, such as The World According to Pimm and The Body of GAIA, will allow us to connect and critically evaluate our local role in the global arena.

Required Books: Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, Ballantine Books; John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath (GOW), Penguin Books; Tyler Volk, Gaia's Body (GB), MIT Press; Jon Krakauer,Into the Wild (ITW), Anchor Books; Richard Andersen, Powerful Writing Skills (PWS), 1994 Career Press.

Library Web Page: Donn Jacobs has set up a reference page for us click here to access this resource.

Writing about Wooster and the World - Fall 2003
Instructor - Greg Wiles
Class: Scovel 305   9:30-10:50 T, Th

Assignments: Check your email often and get your Novell account running (good luck).

Links: We will start with a brainstorming session on the meaning of Environmentalism and
will close the class with a short in-class writing session on your sense of place. This brief
writing assignment will ultimately become your first formal writing assignment (due 11 
September). For information on Aldo Leopold  see the Aldo Leopold Foundation or the 
biography put forth by the Nature Center that bears his name. 

Wednesday I will hand out the guidelines for the first writing assignment. Read pages 7-16 in
Powerful Writing Skills. Click here for the writing assignment handout. The preparation for 
Tuesday 2 September can be found with the other prep. questions.

Announcements: Welcome to writing about Wooster and the World (FYS 2003). 
Northeast Ohio is at its best in the fall and the change of seasons will be upon us before we 
know it. GEOCLUB meets in Scovel 205 on Thursday at 11:00AM. You can learn about 
recent student research (this past summer in Iceland, Alaska, Ohio, Minnesoata, Idaho) and 
later in the semester geology talks given by professors from nearby colleges and universities.

Assignments: For Tuesday see the preparation questions that you have generated.
Fill out a release form to go on the 7 September morning fieldtrip 
(Sunday).We will leave at 9 AM from the circle north of Scovel Hall and return before lunch.
Links: 
Announcements: 4 September we will meet in Kauke Hall (room to be announced).
Presentation by G. Wiles.

Assignments: 11 September first paper due at the beginning of class.
Links: Take a look at the following web sites, they are also linked through the prep. 
questions. www.landdevelopmenttoday.com and 
http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/1380/pave.html
Announcements: 9 September we will meet in Kauke Hall (room to be announced).
Presentation by Dr. Nick Kardulias (Archaeology).

Assignments: 18 September first paper rewrite due. (please hand in the origianl draft along
with the rewrite.
Announcements: Next Tuesday will be the GM debate. Please meet with your groups and 
the TA to set the agenda (see the handouts).

Assignments: 
Links: 
Announcements:

Assignments: Pairs come up with a 1930s topic to research, 2nd paper due at the beginning
class on 2 October
Links: Dust bowl links
Announcements: 2 October meet in the Science Library, be prepared to research your topic.
Sunday morning 5 October is the second fieldtrip leave Scovel at 9 AM and return by noon.
Donn Jacobs has set up a reference page for us click here to access this resource.

Assignments: 9 Rewrite of paper two due at the beginning of class on 9 October.
Links: 
Announcements:

Assignments: Rewrite of paper due 16 October - Hand in a the beginning of class. You should
have investigated a topic for your project and hand me a title/ subject.
Links: Investigate various links on the GAIA hypothesis, you willl critically evaluate 
it for your next paper. 
Announcements: Geoclub this week will feature a talk on the changing flows in the Colorado
River and its impact on the ecology - Dr. David Goodwin of Denison University will speak.

Assignments: 3rd paper due at the beginning of class on 23 October, the subject will be 
critically evaluating the GAIA hypothesis.
Links: Take a look at the many links describing and critisizing the GAIA Hypothesis. For a 
concise explanation of GAIA see this site.

Announcements: 23 October, we will visit the College Westinghouse Power Plant. Click here for 
the reading for next Tuesday.

Assignments: Bibliography is due for the research project at the beginning of class on 28 
October. Revised paper 3 due on 30 October. Also due on 30 October - five references for 
your project
Links: 
Announcements:

Assignments:
Links:
Announcements: Wiles and Beckwith-Laube will not be in class on Tuesday - they will be in 
Seattle at a meeting of the Geological Society of America. You will view "Warning from the Ice"
a video that Laura will set up in Scovel 305 - We will see you all on Thursday.

Assignments: 4th paper due at the beginning of class on 13 November. 11 November - Global
Climate Change Debate.
Links: 
Announcements:

Assignments: Steven B. and Melissa will present on 18 November. On 20 November Evan, 
Kathryn and Brittany are up. 25 November will feature Bobby, Steve K., Fiona and Ronoldo.
Links: On 20 November Gordon Jacoby will speak to the GEOCLUB - you all should attend.

Assignments: 2 Decemeber will feature presentations by Andy, Elizabeth, Elyse and Rob.
4 December will include presentations by Ann, Nicole and Rai.
Links: 
Announcements:

Preparation questions: At the beginning of each class I will handout a sheet of discussion questions that should be answered before the start of the next class. The diligent completion of these is an imporatant part of the course and the success of class discussion depends on your completing them. A complete set of questions will be available on this web page (Preparation questions) if you need to miss a class.

Papers: Four short papers (2-5 pages) and one research paper (see below) are the primary writing evaluations. They will be due at the beginning of class on the dates listed in the schedule. Each paper may be rewritten once after it has been graded and returned The final grade for each paper will be the average of the first and second grades. Two papers will distributed in class for peer reviews.

Fieldtrips: All trips listed in the this syllabus are required for the course. Sunday morning trips are scheduled for 7 September and 5 October, we will leave from the circle on the north side of Scovel at 9AM sharp and return at lunchtime. If you need to miss one let me know well in advance so that we can make alternate arrangements. In addition to the required trips. I have listed as optional two other trips that students and I will be leading in the Wooster area, if you would like to come along that would be great. You will need to fill out a release form for each ofthe trips.

Research paper: This assignment is a major part of the class. You will choose the topic and do the necessary background research on the topic. On 28 October your bibliography for the paper is due. Your final document will be 10-15 pages long, with references and illustrations. The final project is due at 5 pm on the last day of classes (5 December).

Oral presentations.: One team class presentation (9 October), and one individual presentationand discussion of your research project toward the end of the semester are required. Powerpoint presentations are required for both presentations. Your TAs can help with you with these if you are unfamiliar with the software. Note the class parrticipation is worth 10% of your final grade.

Preparation questions.: I will distribute a page of questions before each class meeting to help direct your reading and stimulate discussions of the essential issues. Please provide written answers to each question before the class meets. I will occasionally collect these papers and evaluate them as part of your participation grade.

Course evaluation:

Teaching Assistants: Laura Barnhart (eamil: lbarnhart, ext. 5785) and Matthew Beckwith-Laube (e-mail: mbeckwithla; phone: 330-262-8497) will be our teaching assistants for the course. They will meet with each of you individuaally from time to time. My office hours will be posted outside my office (Scovel 119).