Ecology & (Non)violence

Note from Instructor 12.28.20. This syllabus is still under construction, but almost all of the content is available. If you find there are materials or content that you feel you need that are not accessible to you in this moment, please let me know.

Particularly if you have not taken a course with me before, I recommend watching this short orienting video (6:53) https://youtu.be/3MXLZv13vKs

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course exposes students to the theories and practices of individual and collective (non)violence in pursuit of ecological justice. By questioning the violence-(non)violence dichotomy itself and clarifying definitions/usage of the terms violence and (non)violence, students consider the structures of power and violence within which violence and (non)violence as ecological justice strategies operate. While surveying historical organized resistance to ecological devastation, students reflect on how religious traditions, theologies and spiritual practices contribute to ecological destruction and/or promote earth justice for the other-than-human.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

• Survey historical and contemporary (non)violent resistance to ecological devastation.
• Construct working definitions of violence and (non)violence in the context of environmental justice and other social movements and organizations working for the restoration of earth.
• Examine the role of theological and social location on collective work for ecological justice.
• Connect with personal and community story, local geography and relationship with other-than-human in the commitment to (non)violence and resistance to injustice.
• Discover human and other spiritual resources for sustaining the individual and collective work of (non)violent resistance in the realm of ecological struggles.

REQUIRED TEXTS

• Dina Gilio-Whitaker. 2019. As Long As Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
• Awake: A Dream from Standing Rock. 2017. https://awakethefilm.org/ Please be aware that this film contains violence against human people and other-than-humans.

ALSO CHOOSE ONE: (If you have already read one of these, please choose one you have not read)

• Derrick Jensen. A Language Older Than Words. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Press, 2004.
• Terry Tempest Williams, Terry. Erosion: Essays of Undoing. New York: Sarah Crichton Books: 2019.
• Robin Wall Kimmerer. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. Milkweed Editions, 2013.

The rest of the materials will be provided by way of documents and links to resources on the internet.

1) General Participation: Learning is not merely about receiving information from a variety of expert sources; it is about everyone, including the instructor, asking questions and seeking to understand from the materials and all participants. In this class, every participant is a teacher and a learner. I expect students will:

1. Invest in the course by establishing a regular and respectful online presence;
2. Genuinely try to learn the concepts, principles, and material by reading and listening; collaborate in the spirit of learning critically and enthusiastically;
3. Participate in online discussions. Respect other students' preparation by being prepared, having read and watched the assigned materials carefully and thoughtfully;
4. Participate in Zoom meetings/synchronous check-ins;
5. Turn in all assignments in a timely fashion;
6. Communicate with the instructor when you anticipate being unable to participate in discussions, Zoom meetings, or turning in assignments in a timely manner.

2)  Discussion Forums:

This same information is posted under the link “Online Discussions.”

Every week, you must post your own original response to the discussion questions by Wednesday night at Midnight MST.

This course relies heavily on online discussions. This is where much of the collective aspect of the course “takes place.” Here we share ideas, ask questions, and deepen our understanding of course concepts. Every week, I will post numerous questions related to the weekly topics. By no means are you expected to answer all of questions I post. Respond to the ones that make you want to answer. What I really want you to do is to respond critically and personally to the course materials and one another. My expectation is that you will participate in all discussion threads as often and as well as you are able.

Every week, you must post your own original response to the discussion questions by Wednesday night at midnight MST. I encourage you to post your original responses earlier than that. Even if you are not ready to post your own original answers to the questions early in the week, I nonetheless encourage you to log in to the course website early on, read your classmates' posts that have posted early, and respond to them. Ideally, participation in online discussions should be completed within the week assigned. Each week, the discussions will start on Monday and last through Sunday night. This allows us all to focus on the same issues at the same time. Being present in an online format requires you to make your presence known. 

In addition, each of you are required to make one EXTRA Discussion post in which you share your Practice of Connection and Repair.

3) Synchronous Check-Ins

There are three of these scheduled.

4) Completing Initial and Final Learning Agreements

See link on Self-Grading and Evaluation/Grading

5) Practice of Connection and Repair

I expect you to develop a practice of connection and repair with your local environment. This practice should take place at least once a week. You are also required to submit one additional discussion post on your Practice of Connection and Repair.

6) Introductory Essay, Critical Reflection on Practices of Connection and Repair.

These are two short, personal and critical reflections on yourself and your practices related to ecology and (non)violence. See separate guidelines for this practice.

7) Final Project/Reflection

Create a final project or reflection on what you have learned this quarter about what it means to live (non)violently in the current moment. You may choose to write a reflection on your growing commitment to what it looks like concretely to develop a (non)violent practice in relation to your human and other-than-human ecosystem. You may choose to develop a study for a relevant local community. You may decide to outline a project you would like to implement in your community. Whatever is most relevant and helpful to  you and your context.

Every week, you must post your own original response to the discussion questions by Wednesday night at Midnight MST.

This course relies heavily on online discussions. This is where much of the collective aspect of the course “takes place.” Here we share ideas, ask questions, and deepen our understanding of course concepts. Every week, I will post numerous questions related to the weekly topics. By no means are you expected to answer all of questions I post. Respond to the ones that make you want to answer. What I really want you to do is to respond critically and personally to the course materials and one another. My expectation is that you will participate in all discussion threads as often and as well as you are able.

Every week, you must post your own original response to the discussion questions by Wednesday night at midnight MST. I encourage you to post your original responses earlier than that. Even if you are not ready to post your own original answers to the questions early in the week, I nonetheless encourage you to log in to the course website early on, read your classmates' posts that have posted early, and respond to them. Ideally, participation in online discussions should be completed within the week assigned. Each week, the discussions will start on Monday and last through Sunday night. This allows us all to focus on the same issues at the same time. Being present in an online format requires you to make your presence known. 

There will be a number of materials throughout the course that will get you thinking about if and how you connect with the land, with human and other-than-human inhabitants in your local eco-system around matters of ecosystem support or ecological devastation. I am asking you to engage with a weekly, personal and/or collective practice of connection and repair in your local area/with your local community. Such practices of connection and repair could look like a lot of things, and I am providing you a list of possibilities and thoughts to get you started thinking about what your practice/s might look like. You don't have to engage the same practice every week, though you may choose to do so and that may be most helpful for you to go more deeply into the practice of connection and repair.

Make use of the following handout, Bioregional Ecology Survey, which provides a series of questions about connecting with your local ecosystem and its history. Week Five's online Discussion thread will largely focus around these questions. By no means are you expected to know the answers to all of these questions (though eventually you should). Use the questions on this handout as a guide to focus your current area of desired knowledge and practice. 

Please see the following directions to sign up for an an extra discussion post where you will describe your practice/s with others in the class, as a matter of sharing a (non)violence practice, and which will serve as an accountability structure for the requirement.

In your second Critical Reflection, you will write (or share in other creative ways) the practice/s you engaged in, reflections on the Bioregional Ecology Survey, what you learned from them, and where you are leaning as far as a  final project.  Therefore I recommend that you document your practice and what you are learning from it as a resource for writing that reflection, including what you write for your Week Five Discussion thread.

In addition, the required text that you choose to read (Jensen, Kimmerer, Williams) may be another resource for you to consider and reflect upon your personal practices of connection and repair. 

Ideas for Practice of Connection and Repair:

• Create an altar in an outdoor space in your yard that can serve as a daily or regular place you go to engage the other than human in your immediate environment.
• Take photographs of your ecosystem and reflect upon what you see.
• Invest (or reinvest) in a local community organization tending to wild spaces in your local area.
• Connect with/organize with local people who are resisting local ecological devastation.
• Pray regularly in a local outdoor space. Find concrete ways to connect with the other-than-human in that space.
• Pick up trash daily in a part of your community.
• Plan to attend, and attend, a (non)violent direct action training. Use the training, your preparation for it and your action-reflection upon what it means for you to take direct action related to your other-than-human relationships as a practice of connection and repair.
• Attend/create educational events that inform you/others about your local eco-system.
• Investigate/deepen your knowledge of one or more of the ways in which communities of color are being impacted by environmental racism in your local area. Commit to a weekly practice of research and communication with-within your communities related to this circumstance.
• Commit to having at least one intentional conversation a week about what you are learning in this course with another person/s. Document that conversation and what you learned. 
• Research a key piece of local, state or federal legislation affecting the other-than-human that is being  proposed/dismantled and engage in a practice that is supportive of legislation that is pro-eco-system.
• Find out a species of plant, tree or animal that is going extinct and engage at least one practice a week to connect with and advocate for that one.
• Consider an pro-environmental activity you are already involved with. For example, recycling. Actively document that practice, why you are doing it, and what impact it is having on you and the earth/other-than-human. How would you deepen, discard, or collectivize that practice? 

As we all understand by now, Iliff assigns these times to us. I realize some of you may not be able to make these times, but do your best. You are responsbile for grading your own particpation. Please add your name below to the days you plan to attend. 

Please add your name below to the meeting slots you plan to attend by clicking "Edit" in the upper right-hand corner of the page, typing your name below the meeting day/time, and then don't forget to SAVE by clicking at the bottom of the page.

I will send you a Zoom link to each check-in through an announcement prior to the gathering.

FIRST Synchronous Check-In Thursday, January 14 9:00-10:15AM MST

In the first Zoom meeting, we will introduce ourselves, including some of the ways you introduced yourselves to the instructor in your introductory essay. What is your relationship with the ecosystem where you live and where you are from? In addition we will discuss your initial sense of the materials from the first weeks of the quarter. 

Add your Name and SAVE:
Julie Todd

Eve Lyne

Baranda Fermin

Kyra Williams Garcia

Blake Gibbins

Brett McCourt

B Wolfe (Newell)

Madi Denton 

HL Holder-Brown

cheryl sherman

Jesse Van Horne

Tonya Hancock

Isaac Dunn

SECOND Synchronous Check-In Thursday, February 4 9:00-10:15AM MST

In this second check-in, we will discuss the movie Awake, and some of what you wrote about in the Week Five Discussion thread. How do your reflect on the following: is land sacred to your or not? What does land being sacred mean to you? Does other-than-human life have agency? What did you read and understand about the relationship of indigenous worldviews to (non)violent resistance in the examples in the course materials about Panhe and other sacred sites in California, Mauna Kea and from the movie Awake? Can you answer the questions posed at the beginning of Awake: “What would you do if your water was ruined? How would you live?” If your water source was being actively threatened and you knew it, what would you? What does protecting the earth mean to you? What are some of the theo-political differences between “stewardship of the earth” and “protection of the earth”? What are some of the practices of (non)violence that you saw practiced in the Awake movie that stay with you? The practices of violence and repression? What are some of the reactions you had to watching the movie and getting a closer view of the (non)violent resistance at Standing Rock?

Add your Name and SAVE:
Julie Todd

Eve Lyne (I will not be able to be present after all)

Baranda Fermin

HL Holder-Brown

Kyra Williams Garcia

Blake

Brett McCourt

B Wolfe (Newell)

Madi Denton

 

Jesse Van Horne

Tonya Hancock

Isaac Dunn (will need to leave at 9:30)

THIRD Synchronous Check-In Thursday, February 25 9:00-10:15AM MST

Add your Name and SAVE:
Julie Todd

Eve Lyne

Baranda Fermin

HL Holder-Brown

Kyra Williams Garcia

Blake Gibbins

Brett McCourt

B Wolfe (Newell)

Madi Denton 

cheryl sherman

Jesse Van Horne

Tonya Hancock

ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE NOT TAKEN A COURSE WITH ME BEFORE, please watch the following video to help you to understand my rationale for student self-evaluation and grading. (9:06). This is an older video that may make a few contextual course references that may not seem relevant, but the descriptive content stands. If you have taken a course before with me before, then you know what to do and why I do it this way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2Poh2T1DkU

LEARNING AGREEMENT: I will provide written feedback on assignments, but all students will evaluate their own work in the course and assign themselves a grade. The learning agreement is an informal learning contract, a narrative description of your intentions for fulfilling all of the course requirements as they are delineated in the syllabus (see the course requirements page, and the actual written assignment links, for more detailed information on many of these items):

1) General Participation: 

1. Invest in the course by establishing a regular and respectful online presence;
2. Genuinely try to learn the concepts, principles, and material by reading and listening; collaborate in the spirit of learning critically and enthusiastically;
3. Participate in online discussions. Respect other students' preparation by being prepared, having read and watched the assigned materials carefully and thoughtfully;
4. Participate in synchronous Zoom meetings;
5. Turn in all assignments in a timely fashion;
6. Communicate with the instructor when you anticipate being unable to participate in discussions, Zoom meetings, or turning in assignments in a timely manner.

2)  Discussion Forums:

Every week, you must post your own original response to the discussion questions by Wednesday night at Midnight MST. Respond critically and personally to the course materials and one another. My expectation is that you will participate in all discussion threads as often and as well as you are able. Being present in an online format requires you to make your presence known. 

3) Synchronous Check-Ins:

There are three of these on your schedule.

4) Completing Initial and Final Learning Agreements

5) Practice of Connection and Repair

I expect you to develop a practice of connection and repair with your local environment. This practice should take place at least once a week. There is an extra discussion thread you are responsible for in relation to this requirement.

6) Introductory Essay, Critical Reflection on Practices of Connection and Repair.

These are two short, personal and critical reflections on yourself and your practices related to ecology and (non)violence. 

7) Final Project/Reflection

By reading the syllabus and course assignments, you should be able to reflect upon what you will do. Describe how you will evaluate what you have done in each of these areas by the end of the course.

I also encourage you to include in your learning contract personal challenge goals around being a student (time management, more insightful participation in online discussions) and reflecting upon what it means to be a person committed to (non)violent engagement with and for the environment and its inhabitants in this historical moment, and in your life. 

This document will essentially serve as a learning agreement between you and me, and with yourself. This learning contract can be as long or as short as you wish in order to communicate your intentions. You may not be completely sure of what you will do for all of your project/reflections, but you can indicate where you are leaning. At the end of this narrative, please tell me what grade you intend to achieve.

By the last day of the quarter, and making reference to this first learning agreement, evaluate in writing how you think did in achieving your stated objectives and goals throughout the quarter, and whether or not you achieved the grade you anticipated. At the end of this reflection, you must give yourself a final grade.

As the instructor, I am responsible for assigning final grades. In almost all cases, I will assign the grade you give yourself. However, if you wildly overrate or underrate your work, we will enter into negotiations about the final grade.

• Each class week begins on Monday and ends on Sunday. I expect that you will communicate with me when you anticipate being unable to participate in discussions, Zoom Meetings, or turning in assignments in a timely manner..
• If either you missed something or need a refresher, any new or updated information on the class can be found in the Announcements section. Otherwise, all of the information on how to navigate the course is provided on the home page of the course, which includes links to all content in the syllabus. The end of the home page syllabus is a chronological list of items that are due. Except for the Zoom meetings, all of your assignments from weekly course materials, to Discussions, to more extensive writing assignments, should show up as due dates in your To-Do list for the course.
• Turn your notifications on.

Communications Policy: I will log on to the classroom most days. The discussion forum is generally the best place to ask most questions. If there is a question about class requirements or other questions that do not fit into a weekly discussion, I encourage you to use the internal Canvas communication system. If you need to contact me on an individual basis, please email me directly and I will try to reply within 24 hours. If you would like to arrange to communicate by Skype, Google, Zoom, or phone, please email me directly to set up an appointment.

If you need technical support for anything related to your laptop or device, how CANVAS works, how to do live video conferencing, you should contact the IT helpdesk at helpdesk@iliff.edu.

Degree Learning Goals: Please take some time to look over the Professional Degree Learning Goals (MDiv, MASC, MAPSC) and the Academic Degree Learning Goals (MTS, MA).

Incompletes:  If incompletes are allowed in this course, see the Master's Student Handbook for Policies and Procedures.

Pass/Fail:  Masters students wishing to take the class pass/fail should discuss this with the instructor by the second class session.

Academic Integrity and Community Covenant:  All students are expected to abide by Iliff’s statement on Academic Integrity, as published in the Masters Student Handbook, or the Joint PhD Statement on Academic Honesty, as published in the Joint PhD Student Handbook, as appropriate.  All participants in this class are expected to be familiar with Iliff’s Community Covenant.

Core Values: As a community, Iliff strives to live by this set of Core Values.

Accommodations:  Iliff engages in a collaborative effort with students with disabilities to reasonably accommodate student needs.   Students are encouraged to contact their assigned advisor to initiate the process of requesting accommodations.  The advising center can be contacted at advising@iliff.edu or by phone at 303-765-1146. 

Writing Lab:  Grammar and organization are important for all written assignments.  Additional help is available from the Iliff Writing Lab, which is available for students of any level who need help beginning an assignment, organizing thoughts, or reviewing a final draft. 

Inclusive Language:  It is expected that all course participants will use inclusive language in speaking and writing, and will use terms that do not create barriers to classroom community. 

Julie Todd, Ph.D.

E-mail: jtodd@iliff.edu

John Wesley Iliff Senior Lecturer in Justice and Peace Studies

Dr. Julie Todd is a scholar-activist living in Lawrence, Massachusetts. She received her Ph.D. in 2012 from University of Denver-Iliff School of Theology Joint Program in Religious and Theological Studies. As John Wesley Iliff Senior Lecturer in Justice & Peace Studies, she teaches all of her courses in online and hybrid formats, and primarily teaches courses in the area of justice and peace. Her scholarship focuses on social change theory and praxis, violence and (non)violence, and matters of privilege, oppression and solidarity across axes of difference.

She is a published essayist and poet on matters of justice-seeking and the spiritual life. She is the author of three books:  a rewrite of her dissertation titled Struggling with (Non)violence, a book of her own personal writings called 50: thorns & blossoms, and Nothing About Us Without Us: LGBTQ Liberation & the United Methodist Church. All of these publications are available for purchase on her website. 

She is also a trained herbalist and aromatherapist, working with other creatives & healers in Lawrence, MA on collective healing projects. She is the owner of her own business called JustJulie.