Course Texts

Please note: all course texts available through Canvas or online

Bullard, Robert. “Environmentalism and Social Justice.” Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class, and Environmental Equality. 3rd Ed. Routledge, 2003. 1-21.

Cronon, William. “The Trouble with Wilderness; or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature.” Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature, New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1995, 69-90.

Finney, Carolyn. “It’s Not Easy Being Green.” Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimaging the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors. University of North Carolina Press, 2014. 92-116.

Gergan, Mabel, Sara Smith, and Pavithra Vasudevan. “Earth Beyond Repair: Race and Apocalypse in Collective Imagination.” EPD: Society and Space 38.1(2018): 91-110.

Glave, Dianne D. “Conservation: An African Legacy of Working the Land.” Rooted in the Earth: Reclaiming the African American Environmental Heritage. Chicago Review Press, 2010. 81-92.

Nixon, Rob. “Epilogue: Scenes from the Seabed.” Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor. Harvard UP, 2011. 263-280. 

Newkirk II, Vann R. Floodlines. The Atlantic. 12 March 2020.  

Washington, Harriet. “Poisoned World: The Racial Gradient of Environmental Neurotoxins.” A Terrible Thing to Waste: Environmental Racism and Its Assault on the American Mind. Little Brown, 2019. 112-158.

Yusoff, Katheryn. “Geology, Race, and Matter. “A Billion Black Anthropocenes or None. University of Minnesota Press, 2018.

Common Feedback Chart

Common Policies

You must familiarize yourself with Georgia Tech’s Common Policies about evaluation rubrics (grading), course completion, attendance requirements, participation in class, non-discrimination, the Communication Center, accommodations, academic misconduct, syllabus modifications, and learning outcomes. You will be responsible for these policies, and when you sign the Statement of Understanding, you affirm you are familiar with these policies.

Attendance

The Writing and Communication Program has a Program-wide attendance policy, which allows a specified number of absences without penalty, regardless of reason. Students may miss a total of 2 short summer session classes. Unless exempted for participation in GA Tech athletics, religious observance, personal/familial crisis, hospitalization, or excused by the Dean of Students, each additional absence beyond the allotted number deducts one-third from the student’s final grade. Missing more than 2 classes in a summer session may result in automatic failure. Arriving to class more than 10 minutes late may constitute a tardy and three tardy constitutes an absence. Sleeping through any portion of a class period may constitute an absence.

Participation

Active participation and engagement in class activities, discussion, and events is required and counts as part of your total grade. You may be penalized if you have not done the reading or fail to regularly participate in class discussions and onsite activities.

Late or Missing Assignments

Submitting assignments past the time and date specified in the syllabus may result in a lower score. Assignments submitted more than 2 weeks past the deadline may not be accepted. Please let me know in advance if you will have trouble meeting a deadline, so we can discuss alternatives.

Course Completion

In all sections of ENGL 1101/2, not completing any component of the course, including projects, assignments, or workshops, may result in failure of the course, as determined by the instructor in consultation with the Director and Associate Director of the Writing and Communication Program.

Revision

While revision is built into all major assignments, during the semester you will have the opportunity to revise one major assignment that earns a B- or below. If you wish to revise a graded assignment, meet with me during office hours or by appointment to discuss steps and due dates. The revised assignment will receive an entirely new grade (not an average of the old and new grade).

Academic Integrity

Cheating and plagiarism are serious violations of the Georgia Tech Academic Honor Code. Plagiarism is intentionally passing off sentences, paragraphs, or entire papers written by someone else as your own original work or submitting whole or partial projects produced for other classes. When you intentionally use language, ideas, images, or other material or code without fully acknowledging its source/authorship in citation, you will receive and F for engaging in academic dishonesty and be referred to the Office of Student Integrity, as required by Georgia Tech policy.

Accommodations

Please note that this class requires some walking outdoors. Georgia Tech supports students through Access Disabled Assistance Program for Tech Students (ADAPTS). Any student who may require accommodation for a documented disability should inform me during the first week of class or when you become aware of your disability. Students who anticipate difficulties with the content or format of the course due to a documented disability should arrange a meeting with me at the beginning of the semester, so we can create a workable plan for your success in the course. ADAPTS serves any Georgia Tech student who has a documented, qualified disability. Official documentation of the disability is required to determine the eligibility for accommodation or adaptations that may be helpful for this course.

Communications Center

Please consider taking one or more projects, at any stage of the writing process, to the Georgia Tech Communications Center. The Center is an excellent resource for all students working on white papers, oral presentations, storyboards, videos, poster designs, podcasts, or professional materials. Make your appointment online to meet with a tutor in Clough Commons, Suite 447.

Non-Discrimination

The Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts supports the Georgia Institute of Technology’s commitment to creating a campus free of discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or veteran status. We further affirm the importance of cultivating an intellectual climate that allows us to better understand the similarities and differences of those who constitute the Georgia Tech community, as well as the necessity of working against inequalities that may also manifest here as they do in the broader society.

Course Website & Syllabus Modification

Please note that the course calendar, assignments, and texts are subject to updates over the duration of the semester, and while the course site will be revised to reflect changes, the .pdf syllabus will not.

Student-Instructor Agreement Form