Spring 2006; 3 Credits

Instructor: Matthew S. Carroll
Johnson Hall C-105 (Lecture)
Johnson Hall 22 (Discussion)
Phone: 335-2235

*Special Announcement on room changes*:
-Lectures for this class will be moving to Johnson Hall
Room C-105. as of Mon. Jan. 9th.
- Friday Discussion, both 11:10 and 12:10 sections, will be held in Johnson Hall (not Johnson Tower) Rm. 22

Format: Two 50 minute lectures, One 50 minute discussion/week

Purpose: The purpose of this course is to equip the student with an introductory understanding of the social dimensions and consequences of managing natural resources. Our particular focus is on forests, range lands, wildlife and natural resource recreation settings. The student need have little previous social science background.

This course is an introduction to the relationship of sociology and related social sciences to natural resource management. Because social issues play an intricate role in the management of natural resources, and because such management can rarely be conducted successfully by means of the uncritical application of technical solutions, this course is intended to help the future resource manager factor in social knowledge when making land-management decisions. For those not planning on a natural resources career, the class is aimed to increase general understanding of the social dimensions of natural resource management.

Course Outline and Evaluation: This course involves reading, lecture, some class discussion, and synthesis of information. The discussion sessions will be mostly devoted to discussing readings and lecture material from class. Students will be asked to report on readings or portions to their peers. Students may be asked to provide a brief written summary or synthesis of readings and lecture material.

In-Class Exams = 70%. (First Exam is worth 20%, second and third, 25% each) These will consist of a combination of short answer and short essay questions covering the readings, lectures and class discussions. There will be no makeup exams.

Quizzes = 30% These are designed to ensure that you keep up with the readings and lectures and to sharpen your written communication skills. You are encouraged to write an outline of each reading. This outline is to assist you in recalling the material for discussion and quizzes and it will also be helpful in studying for exams. There will be a quiz in most discussion sessions. The instructor reserves the right to give "pop" quizzes at any time during the course. he will drop the two lowest grades to allow for absences or a "bad day". “There are no make-ups” for additional missed quizzes whether they are in lecture or in discussion sections and the quiz for week 15 will not be dropped!!

Class Procedures:

Behavior in the Classroom: Behavior appropriate to the classroom setting and respectful of the learning process, instructors, guests and fellow students is expected of students at all times. Behaviors such as holding “side conversations,” reading newspapers or general inattentiveness during class will not be tolerated. Students engaging in such behavior will be required to leave the classroom immediately. Students repeatedly engaging in such behaviors will be required to drop the class.

Disability Accommodations: Reasonable accommodations are available for students who have a documented disability. Please notify the instructor during the first week of class of any accommodations needed for the course. Late notification may cause the requested accommodations to be unavailable. All accommodations must be approved through the Disability Resource Center (DRC) in Administration Annex 206, 335-1566.

To receive the accommodations requested students must have documentation of their disability on file at the DRC . The student must complete and sign an Accommodation Form with a DRC staff member and take it to each instructor for his/her signature. If a student requests accommodations from an instructor and does not present a completed Accommodation Form signed by a DRC staff person, he/she will be sent to the DRC .

Click here for class Syllabus.
Click here for PowerPoint presentations.