Active Outline

General Information

Course ID (CB01A and CB01B)
ICS D019.
Course Title (CB02)
Making a Difference: Transforming Relations of Nature, Community, and Power
Course Credit Status
Credit - Degree Applicable
Effective Term
Fall 2023
Course Description
This course explores the relationships between nature, community, and power and their influence on political struggles and social movements. Students will engage in community-focused problem solving, personal reflection and career exploration. The course will use local examples to explore broader principles.
Faculty Requirements
Course Family
Not Applicable

Course Justification

This course is part of the Certificate in Leadership and Social Change. This course addresses place-based social and environmental justice issues. It is intended to be UC and CSU transferable and °®¶¹´«Ã½, CSUGE and IGETC applicable.

Foothill Equivalency

Does the course have a Foothill equivalent?
No
Foothill Course ID

Course Philosophy

Formerly Statement

Course Development Options

Basic Skill Status (CB08)
Course is not a basic skills course.
Grade Options
  • Letter Grade
  • Pass/No Pass
Repeat Limit
0

Transferability & Gen. Ed. Options

Transferability
Transferable to both UC and CSU
°®¶¹´«Ã½ GEArea(s)StatusDetails
2GDX°®¶¹´«Ã½ GE Area D - Social and Behavioral SciencesApproved
CSU GEArea(s)StatusDetails
CGDYCSU GE Area D - Social SciencesApproved
IGETCArea(s)StatusDetails
IG4XIGETC Area 4 - Social and Behavioral SciencesApproved
C-IDArea(s)StatusDetails
SJSSocial Justice Studies - AOEApprovedC-ID SJS 110

Units and Hours

Summary

Minimum Credit Units
4.0
Maximum Credit Units
4.0

Weekly Student Hours

TypeIn ClassOut of Class
Lecture Hours4.08.0
Laboratory Hours0.00.0

Course Student Hours

Course Duration (Weeks)
12.0
Hours per unit divisor
36.0
Course In-Class (Contact) Hours
Lecture
48.0
Laboratory
0.0
Total
48.0
Course Out-of-Class Hours
Lecture
96.0
Laboratory
0.0
NA
0.0
Total
96.0

Prerequisite(s)

Corequisite(s)

Advisory(ies)

EWRT D001A or EWRT D01AH or ESL D005.

Limitation(s) on Enrollment

Entrance Skill(s)

General Course Statement(s)

(See general education pages for the requirements this course meets.)

Methods of Instruction

Lecture and visual aids

Discussion of assigned reading

Collaborative learning and small group exercises

Collaborative projects

Guest speakers

Field observation and field trips

Discussion and problem solving performed in class

Assignments

  1. Daily reading from college level text
  2. Take-home short essay assignments based on readings, lecture, and class discussions involving application of concepts studied in class
  3. Presentations of group projects based on case studies and policy analyses. Topics of case studies and policy analyses can include but are not limited to the following: statewide, county-wide, or city-specific debates over urban development, environmental issues, immigration policy, the impact of changing ethnic and racial demographics, and other timely and relevant issues.

    Projects can include, but are not limited to: videos, policy papers, and PowerPoint presentations
  4. Five to ten page final research paper applying learnings from class to analyze community-specific social or environmental issue(s) and to outline plan for community empowerment efforts and/or solution to the problem. For example: Students may write up suggestions for more powerful social transformation to give to the organization with which they are doing community service

Methods of Evaluation

  1. Participation in in-class discussions and activities and off-campus field trips will be evaluates based on self-assessment of participation and written reflections on field trips.
  2. Take-home and in-class assignments will be evaluated based on depth of understanding of concepts covered.
  3. Presentations of group projects will be evaluated on the basis of analyzing and evaluating environmental and/or social issues related to civic engagement, especially perspectives and issues related to different ethnic/immigrant communities in the Silicon Valley
  4. Final paper (written outside of class) applying learnings from class will be evaluated on the basis of analyzing community-specific social issue(s) and outlining personal plan for participation in community empowerment efforts

Essential Student Materials/Essential College Facilities

Essential Student Materials: 
  • None.
Essential College Facilities:
  • None.

Examples of Primary Texts and References

AuthorTitlePublisherDate/EditionISBN
Alkon, Alison Hope. 2012. Black, White, and Green: Farmers Markets, Race, and the Green Economy: Geographies of Justice and Social Transformation. University of Georgia Press.
Fouberg, Erin H.and Alexander B. Murphy. 11th edition 2015. Human Geography: People, Place, and Culture. Wiley.
Frazier, John W. 2010. Multicultural Geographies. State University of New York Press.

Examples of Supporting Texts and References

AuthorTitlePublisher
Pitti, Steven J. 2003.The Devil in Silicon Valley: Northern California, Race, and Mexican Americans. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Nelson, Melissa, K., Ed. 2008. Original Instructions: Indigenous Teachings for a Sustainable Future. Vermont: Bear & Company.
Fraga, Luis and Ricardo Ramirez. "Latino Political Incorporation in California, 1990-2000." In Assets at Risk: Latinos in California. Andres Jimenez and David Lopez. Berkeley: Institute of Governmental Studies Press.
Bacon, David. 2011 "Up Against the Open Shop - The Hidden Story of Silicon Valley's High-Tech Workers." < http://truth-out.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=117:up-against-the-open-shop--the-hidden-story-of-silicon-valleys-hightech-workers>.
Browne, Ginny. 2011. "San Jose Flea Market Faces BART Expansion, Displacement." In Race, Poverty, and the Environment: A Journal for Social and Environmental Justice. Vol. 18 No. 1. <http://www.reimaginerpe.org/18-1/browne>.
Garcia, John. 2003. Latino Politics in America: Community, Culture, and Interests. Rowman and Littlefield.
Walker, Richard A. 2007. The Country in the City: The Greening of the San Francisco Bay Area. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Pellow, David N. and Lisa S.H. Park. 2002. The Silicon Valley of Dreams: Environmental Injustice, Immigrant Workers, and the High-Tech Global Economy. New York: New York University Press.
Lien, Pei-te. 2001. The Making of Asian America Through Political Participation. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Learning Outcomes and Objectives

Course Objectives

  • Relate course topics and pedagogy to the interdisciplinary methodologies and social history of intercultural studies and geography
  • Identify and analyze the physical transformations of a local region from the time of indigenous populations to now as an example of the broader concepts covered in this course
  • Identify and analyze the mechanisms of social, cultural, and political formations
  • Explore the intricate relationships between nature, culture, and power and their influence on political struggles and social movements

CSLOs

  • Analyze social, cultural, natural, and political realities.

  • Analyze and evaluate community assets.

  • Analyze and explore resources to make a difference in the issues of concern to the student.

Outline

  1. Relate course topics and pedagogy to the interdisciplinary methodologies and social history of intercultural studies and geography
    1. Identify political, social, and academic circumstances of the origins of Ethnic Studies in the late 1960s and 1970s
    2. Debate the institutional, academic, and societal pressures that shaped the changing field of ethnic studies
    3. Discuss the interdisciplinary nature of ethnic studies and examine various social scientific approaches to ethnic studies, such sociology, political science, anthropology, geography, and history
    4. Explore the role of geography as an interdisciplinary subject and examine geographic methodologies
    5. Compare content and methodology of cultural/human geography with other disciplines such as anthropology, history, political science, sociology, environmental studies and economics
  2. Identify and analyze the physical transformations of a local region from the time of indigenous populations to now as an example of the broader concepts covered in this course
    1. Examine the environmental and social problems that result from the depletion, destruction, and misuse of natural resources, from development, and pollution. Suggest possible future courses of action
    2. Compare and contrast the physical formations of a local region, such as the Silicon Valley, in the 20th and early 21st centuries from agricultural to urban/suburban sprawl and how local industry, for example the tech industry in the Silicon Valley, has impacted the region
    3. Analyze urban planning and city infrastructure projects and compare and contrast how different communities get impacted
  3. Identify and analyze the mechanisms of social, cultural, and political formations
    1. Describe and analyze population distribution, growth, and migration patterns to and within the area, among different cultural groups
    2. Identify the various forms of livelihood and critically assess the concept of economic development and its goals
    3. Identify and analyze contemporary social issues in the context of community development and history
    4. Analyze the history of social and economic policies in relation to patterns of community development
    5. Compare and contrast communities based on social and cultural identities such as race, class, ethnicity, gender, immigration status, citizenship, occupation and language
  4. Explore the intricate relationships between nature, culture, and power and their influence on political struggles and social movements
    1. Explore the politics of plants, agriculture, and food; the relationship between our communities and domesticated plants; and community access to food and the influence of agri-business
    2. Explore the food justice movement around accessibility to healthy foods, urban gardens/farms, and the growing green jobs movement
    3. Explore the production and commodification of nature and the contemporary ecological politics around sustainable development and technological responses to environmental crisis
    4. Explore the politics of the relationship between nature and culture as it applies to western and indigenous communities and the indigenous environmental movement
    5. Explore and compare local cases of grassroots community organizing efforts, strategies for organization-based and institution-based change, and civic involvement and political activism especially around nature
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