AHW 6503 Crocco 1

Spring 2010

TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF ARTS & HUMANITIES
PROGRAM IN SOCIAL STUDIES

A&HW 6503/7503 – Doctoral/Dissertation Seminar in Social Studies (2 points)

Fall 2010, Thursdays 5:10-6:50 PM

Professor Margaret S. Crocco Office: 420 Zankel Hall

Box 80 Office Hours: Wed, 4-5 PM, Th, 3-5 PM
212-678-3174 Classroom: GDH 279
crocco@tc.edu

This class is an experiment in considering the issue of sustainability and how it relates to social
studies. We will be engaging in a process of mutual discovery throughout the term about topics that I
am only beginning to study. We will be learning together about a topic that should become
increasingly prominent in social studies education. However, we’re on the frontier of today—both at
TC and nationwide.

In the end, we’ll see if this venture into social studies is sustainable. For the entire Program in Social
Studies, we will offer a course this summer (2010, summer B) on sustainability and social studies
from one of our newly minted Ph.D.’s—Dr. Tom Chandler of the Mailman School of Public Health
—an expert on disaster preparedness and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Although there are many definitions of sustainability, one given by the World Commission on the
Environment and Development is as follows: “development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
(Our Common Future, 1987)

Course Objectives:
This course has several aims:
• To continue to consider how theory informs our work;
• To introduce the concept of sustainability as a social issue into the Program in Social
Studies at TC
• To develop a tentative theory about the meaning of sustainability as a social issue;
• To learn from several experts on sustainability and documentary film;
• To continue with preparation of the 5503 paper.

Class Schedule
Class will meet from 5:10 to 6:50 on almost all (save for Feb 11th) Thursdays across the entire
semester (January 21st to April 29th) except for the spring break vacation.

Overview of Course Requirements:

1. Attendance, Preparation, and Informed Participation in Class Discussion (20%)

All doctoral students take 4 semesters of the doctoral seminar as the beginning requirements of their
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doctoral preparation in social studies education. In so doing, they come to know other first and
second year doctoral students and begin to develop a learning community that should help sustain
them throughout their journey to the doctoral degree. The success of doctoral/dissertation seminar
depends on the willingness of students to invest adequate time in preparation of required readings.

Attendance and participation are minimum—and serious—obligations of the doctoral/dissertation

seminar. Students need to attend all classes; only one excused absence will be allowed—for
professional matters. You are responsible for all materials presented in class, including
announcements about course procedures, requirements, and any changes in them. Should students
miss more than 1 class session, then they will need to do an extra semester of the doctoral seminar.

2. Documentary Project, divided into two parts (60%)

You will be creating a short documentary film (about 5-6 minutes in length) about some aspect of
sustainability that relates to social studies (history, economics, civics, geography,
anthropology/sociology, urban studies, and psychology). You will work on this in pairs or triads.

We will use the iMovie software available on our mobile laptops. We are purchasing the video
cameras for your use.

We will have a presentation from two filmmakers: Marylou and Jerome Bongiorno, creators of the
award-winning Revolution 67 and New Work on February 11th. As a 6-minute documentary, New
Work on Newark, NJ (also a 3-D film) would be appropriate in scale, if not in approach or topic, to
your assignment. We will also have a presentation by another documentary filmmaker, Ansley
Erickson, who will tell us about the process of making her film on the desegregation of Nashville.

We have some other terrific guest speakers coming as well: Center for Environmental Research and
Conservation Executive Director Dr. Nancy Degnan; Earth Institute’s Dr. John Mutter; TC’s Dr.
Adriana Abdenur, post-doc Dr. Thurman Bridges, and Jamie Cloud, mentor of NYC’s efforts at
building sustainability-oriented schools..

1. Submission One: 8-10 page prospectus and storyboard* for your film—due March 11th

In this prospectus you develop a theory about the place of sustainability in social studies
education and lay out one or two concepts/propositions from the readings that you will use to
theorize your film. At least half the paper should develop these ideas in a critical and creative
fashion.

Then you present, as an appendix (but also included in the 10 page maximum length), your
“storyboard,” or sequence of shots that will give a dramatic arc and meaning to your
documentary film. In this section you describe what choices led to your selection of the
different “frames” comprising your film—whether they are scenes, graphics, interviews, etc.
Then you explain how they will “tell the story” of your short film.

*A storyboard is a graphic organizer that lays out in sequence the images and text you will
use in creating a movie. It allows you to conceptualize ahead of time what the unfolding of
the story will look like and time it will take to tell the story. For more information, see:
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http://accad.osu.edu/womenandtech/Storyboard%20Resource/

There are various storyboard templates available online. See for example:
http://www.printablepaper.net/category/storyboard or
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~ricky/etec/sboardtemplate.html

2. Submission Two: The film, to be shared in class on the last day of the semester and posted
onto YouTube.

3. 5503 Paper (20%): Students who are in the fourth semester of the doctoral seminar will turn in
their completed 5503 paper on the last day of class. Students in the second semester of the seminar
will turn in another draft (modified from what was submitted in fall 2009). We will spend a bit of
time working on these in class, but not an inordinate amount of time since this is supposed to be an
independent project.

Final Student Evaluation: The course grade of Pass or Fail will depend on the quality of all the
requirements (including class participation) above as viewed holistically and developmentally.

Course Readings:

The following required books should be purchased online:

1. Keith Barton & Linda Levstik, Teaching History for the Common Good, Erlbaum, 2004.
2. Diana Hess, Controversy in the Classroom, Routledge, 2009.
3. Ted Steinberg, Down to Earth: Nature’s Role in American History, 2nd ed., Oxford, 2009.

Articles:
a. Richard Dawkins, The Greatest Show on Earth, chapter on Class Web.
b. Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers, chapter on Class Web.
c. K Sherrin, “A history of the future of higher education for environmental education”
Environmental Education Research 14(3) June 2008 238-256
d. Jamie Cloud, chapter
e. Selected other authors’ work as suggested by our guest speakers.

CLASS DATE READING DUE TODAY FOCUS/GUEST ASSIGNMENT

1/21/10 • Sherrin, “A history of the future
of higher education for
environmental education”
• Gladwell chapter
• Dawkins chapter: all on Class
Web
1/28/10 TBD
2/4/2010 Steinberg, Down to Earth, parts 1&2
SPEAKER
Remind me to discuss doc
student conference with
U Wisconsin students in
fall 2010!
Nancy Degnan, CERC
Executive Director
Bongiornos, directors of View YouTube and other
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“New Work” and “Revolution online info on “New

67” Work”
2/11/2010 NO CLASS TONIGHT— 2/12: iMovie
LAUNCH OF UFR CURRICULUM Training, 3-5 pm
2/18/2010 Steinberg, part 3 Dr. John Mutter of Earth Discussion
Institute
2/25/2010 TBD Dr. Thurman Bridges, post-
doc in Curriculum &
Teaching
3/4/2010 Civic Education in Israel Dr. Tali Yariv-Mashal,
hosted by Dr. Marri
(I’m away)
3/11/2010 Barton & Levstik, Teaching History for Discussion and
the Common Good Prospectus Due
3/18/2010 SPRING BREAK SPRING BREAK SPRING BREAK

3/25/2010 TBD Dr. Adriana Abdenur on her

sustainability work in Rio De
Janeiro
4/1/2010 Hess, Controversy in the Classroom Discussion

4/8/2010 TBD Jamie Cloud, on NYC’s new

green schools
4/15/2010 Documentary Filmmaking, part 2 Ansley Erickson, on
"Crossing Town: Brown's
Legacy in Nashville."
4/22/2010 Professional Matters Incoming NCSS President
Steve Goldberg of New
Rochelle, HS
4/29/2010 PRESENTATIONS OF
YOUR SHORT
DOCUMENTARIES ON
SUSTAINABILITY

Recommended Readings:

CA. Bowers, Education, Cultural Myths, and the Ecological Crisis.

Educating for an Ecologically Sustainable Culture: Rethinking moral education,
creativity, intelligence and other modern orthodoxies.
Mary Joy Bretton, Women Pioneers for the Environment
Bullard, R., ed., Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class and environmental quality
Rachel Carson, Silent Spring
Margaret Crocco, Teaching The Levees
Margaret Crocco & Maureen Grolnick, “Teaching The Levees: An Exercise in Democratic Dialogue”
Journal of Educational Controversy, vol. 3, no. 1
http://www.wce.wwu.edu/Resources/CEP/eJournal/v003n001/a016.shtml
S.L. Cutter, B.J. Boruff & L.W. Shirley. Social vulnerability to environmental hazards. Social
Science Quarterly 84(1): 242-261.
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Jared Diamond, Collapse

Timothy Egan, The Worst Hard Time
Joseph Entin, Robert C. Rosen, and Leonard Vogt, eds. Controversies in the Classroom
Daniel Esty & Andrew Winston, Green to Gold
Facing the Future, Teaching Global Sustainability in the Primary Grades: A K-4 Curriculum Guide
Engaging Students through Global Issues: People and the Planet
Global Issues and Sustainable Solutions; Population, Poverty, Consumption…
Kevin Fitzpatrick & M. LaGory. Unhealthy places: The ecology of risk in the urban landscape
Tom Friedman, Hot, Flat and Crowded
Gruenewald, D., Foundations of place: A multidisciplinary framework for place-conscious education.
American Educational Research Journal 40 (3), 619-654.
Handbook of Teaching Social Issues—copies available in my office for your perusal
Elizabeth Hightower, “Don’t Fence Me Out,” Outside Magazine, November 2009.
Ken Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier
Mark Kurlansky, Cod
The Big Oyster
Mark Hamilton Lytle, The Gentle Subversive: Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, and the Rise of the
Environmental Movement.
Sam Hickey & Giles Mohan, Eds, Participation: From Tyranny to Transformation? Exploring New
Approaches to Participation in Development, especially Chapter 1
Neil M. Maher, Nature's New Deal: The CCC and the Roots of the American Environmental
Movement
R.A. Martusewicz, Earth, ethics, education. In Seeking Passage: Post-Structuralism, Pedagogy,
Ethics.
Bill McKibben, Deep Economy
Melosi, M.M., The Sanitary City: Urban Infrastructure in America from colonial times to the
present.
Garbage in the Cities: Refuse, reform, and environment.
Nash, R. Environment and Americans: The problem of priorities.
Wilderness and the American Mind
The Rights of Nature: A history of environmental ethics
National Issues Forums: The Energy Problem: Choices for an Uncertain Future
R. Niemi & J. Junn, Civic Education: What makes students learn
Nisbet, M.C. & Myers, T. Twenty years of public opinion about global warming. Opinion Quarterly
71(3) (2007), 444-470.
Nel Noddings, Critical Lessons: What our schools should teach
T. Nordhaus & M. Shelleberger. Break Through: From the death of environmentalism to the politics
of possibility
D. Orr, Ecological Literacy
Michael Pollan, Omnivore’s Dilemma
The Botany of Desire
Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone
Irwin Redlener, Americans at Risk
Jeffrey D. Sachs, Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet
Jennifer Scanlon, “The American woman as consumer,” Clio in the Classroom
Eric Schlosser & Charles Wilson, Chew on This: Everything you don’t want to know about
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fast food
G. Smith & D. Williams, Ecological Education in Action: On weaving education, culture, and the
environment.
Ted Steinberg, Acts of God
S. Strasser, Waste and Want: A Social History of Trash
Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein, Nudge
Mike Tidwell, The Ravaging Tide: Strange Weather, Future Katrinas, and the Coming Death of
America’s Coastal Cities
J.I. Uitton. The geography of disaster vulnerability in megacities: A theoretical framework, Applied
Geography 18 (1):7-16.
L.J. Vale & T. Campanella, Eds. The Resilient City: How Modern Cities Recover from Disaster.
J. Westheimer & J. Kahne, What kind of citizen? The politics of educating for democracy. American
Educational Research Journal 41(2): 237-269.

Documentaries and Video Resources:

An Inconvenient Truth: http://www.climatecrisis.net/

Did you ever wonder? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HR2HrHXSuYM&NR=1

Majora Carter’s presentation at the TED conference:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/majora_carter_s_tale_of_urban_renewal.html

Eric Sanderson’s presentation at the TED conference:

http://www.ted.com/talks/eric_sanderson_pictures_new_york_before_the_city.html

Crude: http://www.crudethemovie.com/ (trailer)

Fast Food Nation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5hA3PN0uic (trailer)

Food, Inc.: http://www.foodincmovie.com/

King Corn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDurZc5Yr6c (trailer)

New Work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tIGET-W6YM

No Impact Man: blog and film: http://noimpactman.typepad.com/

http://www.noimpactdoc.com/index_m.php

Sins of Commission: http://pchpfilm.com/trailer/

TED talks on sustainability: http://www.ted.com/talks/tags/id/43

TED talks on a greener future: http://www.ted.com/themes/a_greener_future.html

TED talks on nature: http://www.ted.com/talks/tags/id/78

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The Story of Stuff: http://www.storyofstuff.com/

WWU Sustainability: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtX0c8UwafY&feature=related

When the Levees Broke: www.hbo.com (copies available in my office for borrowing)

A Few Possible Topics for Your Short Documentaries:

• Environmental justice (eco-justice) in NYC

• Sustainability and social studies
• Sustainability in teacher education
• Sustainability and schooling
• Sustainability education (in Canada, England, etc.)
• Public opinion, including adolescent opinions, about sustainability and the environment
• Food
• Climate
• Consumerism—past and present
• Water
• Built environment (LEEDS certification, energy use, etc.)
• Jamie Cloud’s work
• Majora Carter’s work in Bronx
• Bloomberg’s green initiatives
• Urban agriculture/vertical farms (Dr. Dickson Despommiers of CU/Gotham Greens Jennifer Nelkin)

Additional Resources:

I. On Sustainability

Education for Sustainable Development http://susdev.agecon.vt.edu/

Green Projects for the Classroom http://www.edutopia.org/environmentally-conscious-lesson-ideas

II. On Documentaries

Educators keen on digital technology have written about the power of the documentary in
teaching. Check out Milton Chen, educational director of the George Lucas Educational Foundation,
on his views: http://www.edutopia.org/documentaries-power-image

Check out Edutopia’s documentaries at iTunes U, for example: http://www.edutopia.org/night-

global-village

There are a number of “how-to” guides on the Internet:

http://www.videomaker.com/article/12546/
http://www.videomaker.com/article/12547/
http://documentaryfilms.suite101.com/article.cfm/make_your_own_documentary_film
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III. Global organizations: www.350.org, Grist.org, National Resources Defense Council,

Educational Defense Fund, Sierra Club, etc.

IV. Journal of Environmental Education

V. Global warming twenty years later: Tipping points, a briefing by J.E. Hansen to the US
House of Representatives, http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1.

VI. Public opinion polls:

1. Pew Research Center for the People and the Press (2007). Global Warming: A Divide
on Causes and Solutions. Find it on the Pew Research website: pewresearch.org.

2. Zogby International (2007). American high school students don’t understand climate
change issues. www.hamilton.edu/news/polls/Climate/HCClimate ChangePoll.pdf

Accommodations
The College will make reasonable accommodations for persons with documented disabilities. Students are encouraged to
contact the Office of Access and Service for Individuals with Disabilities for information about registration (Richard
Keller, Director, 212-678-3689, 166 Thorndike Hall). Services are available only to students who are registered and
submit appropriate documentation. As your instructor, I am happy to discuss specific needs with you as well.

Statement on Plagiarism
Courses in the Program in Social Studies are intended to provide students with experiences in conducting research,
finding suitable educational resources, and writing curriculum. It is expected that all assignments submitted to fulfill
course requirements in the Program must be the product of students’ own original thought and effort. Any ideas,
materials, documents, etc. used must be carefully documented. Plagiarism is an affront to academic integrity and the high
standards of the teaching profession and will be treated accordingly.

Incomplete Policy
No incompletes will be given in this course except for medical emergencies, which will need to be substantiated by a
doctor’s note.

Course Fee
This course’s fee is used to cover the cost associated with providing the highest quality instructional experience for
students. Examples of materials appropriately paid through the course fee include media storage devices, curricular
material, and specialized equipment using for enhancing instruction. This course fee also covers the light supper that will
be served at each class

Religious Holidays
It is the policy of Teachers College, Columbia University to respect its members’ observance of their major religious
holidays. Where academic scheduling conflicts prove unavoidable, no student will be penalized for absence due to
religious reasons, and alternative means will be sought for satisfying the academic requirements involved. If a suitable
arrangement cannot be worked out between the student and the instructor, students and instructors should consult the
appropriate Department Chair. If an additional appeal is needed, the matter may be taken to the Dean of the College.

The Dean’s Office also requests that if faculty will miss classes for religious observances, the Department Chair should
be notified in advance. In such cases either alternative arrangements should be made for someone else to cover the class
or the missed class should be made up at another time mutually convenient to students and the faculty member. If class
will not be held, announcement to that effect should be made in the course syllabus.
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