2009 Environmental/Adirondack Studies Residency

LEARNING CONTRACT FOR ETHICS, ECONOMICS AND ENVIRONMENT

General Education Requirement Met: Humanities
Tutors: Duncan RyanMann, Wayne Ouderkirk

Some people view business as a critical agent in achieving a more sustainable economy. Other people have thought that concern for the environment is no concern of business, while still others maintain that business is the environmental problem. Which viewpoint is accurate? Can we move our economy toward environmental sustainability without moving ourselves toward poverty? What is an appropriate role for public policies in aligning business goals and the environment? This study will examine competing paradigms of economics and business to identify their strengths and weaknesses in the effort to create a sustainable society. But we will not be neutral; rather, we will argue in favor of the model proposed by ecological economics. Our perspective will be interdisciplinary, with elements of philosophy (ethics), economics and business all contributing to our efforts.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

This study is offered through the 2008 Environmental Studies Residency, which means that attendance and participation at the residency is required. Before the residency, students will complete assigned readings and the first of three discussion essays on those readings. At the residency, the group will discuss the completed assignment, the next set of topics and the topic of their final project.

For the final project, students will select an environmental issue from their own eco-region and analyze it from the perspective of both the traditional market oriented economic paradigm and from that of ecological economics, emphasizing the ethical dimensions of both the issue chosen and the proposed solutions.

Texts:

Des Jardins, Joseph R. (2007) Business, Ethics and the Environment: Imagining a Sustainable Future. Pearson Prentice Hall.

Diamond, Jared. (2005) “Big Business and the Environment: Different Conditions, Different Outcomes.” Chapter 15 of Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Viking Penguin.

Additional articles and material provided by the instructors and/or collected by the student.

EVALUATION

Students will complete all assignments on schedule. Discussion essays should contain a clearly articulated thesis about the readings and should develop that thesis in an organized manner. The final project should include discussion of relevant documents and sources pertaining to the chosen issue, a summary of the issue’s history, descriptions of the major factors involved, as well as of the major persons and/or organizations involved to date. In analyzing the case, students should demonstrate a solid understanding of the two competing economic paradigms covered in the course and should clearly identify the ethical dimensions of the issue and their role in the responses of both paradigms.