ENST 232 Environmental Justice: Theory, Case Studies and Applications

Professor April Karen Baptiste

Office: 229 Ho Science Center
Phone: 315-228-6740
Email: [email protected]
Office Hours: TR 11.15 am – 12.05 pm; or by appointment
Class Location and Time: Ho 326, TR 2.45 – 4 pm

Course Overview

This course introduces students to the key concepts of Environmental Justice. It evaluates
the beginnings of Environmental Justice as a concept and examines its development into
an emerging field. The course is based on the premise that all people have a right to live
in a clean environmental free from hazardous pollution and contamination. This course
examines mainly issues within the US context in order to analyze the factors that
contribute to the constellation of issues labeled as environmental justice. Students will be
allowed to critically analyze examples of environmental justice cases, while seeking to
develop an understanding of the complex relationships among actors and the social,
political and economic processes that lead to environmental injustices. We begin this
course by examining the foundational principles and history of the environmental justice
movement as well as the concepts of justice, race and class. We will then explore a series
of case studies of environmental (in)justices in the US context taking urban, rural and
indigenous populations into consideration. Finally we will explore the issues of climate
justice on the global level as well as the activity of grassroots organizations as they
propel the EJ movement forward.

This course seeks to address a number of broad questions:

1. What is environmental justice?

2. Why and through what social, economic and political processes are some groups
denied access to a clean environment?
3. What is currently being done or can be done to address these concerns?

Required Readings

There is one required text for this course:

Text
Pellow, D.N. & R.J. Brulle. (2005). Power, Justice and the Environment: A Critical
Appraisal of the Environmental Justice Movement. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press

Other readings
These will be both journal articles and other materials that will be posted on Moodle or
will be on reserve in the Library for this course.

Prepared by Dr. A. K. Baptiste 1

Fall 2011
On Moodle these resources will be listed under the topic that is being discussed by
Author’s last name and the year of publication.

Please note that the reading load for this class is moderate and at times the readings will
be difficult and require more time than you expect in order to fully understand and
therefore be able to critique the author’s argument. The readings are also somewhat
unevenly distributed during the semester. For example some weeks there maybe as much
as 100 pages of readings whereas in other weeks there will be very little to no readings.
As a significant portion of this class is based on discussing the articles that are assigned,
it is imperative that you keep up with the readings on a weekly basis. As part of your
grade is based on class participation you must not only show up for class but also be
ready to critically discuss the readings.

Course Objectives

The goal of this course is to provide students with an interdisciplinary approach to

environmental issues through the environmental justice lens by:
1. Providing a clear understanding of what is environmental justice
2. Understanding the underlying theoretical constructs of environmental justice
3. Develop a critical analysis of how marginalized communities are affected by
environmental injustices
4. Present clearly your ideas about environmental justice to an audience

Course Assignments

This is a required course for all ENST majors and minors and as such there is a fair
amount of writing and critical analysis involved.

ALL assignments must be completed on or before the due date. NO LATE assignments
will be accepted unless in dire circumstances in which case it is the student’s
responsibility to speak with the instructor prior to the due date (at least one or 2 days
ahead) to work out whether extensions will be given. If concessions are provided it will
be at the instructor’s discretion so students are advised to prepare in advance and work
on assignments consistently when they are provided.

List of Assignments

Individual Work
Class Participation
In class
Online Discussions
Take home writing assignments (2)
Mapping Assignment

Group Work
Academic Poster Proposal

Prepared by Dr. A. K. Baptiste 2

Fall 2011
Peer Review of draft posters
Peer evaluations
Final Poster
Poster Presentation

Academic Policies

Students with disabilities: Students who will need special arrangements or consideration
due to documented disabilities should speak with me early in the semester. They should
also consult with Lynn Waldman, Director of Academic Program Support and Disability
Services, 315-228-7375 in the Center for Learning, Teaching, and Research concerning
disability concerns and appropriate accommodations.

Religious Holidays: This syllabus tries to comply with Colgate Holiday Policy. If there
are any conflicts please discuss with me very early in the semester so that alternative
arrangements can be made.

Academic Honor Code: Colgate has a very strong Academic Honor Code to which all
students are subjected and will apply to all assignments both graded and ungraded.
Plagiarism is a serious offense and will not be tolerated under any circumstances
and will be reported to the fullest extent. If you are unfamiliar with the definition of
plagiarism please see pages 94 to 97 of the Student Handbook.

Writing Center: The Writing Center is a great resource and while some students may
have acceptable writing skills there is always room for improvement particularly within
the academic setting. Please use this resource as often as possible particularly for your
take home assignments in order to improve the quality of assignments that are turned in.
This will greatly improve your work and help to improve your writing skills.

Library: This course has a research component to it to allow students to develop and
refine their research skills. Particularly with your poster assignments you will need to
perform and report a sophisticated level of findings that goes beyond a simple internet
search. Please use the library and its staff to help in this regard. There is a large number
of electronic and print media that will help in developing quality research throughout the
semester.

Course Expectations

Attendance policy: Attendance is important in this class as absences will reduce the
number of opportunities for quality contributions to class participation, as such students
are advised that missing more 3 or more sessions, including excused sessions will
result in a reduction of your class participation grade.

Class Participation:

Prepared by Dr. A. K. Baptiste 3

Fall 2011
 a. Your class participation grade will be determined by the extent to which you are
present and engaged in the class. Be prepared, on-time and take an active and crit-
ical role in the class discussions.
b. There are several dimensions to the participation grade: presence, preparation and
participation

Presence: Learning is a cumulative process and as such your presence is key to all the
class sessions. It is also strongly recommended that students attend ENST Brown Bag
Luncheons as this aids with critical thinking development. As courtesy to all students
please:

 Arrive on time
 Turn of cell phones and store them prior to the beginning of class
 Avoid laptops
 No texting, twittering, facebooking or the like
 No noisy food 
 Be prepared to spend entire class period in the classroom

Excused Absences: I will consider these on a case-by-case basis once an

Academic Dean, Coach or appropriate administrative source, provides
documentation in a written form. Student athletes in season must provide a
list of scheduled games and absences signed by your coach in the 1st week of
the semester. It is the student’s responsibility to meet with me to discuss
implications of class absences.

Note: Please note that students who are found to consistently violate these courtesy
rules, particularly in the case of cell phone, laptop use and consistent back and forth
during class time will be asked to leave the class session.

Preparation: You are expected to read all text prior to each session. This will allow
you to be able to contribute to class discussions. When preparing for class, avoid last
minute readings. One method that has worked for me in the past has been to read and
discuss the material in groups prior to the class session. This has proven to be very
helpful. Make notes of key points and concepts while reading. Also make note of
questions of things that may not be clear for class discussions. Try to make
connections between what you are reading and your class project as well as personal
experiences. These are also welcomed during class discussion as it brings theory into
practice.

Participation: We are all learners and we can learn from each other. To facilitate this,
we would respectfully listen to each person’s point of view and if the need arises
challenge respectfully each other’s view. In classes where controversial issues are
discussed often there maybe passionate students who will like to contribute. We
should all self evaluate and attempt to give everyone a chance to voice their opinions
and concerns about the materials that are being discussed. At times, I will use my
discretion to call on students to even the participation during class discussions. If a

Prepared by Dr. A. K. Baptiste 4

Fall 2011
 person feels he/she will have difficulty speaking in class for any reason, please see
me within the first 2 weeks of classes.

Out of class activity: There will be some mandatory events outside of class time that
students will attend. These include both public lectures and movie screenings that are
essential to the materials that are being discussed in class. For movie screenings –
should a student be unable to make the scheduled screening, the movie must be
viewed prior to the proceeding class session where it will be discussed – ALL movies
will be on reserve in Case-Geyer. Most are listed on the syllabus but please bear in
mind that there maybe some that are not listed and will be announced on both Moodle
and in class. Please bear this in mind. Additionally, extra credit is not offered as a
formal component in this class, however if a student believes that their progress can be
improved through additional critical work, out of class public lectures may be used to
meet this requirement, provided that it has been discussed and approved by the professor.
If extra credit is being submitted, a two page write up of the lecture detailing the
environmental justice components will be required. Please see the grading rubric that will
be used to assess out of class activities that are submitted for consideration under extra
credit. Please note that submission of a write up for extra credit does not automatically
mean that a student will receive the extra credit as part of their final grade, but rather,
this will be used on a discretionary basis.

Critical Thinking: This is the ability to consider multiple perspectives on environmental

issues/problems and think about them in ways that make connections to life experiences,
theory and larger current events. It is a process of developing questions that challenge our
assumptions and beliefs and avoid simplistic answers. These are important to help
develop critical thinking.

Media Online Discussion Guidelines

Online discussions are mandatory for all students. This allows students to bring in real
world news pieces to the class discussion. Students will have the option of responding to
6 out of the 9 assigned discussion boards for the semester. This form of participation
helps to also capture those students who may not always be vocal during class
discussions. The media is to be used to get a sense of the thoughts of your peers and to
have a conversation about the topic outside of the classroom setting. As such students are
encouraged to not only submit their responses but also to read the comments of your
peers as these will be incorporated into class discussions.

Media piece and Stimulation Questions

Discussion leader(s) will select a media piece that is no more than one year old that
relates to environmental justice issues. This media piece will be sourced through the
newspaper archives in the library electronic databases and can consist of either a news
article or video clip to post to Moodle for class discussion. Leaders will then post 2-3
“stimulation questions” about the media piece for students to respond to. This media
piece and stimulation questions must be submitted by 9:00 PM of the day listed on the

Prepared by Dr. A. K. Baptiste 5

Fall 2011
syllabus. The media piece and stimulation questions will be graded on the following
rubric:

Grading Criteria A A- B+ B B- C
Media piece contains clear environmental justice concerns X X X X X
Questions clear and concise and related to the media piece X X X
Media piece and questions provokes students to pry into X X
assigned readings
Media piece and questions provokes connections to personal X X
experiences and class discussions where relevant
Questions are error free X X X X X X

Responses

Responses are then due within 27 hours i.e. 11.59 pm the next day. Each student is
required to respond to the media piece and question(s) posted in 150 - 200 words. The
response can either be directly to the question or it can be in relation to a comment(s) that
were made earlier in the thread. Students should remember that even though this is a
discussion there should be an avoidance of making unsubstantiated statements by linking
some of the literature where possible to support their opinions. Students should also try to
tie in their responses to either personal experiences or class discussions where possible.
Additionally try to be creative in your response and avoid repeating what your colleagues
have mentioned before. If there is something that one of your peers mentioned that you
agree with, state why you agree with the statement. Do not be afraid to show your
critique and critical thinking skills in this forum, however as mentioned earlier remember
to support your statements rather than just making unsubstantiated claims. Students are
asked to put some thought into their responses, as these would also be graded based on
the following rubric:

Grading Criteria A A- B+ B B- C
Answer question(s) clearly and concisely X X X X X X
Contribute innovative and creative points to the discussion X X
board
Make explicit connections to assigned readings X X X X
Make explicit connections to personal experiences and class X X X X
discussions where relevant
Quote selectively and judiciously from readings X
Be error free X X X X X X

Academic Poster: Students would form pairs (2) and each group would work on a
placed-based analysis, using theory and concepts from the course to present an
environmental (in) justice facing a vulnerable or at-risk community. Each group would be
required to prepare a proposal on the desired topic to be graded and approved by the
instructor. Each group is then required to present their research in an academic poster in

Prepared by Dr. A. K. Baptiste 6

Fall 2011
the last week of classes. These posters will then be displayed the following semester on
the walls of the Ho Science Center, 2nd floor.

There are several layers to this project and students are expected to work on these
throughout the semester in order to produce a high quality of work. The following is a
break down of the timeline and assignments involved for this project.

Important Poster Project Deadlines

Date Major Milestone

Sept 22nd Groups and Poster topic are to be submitted

Sept 23rd – Oct 6th Meet with Professor Baptiste to discuss

topics for approval

Oct 13th In class library session on doing research

for peer reviewed articles, APA citation
style and annotated bibliography and poster
making

Oct 25th Poster proposal including research question

or hypothesis and annotated bibliography
with 7 peer reviewed sources

Oct 27th In class session on poster making

Nov 10th First draft of poster due via online
submission
Nov 21st Second draft of poster due via online
submission
Nov 22nd In class session of peer reviews of draft
projects

Dec 1st Final poster submitted via online

submission
Dec 6th Afternoon class session of poster
presentations

Written Assignments: These should be 4 to 6 pages type written, 12 pt, Times or Times
New Roman font, 1-inch margins and double-spaced. American Psychological
Association (APA) style should be used when referencing. All written assignments that
are take-home must use proper referencing. Two of the take home assignments are based
on readings and will require you to analyze and critique arguments presented by the various
authors. You will have one week to complete each assignment. All assignments will be
collected at the beginning of class – any assignment that is given after this will be
considered late. It is the student’s responsibility to give in assignments at the beginning
of class.

Prepared by Dr. A. K. Baptiste 7

Fall 2011
Mapping Assignment: The third written assignment will allow students to examine the
spatial components of environmental justice. Students will choose an environmental issue
that they are interested to write about and map. This assignment does not involve GIS or
other mapping software (though if you will like to you can), but students are expected to
make a detailed map that shows the spatial relationships in the study that they choose. A 4
to 5 page paper accompanies this map. A detailed instruction guideline will be provided for
this assignment.

Grading

Detailed rubrics are used for all assignments that are evaluated in this course. Please see
the attached rubric as well as see Moodle for all rubrics that are associated with each
assignment. Your grade is a compilation of the following:

Class Participation,
Attendance, peer reviews, in-class 10%
Writing Assignments 1 10%
Mapping Assignment 20%
Writing Assignment 2 25%
Online discussions questions and responses (6 out of 9) 15%
Academic Poster
Proposal 5%
Final Poster 10%
Poster Presentation 5%

TOTAL 100%

COURSE SCHEDULE

Date Readings Topic

August Introduction:
29th Syllabus Review
August Pellow, D.N. & Brulle, R.J. (2005). Power, Justice and Getting to know
30th the Environment. Chapter 1. Cambridge, MA: MIT each other
Press
Definition of EJ

Sept 1st NCBI Workshop: Addressing Controversial Issues: Lecture

Application to Environmental Justice Location: Alana
Sept 6th Anderson, K. (2002). The Racialization of Difference: Theorizing Race
Enlarging the Story Field. Professional Geographer,
54(1), 25-30

Prepared by Dr. A. K. Baptiste 8

Fall 2011
 Glassman, J. (2010). Critical Geography II: articulating
race and radical politics. Progress in Human
Geography, 34 (4), 506-512
Sept 7th Race the power of an illusion – Afternoon Screening Theorizing Race
Sept 8th Newell, P. (2005). Race, Class and the Global Politics Race, Class and
of Environmental Inequality. Global Environmental the Environment
Politics, 5, 70 – 94
Online
Taylor, Dorceta E. (1997). Race, Class, and Gender Discussion # 1
American Environmentalism USDA Tech Report (1-36)
Sept 13th Out of town – In London for Climate Change Network Presenting a paper
Team Conference
Sept 15th Smith, J. (1994). Elements of Justice. Theorizing Social
Justice
Online
Discussion # 2
Sept 20th Holifield, R. (2001). Defining Environmental Justice Social Justice and
and Environmental Racism. Urban Geography, 22 (1), Environment
78 – 90.

Bullard, R. (2007). Dismantling Toxic Racism. The

Crisis, July/August, 22-25

Sept 22nd Bullard, R.D. (1990). Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class History of EJ
and Environmental Quality. Chapter 1. Boulder, CO:
Westview Press.

Bullard, R. D., and Wright. B. H. (1989). Toxic waste Online

and the African American community. The Urban Discussion # 3
League Review 13: 67-75.

Sept 26th Michael Watts - "Economies of Violence:  Oil, Public Lecture

Conflict, and Frontiers of Dispossession" Time: 7.30pm
Location: Love
Auditorium
Sept 27th Bullard, Robert D. (1983). Solid waste sites and the History of EJ
Black Houston community. Sociological Inquiry
53:273-288.

Pellow and R.J. Brulle (Eds.). (2005). Power, Justice

and the Environment, Chapter 2. Cambridge, MA:
MIT Press.

Prepared by Dr. A. K. Baptiste 9

Fall 2011
 United Church for Christ – First Principles of
Environmental Justice:
http://www.ejnet.org/ej/principles.html
Sept 29th Capek, Stella. (1993). The Environmental Justice Operationalizing
Frame: A Conceptual Discussion and an Application. EJ
Social Problems, 40(1), Special Issue on Environmental
Justice.: 5-24

Pellow, David N. 2000. Environmental Inequality Writing

Formation: Toward a Theory of Environmental Assignment 1
Justice. American Behavioral Scientist 43(4): 581-601. given out
Citation skill workshop
Oct 4th Taylor, Dorceta E. (1997). Race, Class, and Gender Operationalizing
American Environmentalism USDA Tech Report (35- EJ
41)

Pellow, D.N. & Brulle, R.J. (2005). Power, Justice and

the Environment. Chapter 3. Cambridge, MA: MIT
Press

Oct 6th Pulido, Laura. (2000). Rethinking Environmental Environmental

Racism: White Privilege and Urban Development in justice and the
Southern California. Annals of the Association of city, part 1
American Geographers, 90 (1), 12-40.
Writing
Assignment 1 due
Oct 11th October Recess
Oct 13th In class session on research skills – Developing an Case-Geyer Rm.
annotated Bibliography 501
Oct 17th “When the levees broke” – Act II Afternoon
Screening
Oct 18th Katrina and the aftermath Cutter, Susan. (2006). The Environmental
Geography of Social Vulnerability: Race, Class, and Justice and city
Catastrophe. June 11. part 2
http://understandingkatrina.ssrc.org/Cutter/ Katrina

Sze, Julie. (2006). Toxic Soup Redux: Why Online

Environmental Racism and Environmental Justice Discussion # 4
Matter after Katrina. June 11.
http://understandingkatrina.ssrc.org/Sze/

Sanchez, Thomas, W. and Brenman, Marc. (2008).

Transportation Equity and Environmental Justice:
Lessons from Hurricane Katrina. Environmental
Justice, 1: 73-79
Oct 20th Rydin, Y. (2006). Justice and Geography of Hurricane Katrina

Prepared by Dr. A. K. Baptiste 101

Fall 2011
 Katrina. GeoForum, 37, 4-6

Bullard, R.D. & Wright, B. (2005). Legacy of

Unfairness: Why some Americans are left behind.
http://www.ejrc.cau.edu/Exec%20Summary
%20Legacy.html
In class exercise
Oct 25th Sewage Treatment Facilities in New York Environmental
Justice and the
Syracuse, NYC City, Part 3

Adams, C. (2003). Defending Our Place: Protest on the Online

Southside of Syracuse. Chapter 2, pp. 42-85. Discussion # 5
Unpublished thesis, Syracuse University Poster proposal
due
Parsons, S. (2008). Sewage on the Southside: Not in my
backyard. Plenty Magazine. Available at:
http://www.plentymag.com/features/2008/02/syracuse_
community_spotlight.php (Accessed 08th August 2011)

Carty, L. (2007). The Dirty Saga of Onondaga County.

Ms Magazine. Available at:
http://www.msmagazine.com/spring2007/thedirtysaga.a
sp (Accessed 08th August 2011)
Oct 27th In class session on poster making
Nov 1st Pellow, D.N. and R.J. Brulle (Eds.). (2005). Power, Food and EJ
Justice and the Environment, Chapter 8. Cambridge,
MA: MIT Press.

Levkoe, C.Z. (2006). Learning democracy through food

justice movements

Food Inc – on reserve in library

Nov 3rd
The Color of Food Food and EJ
Online
Stone, A. (2011). Spreading Food Justice: “From the Discussion # 6
Hood to the Heartland”. The Daily Good, Available at:
http://www.good.is/post/spreading-food-justice-from-
the-hood-to-the-heartland?
utm_campaign=daily_good&utm_medium=email_daily
_good&utm_source=headline_link&utm_content=Spre
ading%20Food%20Justice%20%22from%20the
%20‘Hood%20to%20the%20Heartland%22. (Accessed
08th August 2011)
Nov 8th Movie: Homeland – Parts 1 and 2 Indigenous
populations and

Prepared by Dr. A. K. Baptiste 111

Fall 2011
 Erickson, K. (1995). The Objiwa of Grassy Narrows. EJ
In, A Species in Trouble. NY: WW. Norton &
Company Writing
Assignment 2:
Vecsey, C. (1987). Grassy Narrows Reserve: Mercury Mapping
Pollution, Social Disruption and Natural Resources: A Assignment given
Question of Autonomy. American Indian Quarterly, out
Vol, XI, No. 4, pp. 287-315
Nov 10th Class discussion on themes from movie Native American
and EJ
Sawyer, S. (2004). Crude Chronicles. Opening. Duke
University Press: Durham, N.C. EJ in the global
context 1
Langewiesche, W. (2007). Jungle Law. Vanity Fair.
Available at
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/05/tex
aco200705 (Accessed 31 July 2011) Online
Discussion # 7

Nov 15th Adger W.N. et al. (2006). Fairness in Adaptation to Climate Change
Climate Change. MIT Press. Chapter 1 & 2 – remove and EJ
in include case study from Noxious NY
EJ and global
context 2
Writing
Assignment 2 due
Nov 17th Adger. W.N. et al. (2006). Fairness in Adaptation to Climate Change
Climate Change. MIT Press. Chapters 7 and EJ

In class climate summit – develop a role playing Online

whereby decisions have to be made Discussion # 8
Nov 22nd Peer review of posters
Nov 29th Pellow, D.N. and R.J. Brulle (Eds.) (2005). Power, EJ strategies - part
Justice and the Environment. Chapter 5 – Case 1: State level
studies, 11 Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

In reading Case studies see how the strategies are used Online
Discussion # 9
Dec 1st Pellow, D.N. and R.J. Brulle (Eds.) (2005). Power, EJ strategies- part
Justice and the Environment. Chapter 5 – Case 2: Federal level
studies, 11 Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

In reading Case studies see how the strategies are used

Dec 6th Poster Presentations No class session

during the day

Prepared by Dr. A. K. Baptiste 121

Fall 2011
 Afternoon session 4.30 to 6.30 pm ALANA
Multipurpose Room
Dec 8th Pellow, D.N. and R.J. Brulle (Eds.) (2005). Power, Future of EJ
Justice and the Environment. Chapter 6, 18.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Course wrap up and review Course

evaluation
Final Exam, Writing Assignment 3: Due Tuesday 13th December at 4 pm

Prepared by Dr. A. K. Baptiste 131

Fall 2011