2025 (Current Year) Faculty Courses Liberal arts and basic science courses Humanities and social science courses
Special Lecture: Technology and the Environment
- Academic unit or major
- Humanities and social science courses
- Instructor(s)
- Yakup Bektas
- Class Format
- Lecture (Face-to-face)
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 3-4 Mon
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- LAH.T320
- Number of credits
- 100
- Course offered
- 2025
- Offered quarter
- 2Q
- Syllabus updated
- Mar 19, 2025
- Language
- English
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
From Gaia to the Anthropocene: Technology and the Environment since the mid-20th century:
This course will explore the relations between technology and the environment, more specifically between industrial development and environmental degradation from the mid-20th century. We will start with Minamata disease and chemical pollution in Japan and continue with Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and the birth of the environmental movement. We will discuss Lynn White’s “Our Ecologic Crisis,” James Lovelock’s Gaia theory, global warming, and nuclear energy, nuclear accidents and disasters. Finally, we will reflect on the future of the world through discussions about the Anthropocene, the new geological epoch proposed by geologists.
Course description and aims
The course will raise students' awareness of environmental problems and their relations with science and technology and economic growth. It will help them to understand the history of techno-environmental issues and follow public and academic debates about them. It will motivate students to get involved in the preservation of the natural environment.
Keywords
technology and the environment; industrial development and environmental degradation; ecologic crisis; environmentalism, Rachel Carson's Silent Spring; Lovelock's Gaia; Anthropocene,
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
Conducted in lecture format and, when possible, in seminar format. Class participation is mandatory. Students are expected to 1) read the assigned readings prior to the class, 2) participate in classroom discussions, raise or respond to questions, and 3) write short papers.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | An overview of science, technology, and the environment | View "Endangered Planet" |
| Class 2 | Minamata and Japan's chemical pollution | Reading: Keibo Oiwa & Masato Ogata, "Rowing the Eternal Sea: the Story of a Minamata Fisherman"(2001) |
| Class 3 | Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring | Read Rachel Carson, "Silent Spring" (19664); View "Rachel Carson's Silent Spring" (1999) |
| Class 4 | Lynn White's thesis on the roots of the “Ecological Crisis" | Reading: Lynn White, jr., “Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis,” Science 155 (1967): 1203-7 |
| Class 5 | James Lovelock's Gaia theory; Global warning | Read James Lovelock, "The Revenge of Gaia" (2006); View Al Gore, "An Inconvenient Truth" (2006). |
| Class 6 | Nuclear energy and disasters; Excursion to the Daigo Fukuryu Maru | View: Inside Japan's Nuclear Meltdown" (PBS, 2012); Excursion to the Daigo Fukuryu Maru |
| Class 7 | The Anthropocene | Will be decided later. |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Textbook(s)
None
Reference books, course materials, etc.
Include: un Ui (ed.), Industrial Pollution in Japan, 1992; Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, 1962; Lynn White, jr., “Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis,” Science 155 (1967); Keibo Oiwa & Masato Ogata, Rowing the Eternal Sea: the Story of a Minamata Fisherman, 2001; Akio Mishima, Bitter Sea: The Human Cost of Minamata Disease (1992); Masanori Kaji, "Role of experts and public participation in pollution control: the case of itai-itai disease in Japan, " Ethics in Science and Environmental Politics, 12 (2012): 99-111; Sharon B. McGrayne, Prometheans in the Lab, 2001; James Lovelock, The Revenge of Gaia, 2006.
Audio-visual teaching materials include Endangered Planet 1950-95 (1999); Rachel Carson's Silent Spring [Neil Goodwin, 1999); Al Gore, Inconvenient Truth (2006); Into Eternity (Michael Madson, 2010); Inside Japan’s Nuclear Meltdown (PBS Frontline, 2012)
Evaluation methods and criteria
Grading will be based on class participation and writing assignments (short essays). Class participation will account for 80% of the grade, and writing assignments will account for 20%. Students are encouraged to actively engage in discussions and activities, asking or responding to questions directly in class, or indirectly through questions and comments on reaction slips. Submission of reaction slips is required each time as proof of class participation.
Related courses
- May be suggested later
Prerequisites
None
Contact information (e-mail and phone) Notice : Please replace from ”[at]” to ”@”(half-width character).
bektas.y.aa[at]m.titech.ac.jp
Office hours
One hour after each class. Other times by appointment.