Ken Hiltner
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  • Walden
    • Beginning
    • Preface
    • Table of Contents
    • Editor’s Introduction
    • Economy
    • Where I Lived & What I lived For
    • Reading
    • Sounds
    • Solitude
    • Visitors
    • The Bean-Field
    • The Village
    • The Ponds
    • Baker Farm
    • Higher Laws
    • Brute Neighbors
    • House-Warming
    • Former Inhabitants & Winter Visitors
    • Winter Animals
    • The Pond in Winter
    • Spring
    • Conclusion
    • On the Duty of Civil Disobedience
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ENGLISH 23

(A.K.A. CLIMATE CRISIS 101)

Week #9

Can the climate crisis make us happy?

Weekly Assignments

Reading

Please read two chapters from the book Being the Change, by Peter Kalmus (on which the documentary of the same name was based): “Leaving Fossil fuel” and “Collective Action.”

After reading it, please comment on it in the weekly Canvas reading discussion.

Incidentally, if you find these two chapters interesting, Peter Kalmus has made all of the chapters from Being the Change available for free on his personal website – which was very kind of him, as he is obviously forgoing royalties in doing so.

Here are the chapters. Perhaps one or more of the topics, such as biking, slow travel, meditation, or love will interest you!

Part 1: Waking Up; Beyond Green; Global Warming; The Science; Global Warming; The Outlook; Growth Always Ends; Our Mindset.

Part 2: Trailheads into the Wilderness; Like to Bike; Leaving Fossil fuel; Slow Travel, Meditation, a Foundation of Change; Reconnecting with Mother Earth; Opting Out of a Broken System; Collective Action; Community; Love

Films

Please watch the documentary Happy according to these guidelines:

1) If you have not seen Happy, please watch it. It is available for viewing on GauchoSpace (GauchoCast). If you are not enrolled in the class, it currently can be rented for a relatively modest fee from Amazon.

2) If you have already seen Happy, watch it again. It is even better the second time. Seriously!

After watching the above film, please go to Canvas to make a comment on it.

Lecture videos

The following two lectures will be delivered live in Campbell Hall during the Tuesday and Thursday class periods. If you miss class or would like to review them (for exam prep, for example), here they are. For your convenience, they can be accessed below as either PDFs, audio podcasts, or YouTube videos.

Reading 9 (2024)

Drawing down greenhouse gas emissions by being the change

download as a PDF / watch as a video / listen to as a podcast

Note that, while listening to this section being narrated, you could also read along. Some people find that such “Immersion Reading” helps them concentrate and learn better. Feel free to give it a try.

Film 9, Happy (2024)

Are we destroying the planet in a misguided pursuit of happiness?

download as a PDF / watch as a video / listen to as a podcast

Note that, while listening to this section being narrated, you could also read along. Some people find that such “Immersion Reading” helps them concentrate and learn better. Feel free to give it a try.

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