ENGLISH 23
(A.K.A. CLIMATE CRISIS 101)
Week #3
Denying the undeniable
Weekly Assignments
Reading
Please read all of the front material and Chapters 1-3 (in other words, read everything up to an including page 59) of Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming. This entire book is available as a free PDF. Please also read the webpage introducing the book (here) and the first dozen or so of the Amazon reviews of the book (here). Note that this is a principle text denying the climate crisis published by a fossil fuel affiliate (i.e. it will attempt to convince you that scientists are not sure whether the climate crisis is happening or not – let the Reader beware! And don’t be surprised if you are a little convinced…).
Films
Please watch either the documentary Merchants Of Doubt or A Climate of Doubt according to these guidelines:
1) If you have not taken Eng 22 (Intro to L & E) in 2020, please watch Merchants Of Doubt. It is up on GauchoCast. If you are not enrolled in the class, it can be rented for a relatively modest fee from YouTube, Amazon, Google, etc.
2) If you have taken Eng 22 in 2020, please instead watch A Climate of Doubt. It currently streams for free directly from PBS.
3) Since we will be considering each in class, feel free to watch both videos.
Lecture videos
There are four required lectures this week:
First, please watch both of the following lectures by Ken:
1) “Can one generation do what previous generations failed to do?” (Climate and Generation, #4)
2) “What the Boomer generation knew about the climate crisis – and when we knew it” (Climate and Generation, #5)
Note that you are not required to post comments to these videos, even though there are hundreds of responses to them. These posts are from 2019-20, when responding was a requirement of the course, which it is not in 2020-21.
Second, please watch both of these “Deep Dive” lectures by Ken:
1) “2°C: Beyond the limit” (The written comments to which Ken is replying can be found here.)
2) “Fire in Paradise” (The written comments to which Ken is replying can be found here.)
Note that you cannot post comments to these videos, but that there will be questions on this lecture material on the weekly quizzes.
Weekly Assessments
Please note that assessments need to be completed by 6 AM on Monday, January 25. GauchoSpace will close the lecture quizzes at that time and any film comment made on YouTube past that point will be considered late.
Weekly Quiz
After completing the week’s reading and watching all four of the above lecture videos (the two short lectures and the two deep dives), please go to GauchoSpace and take the short quiz for this week, which is located in the weekly section.
Reading Response
Reading assignment: after reading the selections from Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming, please watch Ken’s video on YouTube introducing it and comment on this introduction.
If you cannot view the above video on YouTube (for example, if YouTube is blocked in your country):
1) The lecture has also been uploaded to GauchoSpace (GauchoCast)
2) A forum has been opened under this week on GauchoSpace for you to make your comment there (rather than on YouTube).
Please note that six of your reading responses this term (i.e. 3 of the first 5 and 3 of the second 5) should be made to a comment made by another student in the class, regardless whether you are making your comments on YouTube or GauchoSpace. Also note that, as this video was posted last year, there are already hundreds of responses to it.
Film Response
After watching one of the above films, please watch Ken’s video on YouTube introducing them and comment on his video.
Note that while Ken’s introduction covers both of the above films, you only need to comment on the film that you watched. However, if you have already watched Merchants Of Doubt, please feel free to reference it in your comment. Also note that, as this video was posted last year, there are already hundreds of responses to it.