ENGLISH 23
(A.K.A. CLIMATE CRISIS 101)
Week #4
Front only the essential facts of life
Weekly Assignments
Reading
Please read the Preface, Introduction, and first chapter (“Economy“) of Walden, which can all be read on this website.
Incidentally, although Thoreau is a major proponent of a simple lifestyle in the West, this tradition exists in a range of cultures. Here the Dalai Lama weighs in on the subject:
“If one’s life is simple, contentment has to come. Simplicity is extremely important for happiness. Having few desires, feeling satisfied with what you have, is very vital; satisfaction with just enough food, clothing, shelter to protect yourself from the elements. And finally, there is an intense delight in abandoning faulty states of mind and in cultivating helpful ones in meditation.”
Films
Please watch either the documentary Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things or the alternative films listed below according to these guidelines:
1) If you have NOT taken Eng 22 (Intro to L & E) in 2019 or 2020, please watch Minimalism. It is available for viewing on GauchoSpace (GauchoCast). If you are not enrolled in the class, it currently streams from Netflix, as well as can be rented for a relatively modest fee from YouTube, Amazon, Google, etc.
2) If you have taken taken Eng 22 in 2019 or 2020, please instead watch both of these two short films on Youtube: Visualizing a Plenitude Economy and The High Price of Materialism.
3) Since we will be considering each of them in class, feel free to watch all the videos.
Lecture videos
There are three required lectures this week:
First, please watch this lecture by Ken: “Why the climate crisis is a cultural problem (and why electric cars are more trouble than good)”
Note that you are not required to post comments to this video, even though there are hundreds of responses to it. 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) “Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming” (The written comments to which Ken is replying can be found here.)
2) “A Climate of Doubt and Merchants Of Doubt” (The written comments to which Ken is replying can be found here.)
Weekly Assessments
Please note that assessments need to be completed by 6 AM on Monday, February 1 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 three of the above lecture videos (the one short lecture 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
After doing the Walden readings, please watch Ken’s video on YouTube introducing Walden and comment on his introduction.
If you cannot view the above video on YouTube (for example, if YouTube is blocked in your country):
1) This 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.
Film Response
After watching the above film(s), please watch Ken’s video on YouTube introducing them and comment on his video. Note that while Ken’s introduction covers all of the above films, you only need to comment on the film(s) that you watched. However, if you have already watched Minimalism, please feel free to reference it in your comment.
If you cannot view the above video on YouTube (for example, if YouTube is blocked in your country):
1) The two lectures have 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 film 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.