TS2N 411: The Control of Nature

TS2N-411 The Control of Nature

MWF 9:05-10:10 am, Berndt 340

Dr. Kim Hannula

Course syllabus

Schedule

*Week*	Topic	*Discussion questions*	Links and assignments
Week 1: Jan 8-12	Intro; Hurricane Katrina	Discussion questions for Friday, Jan 12	http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/orleans/ Hurricane Katrina photos (then and now) Is the Gulf Coast ready for another hurricane? Hurricane Katrina's ecological legacy
Week 2: Jan 15-19	Weather, climate, and hurricanes		National Hurricane Center
Week 3: Jan 22-26	Rivers and flooding	Pre-discussion questions on Atchafalaya (p. 3-92)
Week 4: Jan 29-Feb 2	"When the Levees Broke"	pre-discussion questions on Why New Orleans Matters and When the Levees Broke	Animation from New Orleans Times-Picayune, showing the progressive flooding of the city
Week 5: Feb 5-9	The future of New Orleans	Paper assignment Pre-discussion questions on Why New Orleans Matters and Field Notes from a Catastrophe	Paper #1 due Fri 2/9 New York Times article on Katrina survivors (free registration at site needed) Current flooding in Indonesia (340,000 people displaced)
Week 6: Feb 12-16	Plate tectonics; earthquakes		USGS earthquakes page Association of Bay Area governments earthquake hazards page
Week 7: Feb 19-23	Indian Ocean tsunami	Tsunami paper assignment	Paper #2 (tsunami option) due Mon 2/26 Indian Ocean tsunami visualization from The Guardian (UK) Before and after tsunami photos from Indonesia http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tsunami/
Week 8: Feb 26-March 2	Indian Ocean tsunami; volcanoes	pre-discussion questions on Guardian tsunami special report	Links to stories about the tsunami and recovery from The Guardian (UK)
Week 9: March 12-16	Cooling the Lava	Volcanoes paper assignment Pre-discussion questions for Cooling the Lava	Paper #2 (volcanoes option) due Mon 3/19 Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program Volcano World Michigan Tech's Volcanoes page Cascades Volcano Observatory Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Alaska Volcano Observatory
Week 10: March 19-23	Landslides	Pre-discussion questions for LA Against the Mountains	Field trip to Durango area debris flows (Sat 3/24, 10 am - noon)
Week 11: March 26-30	Building back better?	Debris flows paper assignment Pre-discussion questions for Friday, March 30	Paper #2 (landslides option) due Fri 3/30 Reading for Friday, March 30: Building Back Better
Week 12: April 2-6	Student presentations
Week 13: April 9-13	Student presentations
Week 14: April 16-20	Student presentations		Final project paper due Fri 4/20
Finals week: April 24	Student presentations