Sample Syllabus, developed by Patrica Sabarwal (YHS Fulbright-Hays 2022)
Course Description: Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) is usually defined as “a cumulative body of knowledge, practice, and belief, evolving by adaptive processes and handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with one another and with their environment.” (Berkes, 8) TEK is rooted in indigenous, underrepresented and marginalized communities which act as a channel to lead us to this wisdom. The TEK and modern methods are similar in the sense that they are both dynamic and evolve over time, but the modern methods lack the culture, the tradition, the loyalty, the sentiments, the sense of gratitude and reciprocity towards nature. This course is an attempt to teach how to give back to and redesign with nature through the traditional ecological wisdom of India. Through this course, students will gain an insight into what nature (Prakriti) means in the context of Indian philosophy, implications of the idea of Prakriti for sustainability and conscious consumption as an ethical action leading to conservation of resources. As part of our explorations of traditional ecological knowledge we will examine the sustainable lifestyle of Warli tribes and their visual art that narrates the bond of its people with nature. Students will also explore the organic farming techniques of Navdanya and the attempts of Tarun Bharat Sangh in Rajasthan to harvest rainwater and analyze the impact of these practices on the environment. In addition to this, there will be class discussions on sustainable food, textiles & clothing, housing and water practices, and certainly the analysis will raise awareness about gender specific roles in the preservation and/or transmission of this eco-knowledge.
Course Objectives: By the end of this course students should be able to:
- demonstrate understanding of traditional ideas of Nature
- explore, express and defend local views on everyday sustainable food, textiles & clothing, housing and water practices from the traditional Indian cultures, and gender and age based roles.
- critically evaluate the efforts of various organizations in India that have adapted sustainable traditional ecological practices and analyze their impact on the environment
- re-evaluate their relationship with nature and inculcate the values of respect, responsibility and reciprocity towards nature
Course Structure: The course is conducted as a seminar/discussion course. Study questions are given for the readings and viewings and the students are required to answer those questions before the class. Students will be asked to briefly present concepts from the readings on a regular basis, to facilitate discussion.
Required Materials: There is no required textbook for this course. Instructor will provide handouts and supplement materials with audio-visual and script based resources collected during Fulbright Hays GPA program, articles and readings from various texts and online resources.
Grading Guidelines: A (93-100), A- (90-92), B+ (88-89), B (84-87), B- (80-83), C+ (78-79), C (74-77), C- (70-73), D+ (68-69), D (64-67), D- (60-63), F (59 & below)
| Attendance & Class Participation | 15% |
| Reading/ Viewing Questions | 10% |
| Weekly Reflections | 10% |
| Blackboard Discussion Posts | 10% |
Writing Portfolio
|
40% |
| Final Presentation | 15% |
Attendance & Class Participation: You are an important member of this classroom community. Therefore, your attendance matters. In person attendance is mandatory, as is participation in class discussions. Class participation reflects a student’s daily preparation and active participation in discussions. If you need to miss a lecture, please communicate with the instructor via email. It is your responsibility to finish the readings, reading questions and reflections for that week and submit it in a timely manner.
Reading and Viewing Questions: Before each class, you will be given questions that you will be required to answer after reading or watching the assigned material. Make sure you upload your responses in Blackboard before the class.
Weekly Reflections: Weekly reflections form will have three segments based on KWL format (K-What I know, W– What I want to learn, L– What I learnt) In the beginning of the week, you will fill out the K and W segments of the form and at the end of the week, you will write a one-page long reflection for the L segment incorporating information from the readings, lecture, and discussion for the week. Weekly reflections will go in the respective folders on Blackboard by 11:59 pm on Fridays.
Discussion Posts: The discussion board is a great way to exchange ideas and learn from your classmates. Each student is expected to fully participate in the discussion boards. Discussion posts take numerous forms. It could involve summarizing, responding to questions, describing important points, comparing & contrasting, etc. You must post at least twice to each discussion board unless otherwise indicated in the assignment description. One post should be your response (summary, description, etc.) The other post should be a thoughtful response to another student’s post. Individual student responses (summaries, descriptions, etc.) must be posted no later than Thursday midnight of the assigned week. Student responses posted after that time will receive a grade of 0 (zero) for the week. Student responses to other student postings must be posted by Sunday midnight to be considered in the Discussion grade for that week.
Writing Portfolio:Throughout the semester you will be given four short essay assignments. Your instructor will assign a grade to each of these and give you feedback. You will need to revise all your essays based on instructor- (and sometimes based on peer-) feedback by the end of the semester. You will compile all your essays together with their drafts and instructor- (and where applicable, peer-) feedback in a writing portfolio, which you will turn in on the last day of classes in electronic form. All essays need to be typed (12pt, Times New Roman, double-spaced) and e-mailed in .doc(x) format to the instructor by the due date. The name of your essay file should be as follows: Course Name_Essay#_Name_LastName. Make sure that your essays meet the indicated minimum word requirement. Essays that do not meet the indicated minimum word requirement will receive a grade of zero.
Final Presentation: You will collaborate with a partner or work in a group of 3-4 people to come up with a final presentation to educate the community on sustainability, traditional ecological knowledge, comparative perspective of TEK and Western Science in a location somewhere in India chosen by you. You will explain the sustainable practices from traditional Indian culture and present easy ways to the audience to integrate some of these options in their lifestyle.
Tentative Weekly Schedule: Week Topics
- Week 1: Nature in Indian Philosophical Context
- Week 2: Nature in Indian Literature; Folk tales, short stories and poems
- Week 3: Nature Takes the Hit; Consequences of unsustainable human behavior
- Week 4: Circular Economy: a solution for sustainable future
- Week 5: Balancing the Environment through Traditional Knowledge
- Week 6: Warli Tribes: Human-Nature Relations and Visual Narratives
- Week 7: Sustainable agricultural & food practices from traditional Indian cultures, the role of men and women, Navdanya
- Week 8: Sustainable textile and clothing practices from traditional Indian culture
- Week 9: Sustainable housing practices from traditional Indian culture
- Week 10: Sustainable water practices from traditional Indian culture & Tarun Bharat Sangh
- Week 11: UN Sustainability Goals and Guidelines. Comparing and Contrasting; Tarun Bharat Sangh & Navdanya
- Week 12: Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Western Science: Reflection of previous readings and audio-visual resources
- Week 13: Planning, selecting readings and preparation for the Final Presentations
- Week 14: Final Presentations
Note: The course syllabus is a general weekly plan for the course; the instructor reserves the right to make any changes. Changes will be posted on Blackboard.
References:
Baindur, Meera. Nature in Indian Philosophy and Cultural Traditions. New York, United States, Springer Publishing, 2016. Chapter 1 (1.10, 1.11, 1.12), Chapter 3 (3.1, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7), Chapters 4, 9, 10, & 11
Berkes, Fikret. Sacred Ecology. 4th ed., Routledge, 2017. Chapters 1, 2, & 3
Brears, Robert. Nature-Based Solutions to 21st Century Challenges. 1st ed., Routledge, 2020.
Great Transition Initiative. greattransition.org.
“Environmental Dimensions of Tribal Sustainability.” mu.ac.in/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/223-238-Environmental-Dimensions-of-Tribal-Sustainability.pdf.
Just a Moment… www.researchgate.net/publication/352877524_Study_of_Sustainability_Practices_Ingrained_in_Indian_Culture.
Ketki, K. “Sustainable Traditional Practices From an Indian Perspective: An Introduction to the Series.” https://curiositysavestheplanet.com/sustainable-lessons-from-india-intro/, 8 Apr. 2021, curiositysavestheplanet.com/sustainable-lessons-from-india-intro. Accessed 9 Dec. 2022.
Mansoor, Sahar. Bare Necessities. Penguin Random House India Pvt. Ltd, 2021.
NCBI – WWW Error Blocked Diagnostic. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5783664.
Modak, Prasad. Practicing Circular Economy. 1st ed., CRC Press, 2021. Chapters 1, 2 , 3 (3.1), 4, 5 (5.1), 11 (11.7)
Nelson, Melissa, and Daniel Shilling. Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Learning From Indigenous Practices for Environmental Sustainability. Cambridge, United Kingdom, Cambridge UP, 2018. Chapters 1, 2, 3, & 4
Pal, Sanchari. “Modern India Can Learn a Lot From These 20 Traditional Water Conservation Systems.” The Better India, 15 July 2016, www.thebetterindia.com/61757/traditional-water-conservation-systems-india.
Sengupta, Nirmal. Traditional Knowledge in Modern India: Preservation, Promotion, Ethical Access and Benefit Sharing Mechanisms. Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2019, Springer, 2019.
Shiva, Vandana, and Ronnie Cummins. Reclaiming the Commons: Biodiversity, Traditional Knowledge, and the Rights of Mother Earth. Synergetic Press, 2020. Chapters 1, 4, & 7
Singh, Bhavna, et al. Protection of Traditional Knowledge in India. LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing, 2015.
THE 17 GOALS | Sustainable Development. sdgs.un.org/goals.
Tirkey, Aruna. “Reviving Foods, Preserving Culture: My Journey as an Indigenous Food
Entrepreneur | by Aruna Tirkey | Langscape-magazine/.” Medium, 25 Nov. 2022, medium.com/langscape-magazine/reviving-foods-preserving-culture-my-journey-as-an-indigenous-food-entrepreneur-bacf964c1915.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “Traditional Ecological Knowledge for Application by Service Scientists.” https://www.fws.gov/media/traditional-ecological-knowledge-fact-sheet, 2011, www.fws.gov/media/traditional-ecological-knowledge-fact-sheet.
Varghese, Anita, et al. Conservation Through Sustainable Use: Lessons From India. Abingdon, United Kingdom, Taylor and Francis, 2022.
Verma, Manish. Environment, Development and Sustainability in India: Perspectives, Issues and Alternatives. 1st ed. 2021, Springer, 2022. Chapters 1, 4, 9, 14, 17, 18