Alex Jacobson

Scope: I will be researching education in the 21^st century United States, and more specifically the shortage of teachers compared to students, which causes disparities in educational opportunities for students and pay for teachers. DuBois stressed the importance of education leading to opportunity for the African American population, and this is no different today with the entire population, regardless of race. A study conducted in the article “Beyond Money: Public Urban Boarding Schools and the State’s Obligation to make an Adequate Education Attainable” proved that young thinkers living in poverty are as capable of achieving as are those with more income, but they are not given the same opportunities, whether it is due to the exorbitant cost of boarding schools, college or graduate schools, or school supplies. This falls partially on the government, because they are the ones making policy decisions, not the teachers, and this is similar to Marx stressing the workers not having any say in policy in a capitalist system. Teachers still suffer from low wages, which creates little incentive to be one, having a direct effect on the quality of education for the increasing number of people in schools. With the rising population of young thinkers, there must also be an increase in the quantity and quality of teachers nationwide.

Value: DuBois noted the importance of knowledge to deter ignorance and malice in society, and specifically that the African American population could only prosper if they were taught the liberal arts by other African Americans, because they had empathy for them and knew of their struggle. Pertaining to my research, how do we create more incentive for the demand of teachers in impoverished areas nationally? Are monetary rewards the answer or does this just add to capitalist greed and create more competition in a field that is supposed to be communal and collaborative? As Marx referenced in his manuscripts, competition and the value of money can lead to “estranged labor” and dehumanization of society. How do we get entrepreneurs to want to be teachers, instead of corporate and financial workers who control such a huge portion of our national wealth? Along with that, how can we get them to focus on educating better, not jusreceiving higher wages, and can the two go together?

Originality: My topic relates to a variety of historical struggles stemming from capitalism. With the government controlling educational policy, teachers continue to have low wages—although there has been marginal improvement—which they have had for centuries. This is alluded to in Modern Educational Controversies. Subsequently, with the exponential rise in population and growing percentage of the population being youth, this is leading to less opportunity for those who cannot afford higher and private educations. This is nothing new, as DuBois referenced it in The Souls of Black Folk, and the price of boarding schools, college, and graduate schools has been an issue in the United States for centuries. If the incentive to be a teacher were to increase, more people would be able to be educated in areas that did not previously have boarding schools, colleges or other schools, because of the rising supply of teachers. Additionally, the benefits of starting public boarding schools in rural neighborhoods are introduced in Shelaswau Bushnell Crier’s article “Beyond Money: Public Boarding Schools and the State’s Obligation to make an Adequate Education Attainable.” This proposal could be a potential solution to the ongoing struggle for opportunity in education, but it cannot start without more teachers.

Practicality: This problem can be heavily researched, and I have already checked out numerous books from the library pertaining to my topic, but there are hundreds of other sources at my disposal. The articles and studies online are interesting and abundant. In terms of primary sources, I will research sources from the perspective of students and teachers, and I also have within my documents references to speeches and policy enacted by President Obama in the realm of education. I can use these governmental documents to answer questions regarding what is being done to combat this problem, and the primary sources from teachers and students to answer questions regarding what their perspectives are to better represent the actual problem. I will be looking at the problems themselves today through data, how they are being handled, and how they can be handled in the future with possible solutions. This is an immense problem in modern America, as we should be a world leader in education, not a liability.

Primary Sources:

“Race to the Top.” The White House. 2015. 9 October 2015.

This source did not list an author, as it came from the White House’s official website. It outlined educational policies and the specifics of the “Race to the Top” initiative put in place by Obama in 2012. The initiative has dedicated over $4 billion to 19 states and is putting money and resources toward improving k-12 education quality in four areas. They provide incentives for schools and teachers to improve their classroom practices and allocations of resources, among other aspects.

“Transforming Teaching and Leading.” U.S. Department of Education. 9 October 2015.

Another government sponsored source, this document did not have an author acknowledged. This source outlined ways that the government is currently reforming teaching, including the online forum “Commit to Lead,” a collaborative community of educators working to share and vote on their ideas to improve quality of teaching and leadership. This platform is a good way to improve teaching, as I said in my proposal that teaching ought to be more collaborative than it has been in the past.

Secondary Sources:

Brill, Steven. Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America’s Schools. New York, New

York: Simon & Schuster, 2011.

The specific section I plan to use in crafting my paper was the chapter “Rhee’s Choice: Your Union or $130,000.” This chapter explains Michelle Rhee, a government affiliate in Washington D.C. and her fight with a local teachers union about policy regarding their pay and compensation. She came to a conclusion, a proposed bill increasing teacher’s salaries based off of evaluation of performance and test score improvements, but if a teacher chose to agree to this, they would forfeit lifetime tenure and compensation. The proposal was not even put up for a vote, however, for two years. This shows the gridlock of government and disagreements that are frequent but rarely solved with the current structure in place.

Chen, Jingqiu. “Temptation, Monetary Intelligence (Love of Money), and Environmental

Context on Unethical Intentions and Cheating.” Journal Of Business Ethics 123,

no.2 (2014): 197-219.

I used this article to hypothesize how monetary incentives work for teachers. Would they just cheat and not actually teach their students material, but rather have them memorize in order to perform well so that they could receive higher wages? This article thoroughly annotated a study conducted in the USA and China giving students a monetary incentive to perform and whether or not they would cheat in certain environments. The results showed that both groups cheated to an extent, more of which occurred in segregated cubicles, rather than open classrooms. So, if a monetary incentive system were to be put in place, it would need close supervision and a communal attitude to be embraced by teachers and staff.

Crier, Shelaswau Bushnell. 2015. “Beyond Money: Public Urban Boarding Schools and

the State’s Obligation to make an Adequate Education Attainable.” Journal of Law and Education 44 (1): 23-94.

This source proposed an interested solution to some educational problems that arise from student’s environments. It stresses the need for boarding schools in urban areas to compensate for the gap of education they experience compared to suburban. Lack of education in these areas is directly related to less income and poverty, and also their often more troubling home environments can inhibit their learning.

Hershberg, Theodore, and Claire Robertson-Kraft. 2010. “Maximizing the Opportunity

Provided by ‘Race to the Top’.” Penn GSE Perspectives On Urban Education 7, no. 1: 128-131.

This source gave me a better keywords list, and introduced me to some of the current government measures being taken to improve our struggling economic sector. It familiarized me with Obama’s “Race to the Top” program and his “No Child Left Behind” act.

Tavel, David. Modern Educational Controversies. Lanham, MD: University Press of

America, 1984.

This book used data and statistics and an indifferent approach to addressing the “controversies” within. It stated that higher salaries now provide the opportunity to improve teaching, but do not improve it alone. Essentially, Tavel acknowledged that salaries today are higher, and that teachers unions have come into more power in the last half-century, but statistics show that because the salaries are increasing, this does not mean the quality of the teaching is. It was similar to Marx when Tavel wrote about teachers working solely for wages, and having a nearly impossible schedule. They are experiencing estranged labor in the twenty-first century.

Charlotte Polk                                                                                                           Paper Proposal                                                                                                                       Due Date: Oct.12^th

Scope:

I want to examine the inequality of gender nationally (United States of America) and globally.  I hope to compare and contrast how the divide between men and women equality vary from the equality between genders in another country.  Perception of women has been inferior to men throughout the world and continues to be in this century.  Mostly looking at the twenty-first century to retrieve the majority of my facts.  Studies have shown that within the work world, women with equal or greater experience and knowledge have been paid less then a male colleague. Similarly, societally women have been known to give up their last name when they become wed and take that of their husbands. Marriage is a union of property, and by changing the last name it is succumbing to the man and becoming “wife” not “man and woman” which seems to be more equitable.   Women’s rights have been evolving since America first started to create laws for the people.  With time, women have started to become more eligible to undertake in the equivalent acts as men.  However, there has been a strong perception that women are only good for certain things and should not do some of the same things because they are inept. I will examine the timeline in Americas history of women gaining rights through time and compare those rights to other nations around the world.  I will look at underdeveloped and modern European counties to make my comparisons.

Value:

America prides itself on being the nation of freedom, yet there is a different variation of freedom based on gender.  If this is commonly known throughout todays society, why do we still have discrimination based on gender? With the advancement of society, and the people of America becoming more accepting to new social ideas, why are women still considered to be lesser then men?  Sex should not be a justification of mal treatment.  Women are starting to gain more recognition in society, with that more changes will have to be made to accommodate powerful women who seek out change.

Originality:

While information on women in the United States might be easier to come by, looking for credible examples of how women are treated poorly in other nations may be more difficult.  In the article “Speaking truth to Power: Women’s Rights as Human Rights”, the emphasis is on the results since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 will help with the evaluation of the timeline since then to present day to review the change that has or has not been since that time.  Similarly, in the reading, “Outgrowing the Compact of the Fathers: Equal Rights, Woman Suffrage, and the United States Constitution”, discusses the beginnings of the women’s rights movements, touching on when the U.S Constitution was first written.  Both of these resources will provide information about the past and the start of the negativity towards women.  Furthermore, these facts will act as a bridge connecting todays discrimination to that of previous centuries thus providing more comparisons to be made.  This will also allow for noticing the growth that has been made since this time, and the improvements that are still yet to happen.

Practicality:

This is an ongoing topic that doesn’t seem to have a defined ending point.  Real world examples that have happened in the past and that are current can serve as justification to prove that women in todays society are thought to be less significant than men.  The Dickinson Library contains multiple books that will be essential for me to review in order to understand why the divide is so prevalent.  This includes most of the items located in the International Women’s Periodicals, 1786-1933: Social and Political Issues (Archives Unbound) database as well as the GenderWach and Women Studies International Databases.

Criag, Murphy N. Seeing Women, Recognizing Gender, Recasting International Relations. Cambridge, United Kingdom  : Cambridge University Press, 1996.

This source will be helpful to use throughout the writing process because it analyzes the

Crocco, Margaret S. Speaking Truth to Power: Women’s Rights as Human Rights. The Social Studies (Washington, D.C.) 2007.

DuBois, Ellen Carol. Outgrowing the Compact of the Fathers: Equal Rights, Woman Suffrage, and the United States Constitution. Journal of American History, 1987.

Naples, Nancy A. 2002. Women’s Activism and Globalization : Linking Local Struggles and Transnational Politics. Edited by Desai, Menisha. New York : Routledge, 2002.

Tickner, Ann J., and Laura Sjoberg. Feminism and International Relations : Conversations about the Past, Present, and Future. Edited by Ann Tickner and Laura Sjoberg. London ; New York : Routledge, 2011.

Paper Proposal

Scope

The problem with the twenty first century, which I will examine, is cyber threats. This paper will specifically focus on the dictatorship of North Korea and their use of cyber hacking to threaten the world economically, politically, and militarily. With the growth of the Internet and social media, cyber hacking has become a popular way for countries to find classified information often times from government networks, and pose public threats to society. Since 2010, according to the South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS), many of the seventy five thousand hacking attempts on South Korean organizations have been linked to North Korea. I will attempt to illustrate how serious cyber threats are through examples, such as the infamous North Korean Sony Pictures hack in 2014. Most of my information will tend to come from Western sources and media that report on North Korea and cyber threats, so it will be important to make this statement clear as my focus in the introduction. In addition, the paper will address the Marxist characteristics in the North Korean society that make threats of cyber possible and the ultimate intention of destroying and undermining democracy in the West. Although I am focusing on cyber threats to the West, I will discuss the implications of North Korea’s cyber hacking against South Korea and reports of efforts to start a war with them as a catalyst to provoke the West.

Value

I will discuss the importance of cyber and its relevance to the structure of North Korea’s society. I will make note of the dangers of cyber hacking and the reasons why countries like North Korea take action in doing it. North Korean defector Jang Se-Yul claimed that the government started experimenting with cyber hacking in the 1990’s in effort to develop asymmetrical warfare during a period of economic turmoil when military assets were low. This shows that cyber attacks from North Korea could be more lethal and detrimental than any from other nations. One of the sources that I found discusses education, art, and politics evident in North Korea, and how the structure of their society promotes the use of cyber hacking. This leads me to the question: Is North Korea using cyber to attract attention or because they are true threat to the world? In addition, with the growth of social media, Internet, and industries, does North Korea’s cyber use pose a threat to capitalism, and specifically democratic nations? If this is so, should media play a role in making North Korea’s cyber use known to the world as a threat? Will other dictatorships threaten the West with cyber like North Korea? Lastly, if this is such a huge threat to the West, why is it then necessary that democracy be upheld in the twenty-first century?

Originality

The use of cyber and hacking is not a new phenomenon. However, its use is increasing and becoming uncontrollable. The Sony Cyber Attack highlights how important the issue is, as the United States placed sanctions on North Korean businesses. This reflects a democratic and capitalistic nation’s response to cyber threats from a complete state controlled totalitarian regime. To conclude my paper, I will discuss what North Korea represents on a global scale. I will then touch upon the reasoning that since cyber hacking is a huge issue, why should we trust the information and what we read on the internet?

Practicality

My topic is focused on North Korea. There is a lot of media coverage on the country and on cyber hacking in many newspaper articles, and world reports. In my paper it will be important to analyze the authors, their scopes, and where their views are coming from. Government sites might also offer information on my topic. Some of my information will be collected from secondary sources, including scholarly databases and books from the library. These sources will give opinion and critique the problems with the threats to the world. Primary sources will come from specific recounts of cyber hacking. These sources will outline what cyber hacking is and the degree to which it is a threat to society.

Sources

Song, Jiyoung. “How communist is North Korea? From the birth to the death of Marxist ideas of human rights.” Cambridge Review Of International Affairs 23, no. 4 (December 2010): 561-587. Political Science Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed October 1, 2015).

Kim, Young-do, Jin-sung Kim, and Kyung-ho Lee. “Major Issues of the National Cyber Security System in South Korea, and its Future Direction.” Korean Journal Of Defense Analysis 25, no. 4 (December 2013): 435-455. Political Science Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed October 8, 2015).

Lee, Yong-joon, Hyuk-jin Kwon, Jaeil Lee, and Dong-kyoo Shin. 2015. “Development of Countermeasures against North Korean Cyberterrorism through Research Case Studies.” Korean Journal Of Defense Analysis 27, no. 1: 71-86. Political Science Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed October 8, 2015).

 Obama Vows Response to North Korea Over Sony Hack. 2014. Lanham: Federal Information & News Dispatch, Inc. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1638583886?accountid=10506.

Haggard, Stephan and Jon R. Lindsay. 2015. “North Korea and the Sony Hack: Exporting Instability through Cyberspace.” Asia – Pacific Issues (117): 1-8. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1690004558?accountid=10506.

“Current North Korean Cyber-Warfare Threat to South Korea would be Key to Potential War-Fighting Strategy.” 2015.Jane’s Intelligence Weekly 7 (6).  http://search.proquest.com/docview/1645004785?accountid=10506.

SCOPE: I want to examine the effects corporate, or “big,” money has on United States politics. Ever since the Citizens United Supreme Court case, in which the Supreme Court ruled that restrictions on campaign contributions are unconstitutional, large corporations and political action committees (“PACs”) have had significant impacts on election cycles. The decision in that case set the precedent that “corporations are people” and that the more money someone has, the more say he or she has in politics. As a result, billionaires like the Koch brothers are able to donate millions to specific candidates and influence their views on certain political issues without restrictions. These unrestricted donations have caused fundraising competition among candidates during election season, with campaign costs increasing in recent years. In the preface of his book Big Money: 2.5 Billion Dollars, One Suspicious Vehicle, and a Pimp – on the trail of the Ultra-Rich Hijacking American Politics, Kenneth Vogel includes a quote by Barack Obama during campaign season in 2012: “In this election, I will be able to hopefully match whatever check the Koch brothers want to write” (Vogel, viii). The Founding Fathers envisioned a governmental system in which the people are represented by politicians who share their concerns and are public servants, not one in which a select few had the most say about in which direction American politics goes. Those in support of big money’s influence on politics might claim that it demonstrates how the U.S. gives people the opportunity to influence politics, unlike in other countries. This belief, however, further supports the Supreme Court’s decision that money equals speech, a philosophy not concurrent with America’s political foundation. Others may argue that the United States political system has always included a significant influence from big money, but the problem arises when restrictions on this influence are cut off. The massive contributions from PACs and billionaires in today’s political scene will only increase. The question then becomes “How will this change the system in the future?” I will also examine statistics showing the rates at which money’s role in politics has increased and how those rates correlate with the public’s perception of politics. I will examine the idea that the more influence these extremely rich individuals and corporations have on politics, the more discouraged the general American electorate is about participating.

VALUE: The basis of American politics is democratic republicanism. The founders, having fresh memories of being ruled by a monarch, wanted a political society in which the people were fairly represented. Big money’s influence in politics today has been the subject of many grievances about United States politics, especially among the general public. People do not seem to think they have as much of a say in which legislation is passed or in who is elected, some even saying that their vote does not count. How, then, should the United States progress when a very small group of individuals with a lot of money are able to push and pull the political agenda as they please? Is the country’s structure really as it should be under the founders’ standards if the people do not want to participate in government as much anymore? Does big money have that much of an effect on politics at all? Are there ways to increase the electorate’s political efficacy? Would overturning Citizens United be a positive step towards reaching increased political efficacy or would it not change the United States’ political landscape at all? By learning more about big money’s influence in politics, the American electorate can more effectively demand change, a tactic the Nick Penniman writes in his article “Rotten to the core” is one of the only ways to change the system.

ORIGINALITY: Several political scientists have written books and articles discussing the role big money has in today’s political scene. For example, I found Kenneth Vogel’s book, which even in the preface addresses my topic extensively. Articles Nick Penniman’s “Rotten to the core: with political integrity drowning in big money, it’s too late for small tweaks. The whole system needs a reboot” discuss the problems associated with having big money in the American political system and its implications. Although there is plenty of research regarding the problem of big money in politics, I also want to bring in research from the other side that believes wealthier influences in politics are beneficial. Database articles like the one I found from CQ Researcher have opinions from both sides of the debate, which will add to my research even more. 

PRACTICALITY: There are multiple books, scholarly journal articles, periodical articles, and database articles covering my topic that go into extensive detail about it. I will use the book and articles I mentioned above as well as other articles I found online to prove my points. In addition to these secondary sources, I will try to find raw statistical data showing the rates at which corporate money’s influence has increased. I may also include information about Citizens United and why it is important to my topic. Unfortunately, I had to request some of the articles I found because they are not in the library and Vogel’s book is online only. I will try to find physical books that cover my topic to make it easier to do research.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1. Borosage, Robert L. and Ruy Teixiera. “The Politics of Money.” Nation 263 no. 12 (1996): 21-23.

2. Demaris, Ovid, Dirty business; the corporate-political money-power game (New

York: Harper’s Magazine Press, 1974).

3. Jost, Kenneth. “Campaign Finance Debates: Should regulations be loosened further?” CQ Researcher, 20 no. 20. (2010): 457-480.

4. Penniman, Nick and Ken Davis. “Rotten to the core: with political integrity drowning

in money, it’s too late for small tweaks. The whole system needs a reboot.” Sojourners Magazine 41, no. 8 (2012): 16-20, 22.

5. Kenneth Vogel, Big Money: 2.5 Billion Dollars, One Suspicious Vehicle, and a Pimp

– on the Trail of the Ultra-rich Hijacking American Politics (New York: PublicAffairs, 2014).

I want to research how alienation from the natural world contributes to the range of human action in response to anthropogenic climate change and environmental destruction. In most societies, people are physically, psychologically, and spiritually removed from the environment in which they live. This alienation makes people less likely to react to the increasing threat of climate change because they do not feel its effects as directly, and emotion is an important part of the process of converting moral thought to action. This is the most important issue of the twenty-first century because humans must act to mitigate climate change or the entire planet will be at risk.

Scope:

I want to research how alienation from the natural world contributes to the range of human action in response to anthropogenic climate change and environmental destruction. Many indigenous cultures are deeply attached to the specific environments in which they live. Religious and spiritual beliefs incorporate specific landmarks and parts of the environment as deities or significant places, and members of the culture utilize an in-depth understanding of the ecosystem in which they live in order to obtain resources for survival. Therefore, if a dramatic change occurs in the environment, this culture will notice it and have a vested interest in rectifying it. In contrast, a culture whose religious beliefs are not strongly identified with a physical area (such as Christianity or Hinduism, which are practiced around the world) may have less reason to notice or care when their surrounding environment is degraded.

Similarly, people who depend on specific environmental conditions for survival (farmers, hunters, craftsmen who rely on natural materials) and obtain resources directly from their surrounding environment will experience environmental change much more quickly than people who rely on wages and commerce in order to get the basic necessities of life.

Lastly, people who are physically removed from the natural world because they live in cities, climate-controlled housing, and/or environmentally degraded areas are less likely to notice changes in the environment because they are physically removed from it, and they are less likely to care as long as their quality of life is sustained.

In order to test this hypothesis I will look at case studies of indigenous cultures, their relation to their physical environment, and the effects climate change has had on them. I will look at the correlation between connection to the natural world and environmentalist action to determine what causes people to “speak up” on this issue. I will research the meaning of alienation from the natural world, and the implications of this. I will also look at psychological research to determine what causes people to react to certain issues in certain ways, and what personal damage comes from being alienated from the natural world.

Value:

The connection between alienation, human psychology, and environmental action is the greatest issue of the twenty-first century because the way humans handle climate change will define the future of the planet. We are on track to destroy our planet, but in the United States, more people consider cyberattacks and tensions with Russia to be the greatest threat facing our planet than consider climate change to be the greatest threat, according to a PEW Research poll. In 2011, the United States was the world’s second greatest contributor of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. According to the same poll, African and Latin American countries are the most concerned about climate change.

Why are people in some countries more concerned about climate change than others? What factors influence individual perceptions of the dangers of climate change? What role does industrialization and alienation from the environment play in people’s perception of the dangers of climate change? How do individual perceptions of climate change affect a person’s likelihood to take action? It is possible that alienation from the natural world contributes to psychological issues, and changes the way that humans relate to each other or how they understand their place in the world. It is important that humans understand the possible effects of their continued separation from the natural world, especially in regards to anthropogenic climate change and environmental destruction.

Originality:

In my research I only found one article that specifically dealt with the effects of alienation on climate change. “‘Wellbeing’: A Collateral Casualty of Modernity?” by Sandra Carlisle, Gregor Henderson, and Phil W. Hanlon discusses how alienation from the environment as well as the self and society leads people to identify more with self-serving and materialistic values than moral values, which lead people to care less about climate change. There is a greater wealth of research on the connection between modernity and alienation in general. Some articles discuss this link in philosophical terms, such as “The Rift in the Modern Mind: Tocqueville and Percy on the Rise of the Cartesian Self,” by Matthew Sitman and Brian Smith. I found an introduction to a book discussing how many thinkers reject the idea of alienation for various reasons (the book itself supports the idea of alienation and I am going to try and find it).

I found a variety of articles with differing opinions on the psychology and sociology of environmental action, some of which support my hypothesis that alienation from the natural world plays an important part and some of which don’t. I will use both, because I want to make sure not to cherry-pick sources or oversimplify the issue.

Overall, not many people have dealt with spiritual alienation specifically, although many have dealt with surrounding issues, especially the connection between indigenous cultures and the environment. I would gain greater originality by focusing specifically on spiritual alienation, but it is difficult to draw the line between spiritual connection to the environment and other connections, since most cultures that rely on the environment directly for survival necessarily weave this importance into their religious beliefs. I have also struggled to find empirical research on spiritual connection to the environment, though there is available information on emotional and psychological connections. Therefore, I decided to focus on alienation as a whole. My research will be original because it will combine philosophical and psychological ways of thinking about alienation, and it will connect specifically to environmental action.

Practicality:

There is enough evidence to make my claims and answer my questions. I have already found several journal articles that are available through the Dickinson library that address the idea of alienation, and one that specifically addresses alienation and climate change. I know of at least one case study of an indigenous culture adapting to climate change. There is a wealth of existing data on the effects of climate change, and people’s reactions to climate change around the world. I can access enough articles and books through the Dickinson library to gather the information that I need.

Secondary Sources

Aswani, Shankar and Matthew Lauer. “Indigenous People’s Detection of Rapid Ecological Change.” Conservation Biology 28, no. 3 (2014), 820-828.

Bolin, Inge. “The Glaciers of the Andes are Melting: Indigenous and Anthropological Knowledge Merge in Restoring Water Resource.” In Classic Readings in Cultural Anthropology, edited by Gary Ferraro, 118-126. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2015.

This source discusses how effects of anthropogenic climate change put extreme pressure on an indigenous Mayan community by threatening their source of water. Glaciers provide this community with water and also serve an important religious purpose, and their disappearance has a huge impact on their survival and spiritual understanding of the world, motivating them to find new solutions and mitigate their own environmental impact. This source illustrates how a profound connection to the natural world influences people’s reactions to climate change and provides an example of a culture whose greater connection to the natural world creates a greater understanding of the importance of climate change.

Carle, Jill. “Climate Change Seen as Top Global Threat.” Pew Research Center,  14 July 2015, http://www.pewglobal.org/2015/07/14/climate-change-seen-as-top-global-threat/

Carlisle, Sandra, Gregor Henderson, and Phil W. Hanlon. “‘Wellbeing’: A Collateral Casualty of Modernity?” Social Science and Medicine 69, no. 10 (2009): 1556-1560.

Durkalec, Agata, Chris Furgal, Mark W. Skinner, and Tom Sheldon. “Climate Change Influences on Environment As a Determinant of Indigenous Health: Relationships to Place, Sea Ice, and Health in an Inuit Community.” Social Science and Medicine 136-137, (2015), 17-26

Kelly, Ryan P., Sarah R. Cooley, Terrie Klinger. “Narratives Can Motivate Environmental Action: The Whiskey Creek Ocean Acidification Story.” AMBIO – A Journal of the Human Environment 43, no. 5 (2014), 592-599.

Moskell, Christine and Shorna Allred. “Integrating Human and Natural Systems in Community Psychology: An Ecological Model of Stewardship Behavior.” American Journal of Community Psychology 51, no. 1 (2013), 1-14.

“Nomads of the Rainforest PBS NOVA 1984.” YouTube video, 1:00:42, posted by “The Documentary Network,” August 7, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn8gk67s6YM

Sparks, Paul; Donna Jessop; James Chapman; and Katherine Holmes. “Pro-Environmental Actions, Climate Change, and Defensiveness: Do Self-Affirmations Make a Difference to People’s Motives and Beliefs About Making a Difference?” British Journal of Social Psychology 49, no. 3 (2010), 553-568.

Stokols, Daniel; Shalini Misra; Miryha Gould Runnerstrom; and Aaron J. Hipp. “Psychology in an Age of Ecological Crisis : From Personal Angst to Collective Action.” The American Psychologist 64, no. 3 (2009), 181-193.

Van den Noortgaete, Francis and Johan De Tavernier. “Affected by Nature: A Hermeneutical Transformation of Environmental Ethics.” Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 49, no. 3 (2014), 572-592.

This source discusses the gap between people’s moral positions on climate change and their action in response to it. One portion of its argument states that the transition from moral thought to action is facilitated by emotion, and that people do not act in situations where they do not feel an emotional connection to the issue at hand. Additionally, it shows that a majority of people who do take action against climate change are influenced by emotional factors such as a childhood connection to the natural world. This source shows how emotional and psychological connections to the environment that are lost through alienation are imperative in the mitigation of climate change.

Wright, Rachel and Hilary Schaffer Boudet. “To Act or Not to Act: Context, Capability, and Community Response to Environmental Risk.” American Journal of Sociology 118, no. 3 (2012), 728-777.