Environmental Ethics in Action: Volunteer Event Analysis

Due: Sunday, July 28th by 11:59 pm Pacific time

15% of course grade

Part One: Identify a volunteer activity related to environmental ethics that you can attend in person during weeks two through five of this term. Do a bit of research on the organization with which you will work – look up the organization’s mission statement, goals, and anything you can find on the approach the organization takes to its work. Next, participate in the volunteer activity for at least two to three hours. As soon as you finish the activity, take some time to jot down notes on your experience. Record what you did, how you felt, who was involved, and any visceral and emotional reactions you might have had during the activity. If allowed/appropriate, take a photo of the activity. Note: Activity must be related to environmental ethics, example : clean oceans, help recycle wastes, help clean streets, help plants trees

Part Two: Choose at least one and not more than two key concepts from texts assigned during weeks one through four of the class. For example, you might choose the notion of the geographical self introduced by Johnson and Larsen, or a concept of tsa’walk discussed by Richard Atleo. Be specific and choose a concept that seems to relate in some way to the volunteer activity. Carefully read and review the appropriate text until you can summarize the concept with which you will work and identify the key arguments presented by the author(s).

Part Three: Produce a short essay (1000-1200 words) that includes the following:

A. A brief description of the volunteer activity you undertook (no more than one paragraph of the who, what, when, where, why). Include the name of the organization with which you worked and a brief explanation the organization’s overall mission or goals.

B. A brief summary of the key concepts that you find relevant to the activity. Write in your own words, but include supporting citations and short quotes where appropriate.

C. Reflect on your experience as a volunteer and the overall efforts of the organization with which you worked. Write about the organization’s approach to its work, and also analyze the sorts of underlying ethical assumptions and commitments that were at play with the activity, the individuals involved, and the organization itself. You may want to consider the organization’s attitude toward the environment (whether it is water, land, city, or something else), toward other non-human animals, toward food, toward climate change, or something else. Look for verification of the organization’s ideals in action. Also, look for any inconsistencies or contradictions. Discuss the ethical assumptions of the organization and the people involved, both in theory and in action.

D. Include at least one visual/graphic element with your essay. This can be a photo you took during the volunteer activity, a drawing you made, a map of the location of the activity, a diagram of some kind depicting concepts and actions you experienced, or something else. The only requirement is that the image must be something you produced – photos copied from an online source are not acceptable.

Additional guidelines:
Your final product should be a complete, coherent essay with an easily identifiable main argument (thesis). Your essay should be written in complete paragraphs that connect with one another. Do not simply write short answers to the prompts. In other words, requirements A-D above should all be included, but it is up to you to structure your essay around a primary argument/thesis with supporting evidence.
Do not upload multiple files; include your graphic element in the same file as your essay.
Essays of fewer than 1000 words or more than 1400 words (excluding references and title) will not be accepted. Take this word restriction seriously – no resubmits will be allowed.