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Earth and Its Distress:
Ecological Ethics in Christian Perspective
Chicago Theological Seminary
Fall 2002
Professor Janet Parker
jparker@ctschicago.edu
Course Description
"Earth and Its Distress" leads students
into an encounter with various voices from the Christian tradition as
well as selected voices outside the tradition who are wrestling constructively
with the current global environmental crisis and its local manifestations.
The range of voices includes diverse Christian perspectives as well as
representatives from ecofeminism, the environmental justice movement,
indigenous communities and third world communities. Field research as
well as textual research enables the students to understand "earth
and its distress" in the local context of the Chicagoland region
as well as its more global dimensions. The emphasis will be on constructive
theological and ethical reflection upon the global problematic of environmental
degradation and injustice.
Course Goals
* To attain familiarity with the breadth and depth
of Christian theological reflection upon the ecological crisis, and to
understand the resources of the Christian faith for responding creatively
to this crisis.
* To develop an understanding of environmental issues as justice issues
and as theological and ethical issues of deep concern to Christians.
* To learn about the environmental challenges of the Chicago region and
some of the resources and groups working to address these challenges.
* To listen to unfamiliar voices from within and without the Christian
tradition and to be educated by these voices from the margins about our
responsibilities toward the creation and the other beings with whom we
share the planet.
* To participate in the educative process by which the above goals will
be met, through active involvement in class discussion and through teaching
a class as part of a group research project.
Required Texts
Adams, Carol J. (ed.). Ecofeminism and the Sacred
(Continuum, 1993)
Greenberg, Joel. A Natural History of the Chicago Region (U. of Chicago,
2002). (Available more cheaply on Amazon.com than in the Seminary bookstore.)
Hessel, Dieter and Larry Rasmussen (eds.). Earth Habitat: Eco-Injustice
and the Church’s Response (Fortress, 2001)
Hessel, Dieter and Rosemary Radford Ruether (eds.). Christianity and Ecology
(Harvard, 2000)
*Krueger, Frederick W. A Cloud of Witnesses: The Deep Ecological Legacy
of Christianity (The Religious Campaign for Forest Conservation, 2002)
Rasmussen, Larry. Earth Community, Earth Ethics (Orbis, 1996)
Shiva, Vandana. Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge (South
End, 1997)
The Worldwatch Institute. State of the World 2002 (W.W. Norton, 2002)
Weaver, Jace (ed.). Defending Mother Earth: Native American Perspectives
on Environmental Justice (Orbis, 1996)
*Only available on reserve at the library, or may be ordered by calling
(707) 573-3162.
Recommended Texts
**Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force. Words
That Come Before All Else: Environmental Philosophies of the Haudenosaunee
(Native North American Travelling College, n.d.)
Roberts, Elizabeth and Elias Amidon (eds.). Earth Prayers From Around
the World (HarperSanFrancisco, 1991)
Spencer, Daniel T. Gay and Gaia: Ethics, Ecology, and the Erotic (Pilgrim,
1996)
**Only available on reserve at the library
Requirements
Class Participation: Participation in class
discussions and research group presentations is expected. This assumes
the student has read the required reading by class time and can work with
it in discussions that are collaborative and constructive, with a view
to the course goal. In assessing class participation, the degree to which
the student participated actively and equitably in the group research
project will also be taken into account.
Environmental Autobiography Paper A worksheet
to guide you in this exercise will be handed out the first day of class.
Guided by the worksheet, we will discuss our environmental autobiographies
the following week, on September 11. Reflecting on the worksheet exercise
and the class discussion, you will then write a five page environmental
autobiography paper summarizing your insights. Due September 18.
Group Research Project
Teams of 2-4 people will research a local environmental issue related
to one of the four core areas of the syllabus; i.e. land, water, air and
fire, or animals/biodiversity. Teams will be expected to make field visits
to the relevant site(s) in Chicago or the surrounding area, and to interact
with at least one environmental organization working on this issue. The
purpose of this assignment is to contextualize our study of environmental
ethics in the Chicagoland area and to educate one another about local
environmental issues and organizations. An urban, suburban or rural environmental
issue/site may be chosen as long as it is within the Chicagoland vicinity.
The research teams will prepare both a class presentation and a final
written report.
Class Presentation
The class presentation should include the following elements in the order
chosen by the group:
1) A ritual component in which we together participate in an embodiment,
in symbol and practice, of the environmental issue selected by the group
and the religious response to this issue (5-15 minutes)
2) A teaching component in which team members present the environmental
issue or problem they have studied, the efforts of local environmental
organization(s) or activists to address the problem, and a reflection/analysis
of how Christian and/or other religious/cultural traditions (i.e. Native
American, ecofeminist) could contribute to effecting a "conversion
to the earth" that would bring about needed transformation in this
area of environmental concern. This discussion should utilize and build
upon course readings but may also be informed by outside reading done
by the team (approx. 45 minutes).
3) An assessment by group members of new insights gained from working
on this project and the experience of working together as a team. For
example, what did you learn by doing an assignment that had a field research
component and a group component that you do not typically learn by doing
individual written assignments? What challenges or difficulties did you
encounter? (approx. 15 minutes).
4) A suggested agenda for how religious communities such as churches and
seminaries could creatively address and positively impact the issue under
discussion using all of the means at their disposal; i.e., worship, education,
activism, influence in the community, interfaith alliances, coalition-building
with community partners, etc. (approx. 15 minutes).
Group Report A ten to twelve page group report
should summarize both the learnings from the research project as well
as the insights gained from the experience of teaching the class. The
report should include the four dimensions listed above under Class Presentation
as well as provide information and analysis on the research process itself,
such as how you identified your topic, which sites or organizations you
visited, who your contacts were, what outside reading you did, etc. Every
member of the group should participate in some aspect of the written report.
An appendix describing the work of each group member on the entire project,
including research, the class presentation, and the final report should
be attached at the end of the paper. DueDecember
4.
Individual Paper A paper of approximately
ten pages (for master’s degree students) or fifteen pages (for doctoral
degree students) should treat one dimension of the group research project
at a deeper level than group presentation allows. Choose an area of the
group project that sparks your interest and provide a treatment of that
topic that involves more in-depth reading and investigation than required
by the group project. In particular, focus upon bringing one aspect of
the environmental issue you have studied into dialogue with a particular
voice or set of voices speaking to this issue from a religious perspective.
Further, how do religious scholars and activists bring theological and
ethical analyses to this issue that secular activists do not employ? What
does a religious perspective on this issue offer that is unique? Master’s
degree students should feel free to explore aspects of this topic relevant
for current or anticipated work in ministry, while doctoral students are
encouraged to write as though preparing an article for publication in
a theological journal. The paper should draw upon course readings as well
as outside readings. Due December 16.
Schedule of Classes and Assignments
September 4:
Introductions
Video: "Keeping the Earth"
September 11: Earth and Its Distress
Greenberg, A Natural History of Chicago, ch. 1, "The Great Forces," 1-15.
Rasmussen, Earth Community, Earth Ethics, Preface, Introduction, Part
I, "A Slow Womb," "Sweet Betsy and Her Avalanche,"
"Three Revolutions or Four?", 23-74
The Worldwatch Institute, State of the World 2002, Preface, xix-xxii;
ch. 1, "The Challenge for Johannesburg: Creating a More Secure
World," 1-23.
United Nations Environment Programme, "North America’s Environment:
A Thirty-Year State of the Environment and Policy Retrospective," Foreword, Preface, Key Conclusions, Executive Summary. On reserve.
Handouts on Johannesburg Summit 2002/World Summit on Sustainable Development
September 18: Points of Christian Moral Reference
*Environmental Autobiography paper due
*Sign-up sheet distributed to indicate interest for group projects.
Adams, Carol J., ed., Ecofeminism and the Sacred, Adams, Introduction,
Ruether, "Ecofeminism: Symbolic and Social Connections of the Oppression
of Women and the Domination of Nature," and Williams, "Sin,
Nature, and Black Women’s Bodies," 1-29.
Hessel and Rasmussen, eds., Earth Habitat, Preface, xi-xii; Rasmussen,
Introduction "Eco-Justice: Church and Community Together,"
1-19; Part I, Chapters 1-2: Cone, "Whose Earth Is It Anyway?"
and Pedersen, "Inclusion and Exclusion: Reflections on Moral Community
and Salvation," 23-52.
Rasmussen, Earth Community, Earth Ethics, Part II, "The Vine Languishes,
the Merry-Hearted Sigh," 188-194.
Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), A Small
World After All: Women Assess the State of the Environment in the U.S.
and Beyond, Foreword, 5; Introduction, 6-7; "Women Shaping the
Future," 8-9; "Sustainable Development and Peace," 12-13.Recommended
Reading:
Spencer, Gay and Gaia, "Starting the Journey: Initial Reflections,"
3-18, and "Humanity: Rethinking Human Nature and the Natural," 56-75.
September 25: Earth
Video: In the Light of Reverence
*Time allotted for research groups to meet the last hour of class.
Adams, Carol J., ed., Ecofeminism and the Sacred, McFague, "An
Earthly Theological Agenda," 84-98.
Hessel and Ruether, Christianity and Ecology, Hiebert, "The Human
Vocation: Origins and Transformations in Christian Traditions," 135-154.
The Worldwatch Institute, State of the World 2002, Halweil, ch. 3, "Farming
in the Public Interest," 51-74.
Weaver, Jace, ed., Defending Mother Earth: Native American Perspectives
on Environmental Justice, Weaver, Introduction "Notes from a Miner’s
Canary," 1-28. Fixico, ch. 1 "The Struggle for Our Homes:
Indian and White Values and Tribal Lands," 29-46.
Krueger, A Cloud of Witnesses, "St. Anthony the Great," 54-57;
"St. Athanasius," 63-70; "St. Gregory of Nazianzus," 94-99.
Recommended Reading:
Spencer, Gay and Gaia, "Earth: Rethinking Nature and the Nature/Culture
Split," 76-104.
Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force, Words That Come Before All Else,
Williams, "Creation," 1-7; and Benedict, "Mother Earth," 15-24.
October 2: Earth II
Guest speakers: Clare Butterfield and Bill Eyring
from CNT
*Time allotted for research groups to meet the last hour of class.
Adams, Carol J., ed., Ecofeminism and the Sacred, Johnson, "New
Moon over Roxbury," 251-260.
Choose one of the following two chapters of Greenberg, A Natural History
of Chicago: Ch. 3, "In Quality Diminished: Prairie Settlement and
Conservation", 37-63, or Ch. 10, "Lake Michigan’s Rim:
Beaches, Dunes and Bluffs," 242-271.
Hessel and Ruether, eds., Christianity and Ecology, Berry, "Christianity’s
Role in the Earth Project," 127-134; Chryssavgis, "The World
of the Icon and Creation: An Orthodox Perspective on Ecology and Pneumatology," 83-96.
Rasmussen, Earth Community, Earth Ethics, Part I , "Environmental
Apartheid," "Ecumenical Earth," and "Creation’s
Integrity," 75-110.
Recommended Reading:
Spencer, Gay and Gaia, "Shifting Our Grounding: From Social Location
to Ecological Location," 293-320.
October 9: Water
Guest speaker: Rev. Dr. Mari E. Castellanos, Minister for the Justice
and Peace Action Network, Justice and Witness Ministries, UCC.
*A 1-2 page draft proposal for the group research
projects should be submitted to the professor.
Greenberg, A Natural History of Chicago, ch. 7, "The Last Wilderness:
Lake Michigan," 140-176.
Hessel and Ruether, eds., Christianity and Ecology, Keller, "No
More Sea: The Lost Chaos of the Eschaton," 183-198; Miller-Travis,
"Social Transformation through Environmental Justice," 559-572;
and Rossing, "River of Life in God’s New Jerusalem: An Eschatological
Vision for Earth’s Future," 205-224.
Krueger, A Cloud of Witnesses, "St. Ambrose of Milan," 107-109;
"St. Columba," 155-156.
Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), A Small
World After All: Women Assess theState of
the Environment in the U.S. and Beyond, "Environmental Health," 16-17. On reserve.
Recommended Reading:
Spencer, Gay and Gaia, "God: Sensing the Divine in Right Relation," 105-127.
October 16: Water II
Adams, Carol J., ed., Ecofeminism and the Sacred,
Gupta, "Ganga: Purity, Pollution, and Hinduism," 99-116.
Patchett and Wilhelm, "The Ecology and Culture of Water," 1-13. On reserve.
Rasmussen, Earth Community, Earth Ethics, Part I, "The Big Economy
and the Great Economy," "Message from Chiapas," "Message
from Geneva," and "Fish Stories," 111-173.
Weaver, Jace, ed., Defending Mother Earth: Native American Perspectives
on Environmental Justice, Young, ch. 5, ""Beyond the Water
Line," and Sam-Cromarty, ch. 6, "Family Closeness," 85-106.
Recommended Reading:
Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force, Words That Come Before All Else,
Ransom, "The Waters," 25-43; andPatterson,
"The Fish," 44-50.
October 23: Air and Fire
Adams, Carol J., ed., Ecofeminism and the Sacred,
Keller, "Talk about the Weather," 30-49.
Hessel and Ruether, eds., Christianity and Ecology, Hallman, "Climate
Change: Ethics, Justice, and Sustainable Community," 453-471; and
French, "Ecological Security and Policies of Restraint," 473-491.
Krueger, "St. Catherine of Siena," 262-265; "Patriarch
Bartholomew," 454-460.
The Worldwatch Institute, State of the World 2002, Dunn and Flavin,
ch. 2, "Moving the Climate Change Agenda Forward," 24-50.
United Nations Environmental Programme News Release, "Regional
and Global Impacts of Vast Pollution Cloud Detailed in New Scientific
Study," handout.
Recommended Reading:
Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force, Words That Come Before All Else,
Benedict, "The Four Winds," 117-134.
October 30: Animals
Adams, Carol J., ed., Ecofeminism and the Sacred,
Sanchez, "Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral," 207-228; Adams
and Procter-Smith, "Taking Life or ‘Taking On Life’?
Table Talk and Animals," 295-310.
Greenberg, A Natural History of Chicago, ch. 13, "Of Extinction
and Resurrection," 347-370.
Hessel and Ruether, eds., Christianity and Ecology, Cowdin, "The
Moral Status of Otherkind in Christian Ethics," and DeWitt, "Behemoth
and Batrachians in the Eye of God," 261-316.
Pollan, "This Steer’s Life: The Highly Unnatural Journey of
No. 534, from Calf to Steak," The New York Times Magazine, 31 March
2002. Handout.
Recommended Reading:
Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force, Words That Come Before All Else,
Arquette, "The Animals," 82-101.
November 6: Biodiversity
Krueger, A Cloud of Witnesses, "St. Augustine,"
129-138; and "St. Francis of Assisi," 219-224.
Shiva, Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge, Introduction,
chs. 1-3.
Weaver, Jace, ed., Defending Mother Earth: Native American Perspectives
on Environmental Justice, Tinker, ch. 10, "An American Indian Theological
Response to Ecojustice," 153-176.
Recommended Reading:
Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force, Words That Come Before All Else,
Arquette, "The Small Plants and Grasses," 51-63; Cook, "Berry
Plants," 64-68.
November 13: Group Presentations/Biodiversity II
Krueger, A Cloud of Witnesses, "St. Hildegard
of Bingen," 212-217; "St. Thomas of Aquinas," 236-242.
Shiva, Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge, chs. 4-7.
Recommended Reading:
Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force, Words That Come Before All Else,
LaFrance, "The Three Sisters," 69-75; and Brant, "The
Medicine Plants," 76-81.
November 20: Group Presentations/Population-Consumption Debates
Hessel and Ruether, eds., Christianity and Ecology, Maguire, "Population,
Consumption, Ecology: The Triple Problematic," 403-427.
The Worldwatch Institute, State of the World 2002, Engelman, Halweil,
and Nierenberg, "Rethinking Popluation, Improving Lives," 127-148.
Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO), A Small
World After All: Women Assess the State of the Environment in the U.S.
and Beyond, "Population and Consumption," 18-19. On reserve.
November 27: Reading Week/Thanksgiving Recess
December 4: Conversion to Earth: The Constructive
Tasks
*Group Reports due
Hessel and Ruether, eds., Christianity and Ecology, Mische, "The
Integrity of Creation: Challenges and Opportunities for Praxis,"
and Ruether, "Conclusion: Eco-Justice at the Center of the Church’s
Mission," 591-614.
Rasmussen, Earth Community, Earth Ethics, "Midges and Cosmologies,"
181-187; "Adam, Where Are You?" 227-247; "Returning to
Our Senses," and "The Cross of Reality," 270-294.
Weaver, Defending Mother Earth, Fassett, "Afterword: Where Do We Go From Here?" 177-191.
Recommended Reading:
Rasmussen, Earth Community, Earth Ethics, "Song of Songs," 295-316.
Spencer, Gay and Gaia, "Erotic Ecology: Interconnection and Right
Relation at All Levels," and "Gay and Gaia: Features of an
Erotic Ethic of Ecojustice," 321-361.
December 11: Conversion to Earth: The Constructive
Tasks II
Greenberg, A Natural History of Chicago, Conclusion, "Entering the New Century: Prospects for the Future," 460-471.
Hessel and Rasmussen, eds., Earth Habitat, Hessel, "Conclusion:
The Church Ecologically Reformed," 185-206.
Rasmussen, Earth Community, Earth Ethics, Part III, "Earth Action," 319-354.
Recommended Reading:
Hessel and Rasmussen, eds., Earth Habitat, Shepard, "Issues of
Community Empowerment," and Messenger, "These Stones Shall
Be God’s House: Tools for Earth Liturgy," 159-183.
**The Worldwatch Institute, State of the World 2002, French, "Reshaping
Global Governance," 174-198. Strongly recommended.
December 16: Final Papers due in Professor Parker’s
faculty mailbox by noon.
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