Humanities 1
The Economics of Oil and Energy
Fall 2008
Prof. Gary Evans
Jennifer Jared, T.A.
Welcome!
Humanities 1 is a writing-intensive course that concerns a theme developed by
your teacher. Because I am an economist, I thought that you might be very
interested in the economics of oil and energy. There is a lot to be learned
here and this subject is very topical and important. During the summer crude
oil surged to nearly $150 per barrel and caused, among other things, a rise in
gasoline prices to above $4 per gallon, contributing to general global economic
distress. Candidates for the presidential elections are in the process of
developing competing energy policies (believe it or not, the United States does
not currently have a coherent energy policy).
Maybe
we can help, or if not help, at least try to understand the energy picture a
little bit better. We will begin by reading three texts together on oil and
energy and review a lot of current data on energy websites, such as that
maintained by the Energy Information Agency of the U.S. Government. We will use
that data in part to confirm or disavow some of the claims that are made in the
books that we are reading. Each week we will have class discussions of the
material read and try to arrive at a general understanding of the status quo
and later in the semester begin to explore options for change in the future.
From time to time I will give a lecture about some aspect of energy economics
and our teaching assistant and I will also give some lectures about writing. In
our discussions we will raise a series of very specific questions that we will
try to answer, such as, “Will it be possible to reduce oil imports to zero by
2020?”
In
this class you will asked to write three essays. The first two will address
common themes that I assign (with some latitude for choice), but the third is
an independent research paper linked to a range of specific topics that I will
provide you, giving you more choice and autonomy. See the Course Calendar for
assignment due dates.
These are the two books that everyone will be assigned to read in the first half of the class:
(2) Kenneth S. Deffeyes, Beyond Oil –
The View from Hubbert’s Peak, Hill and Wang, 2006, ISBN 139780809029570
Reading
assignments will be given in class at the beginning of the module during which
they will be discussed (usually one to two weeks ahead of the discussion).
Class discussions of the reading will normally take place on Mondays, but when
other tasks for Monday are scheduled (such as peer reviews for submitted
papers) they will take place on Wednesday. Participation in class discussion is
partly voluntary, but I will often randomly call upon students to participate,
so make sure that you are current on reading assignments.
This
class is graded on a pass/fail basis, although it is possible to earn a High
Pass (HP). Your grade will be determined by your total point accumulation at the
end of the semester. Your first two papers will be worth 25% of the grade each, the research paper will
be worth 40% of your grade, and class participation will be worth 10% of your
grade.
As
you will see when you consult the Course Calendar, for each paper you will
first write a draft and that will be reviewed and criticized by another student
in the class (peer review). Then you will submit your paper for criticism by
the teaching assistant and me. Then you will be asked to revise the paper for
resubmission and at that point we will grade the paper. At the end of the
semester your papers will be assembled into a portfolio and that portfolio will
be read by other teachers in the Humanities 1 program. To pass the class, those
readers have to agree that your portfolio is of sufficient quality to warrant a
passing grade.
More
detail about the class will be provided in the first week of lectures.
Good
luck! Let’s try to learn about energy!
Go to Course Calendar