DSOC 3800 - [Rural Change, Urbanization and Energy]

(CU-ITL)

Spring. 1 credit. Student option grading.

Permission of instructor required. Offered in Shanghai, China.

M. Pfeffer.

This course is offered as part of the CALS Signature Semester: Toward a Sustainable Future and Emerging Technologies Important to China on site in Shanghai, China. Contemporary China is the site of the largest migration of people in world history. This rural to urban migration reflects a fundamental societal reorganization. This course begins with a review of the urbanization and industrialization of China and the realignment of agricultural production and demographic structure in rural areas. The course then goes on to review major changes in social organization associated with China’s urbanization focusing on food, housing and transportation. Urban society is an energy-intensive society and the course will review basic aspects of energy usage and related pollution and waste facing China. The course will review social science literature on the energy consumption and evaluate possible ways of channeling human behavior to reduce energy consumption, pollution and waste.

Outcome 1: Evaluate the factors driving rural change, its scale and its consequences for Chinese society.

Outcome 2: Identify key characteristics of alternative housing and transportation systems and will be able assess the general implications of their adoption for energy consumption, waste and pollution.

Outcome 3: Analyze the effectiveness of different forms of organization to encourage types of energy usage and conservation after reviewing behavioral models.