The Greatest Good for the Greatest Number

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The Greatest Good for the Greatest Number

• The Tragedy of the Commons Integrative Learning
  Model

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Key Objectives from Our Action Plan

• Integrate Instruction and Student Services
• Expand and maintain course offerings and increase
  faculty participation

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Accepting Some Limitations

• No capstone
• No semester abroad
• No real curricular changes
• No way to target groups such as entering freshmen
• Little coherence or predictability in students
  progress
• No common transfer curriculum for all students
• Rigid requirements for transfer

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But Challenging Others

• The problems of marketing and filling hard-linked
  classes
• The problem of pairing interested instructors
• The small numbers of students benefiting from the
  integrative learning in the linked classes

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A Solution The Confluence Model

• The success of Movie Night with an
  hour-by-arrangement add-on
• The potential of The Tragedy of the Commons
  with a shared class hour

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The Tragedy of the Commons Learning Community

• Students enrolled in this course will
  participate, during special meetings scheduled
  during regular class hours, in "The Tragedy of
  the Commons Learning Community, an exciting
  opportunity to meet with other classes, hear a
  variety of speakers, discuss different
  viewpoints, and gain interdisciplinary
  perspectives on important questions of our times.
  

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• At the end of a thoughtful article on the future
  of nuclear war, Wiesner and York concluded that
  Both sides in the arms race are . . . confronted
  by the dilemma of steadily increasing military
  power and steadily decreasing national security.
  It is our considered professional judgment that
  this dilemma has no technical solution. If the
  great powers continue to look for solutions in
  the area of science and technology only, the
  result will be to worsen the situation.
• Specifically, can Benthams goal of the
  greatest good for the greatest number be
  realized? No--for two reasons, each sufficient by
  itself. . . It is not mathematically possible to
  maximize for two (or more) variables at the same
  time . . .The second reason springs directly from
  biological facts. . .
• We can make little progress in working toward
  optimum population size until we explicitly
  exorcize the spirit of Adam Smith in the field of
  practical demography. In economic affairs, The
  Wealth of Nations (1776) popularized the
  invisible hand.

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• We may well call it the tragedy of the
  commons, using the word tragedy as the
  philosopher Whitehead used it The essence of
  dramatic tragedy is not unhappiness. It resides
  in the solemnity of the remorseless working of
  things.
• The National Parks present another instance of
  the working out of the tragedy of the commons.
• Analysis of the pollution problem as a function
  of population density uncovers a not generally
  recognized principle of morality, namely the
  morality of an act is a function of the state of
  the system at the time it is performed. . . .
  That morality is system-sensitive escaped the
  attention of most codifiers of ethics in the
  past.

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The Structure

• Classes participating for Spring Semester, 2006
• Math 251 Calculus
• Philosophy 244 Contemporary Social and Moral
  Issues
• Sociology 105 Social Problems
• English 100 Freshman Composition (2 sections)
  
• English 165 Advanced Composition (2 sections)
• Photography (?)
• Economics (?)
• 10 Instructors are collaborating on this project,
  
• with approximately 200 students to be involved

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Scheduling and Technological Aspects

• All classes meet during a common time slot (MWF
  or M-F 12-1)
• On Fridays, we will have use of the CSM theater
• Some classes will be scheduled in SMART
  classrooms or will be able to use class sets of
  laptop computers
• We hope to have digital cameras for students to
  document their perception of the commons.

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Student Support Strategies

• Reading needs
• Solution Our floating reading instructor
• Counseling needs
• Solution Our designated counselor

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The Curriculum Teaching Strategies

• Main reading Garrett Hardin The Tragedy of the
  Commons
• Ancillary readings
• Wendell Berry Private Property and the Common
  Good
• Thomas Malthus An Essay on the Principle of
  Population
• Aldo Leopold The Land Ethic
• Jonathan Rowe The Common Good (Sierra Magazine)
• Pierre Loiselle Looting the Commons
• Peter Barnes Sharing the Wealth of the Commons

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More Curriculum and Teaching Strategies

• Friday mini-lectures
• Jeremy Programs vs. Visions
• Mike Exponential Growth and Carrying Capacity
• Minu Prostitution
• Anne The Commons of Yosemite
• Jean The Meanings of Tragedy
• John Adam Smith
• Richard Visual Perception
• Presidents Lecture Series Paul Ehrlich
• Common Assignment

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The Commons of Yosemite
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The Benefits We Expect

• Students will see instructors making disciplinary
  connections with a common text
• Students will collaborate with students from
  other disciplines in fulfilling an integrative
  assignment
• Students will participate in a significant
  intellectual challenge with adequate support
• Instructors will have a ball (they already are)