While resource conditions are obviously important in all of this rhetoric, what is often neglected is that much of what is driving these changes in resource management is changes ongoing in society. We will try to make the case in this course that a better understanding of the changing relationships between society and resource management will better equip future managers to deal with a rapidly changing social environment for their activities. The primary means we will use to accomplish this end is to examine concepts from sociology that can aid us in understanding the relationships between society and resource management.
Sociology is the scientific study of social interaction and organization.
Sociology invites us to look beyond our personal world-view and examine the often neglected aspects of our complex and diverse social environment. The purpose of allowing the accelerating of the class is to allow you to finish up at a time in the semester when other courses tend to have students heavily involved in assignments and projects. In addition to readings and video sessions, this course involves the synthesis of information through assignments, a paper, and exams. This may sound harsh, but it helps both you and the instructor keep on track and complete the work in a timely manner. There is a lot of material in this course and keeping to a schedule and keeping current with assignments and exams will help keep you on track.