[PhebaAndThePilgrim]

Good day from Pheba From the Farm:
In my very post I stated that I was frustrated because I have been working hard to get the word out about peak oil. I was frustrated because nobody would listen.

Well, gasoline went up 30 cents a gallon here this week. I have now been invited to teach a class at the Vo-Tech center in our small town. This will be a public interest adult evening class. I will teach 4 classes this semester, and four next semester.

The classes will begin with an introduction and work through to the peak oil issue. I have done substitute teaching, but have never done my own class. I have until Thursday to submit a brief paragraph ( mission statement) on the first four classes. They need it by Thursday so it can be published this weekend. I also need a class title by Thursday. I want something to grab people, but I need to keep in mind that this is one of the most conservative towns in America. I also have to do this without injecting politics into it.

I have never assembled my own curriculum before. I am almost breathless with fear and anticipation. What do I do?

Here is what has been rolling around in my mind since I learned that I was doing the class. I found out just a few hours ago.

I figure I would start with an introduction to energy. What is energy? How do we measure it? Energy use across the history of man. First wood, then animal power, then coal, then petroleum.

Then a history of petroleum discovery and use.

From there I would like to teach about what petroleum is. What is the black stuff? Where is it found? How is taken from the ground? What processes are involved in turning a barrel of oil into a gallon of gasoline?

I want to do this, but I also want to keep it as simple as possible. On the other hand, I want people who take the class to have a good working knowledge of petroleum.

The part that I don't understand well is the way petroleum and economics interact. That is my weak point. I am planning on calling some professors at our local colleges to see if I can gain some help with this.

I am doing this for free. I am not getting paid. So, I am hoping I can get some professional help.

I would appreciate any input or advice that is offered from my fellow PO'rs. I would especially appreciate any web-sites that I could be directed to. I am looking for some nice web sites with some basic information concerning the above listed information.

Wish me luck.

I am overwhelmed. But, I feel deep in my heart that this is what I am suppossed to be doing with my life.
Oh, I am thinking of showing a film at some time during the course, either Imposed by Nature, or End of Suburbia. I have not viewed Imposed by Nature yet. I would probably prefer the more optimistic of the two films. Feedback appreciated.

Pheba From the Farm

[LadyRuby]

As a good start, I'd suggest you take a look at Rick Smalley's presentation on "our energy challenges" and Congressman Bartlett's presentation. These can give you some good ideas I think.

http://128.42.10.107/media/Smalley_OEF_ ... 1_300k.wmv

http://kimaura.com/peakoil/peakoil-128k.ram

[bobbyald]

What age group will you be teaching?

[PhebaAndThePilgrim]

Hi: I will be teaching adults only. Demographics are overwhelmingly Republican, and very conservative. Population about 12 thousand.
I need to tread carefully.
My goal is to get people to think, not turn them away.
I will visit the above mentioned web sites right away.
I am also concerned about how many people sign up for this.
I might not get any takers, and I may end up overwhelmed.
Actually, this challenge is exactly what I was looking for. I could have easily taken EOS to an avant-garde theatre in the local college town.
But, I do not want to preach to the choir. that would be just like me teaching this class to you folks.
You would be bored to death.
Pheba

[Pops]

What are you thinking will be the course title?

[Jack]

Once you get into it, I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

As a start, you might choose a theme...say, exponential growth and energy. Here's a movie of a lecture (Colorado State University?) that might give you an idea for one of your lectures:

http://peakoil.com/images/dr_albert_bartlett.mov

Kuntsler's book, "The Long Emergency" might give you some ideas as well.

Overshoot, by William R Catton, is nice.

The "End of Suburbia" DVD might be worth showing.

I'd suggest that you start out with a semi-catchy title...say, "Energy and Population: over the cliff?" Or, less provocatively, "Energy shortages on the highway to the future."

Next, set up a weekly road-map of what you'll discuss. Choose a theme for each week, and, if possible, a reading.

The first session really ought to be planned to engage the students...so you might want to ask them what they use oil for. Perhaps you could write items on the board...you'll soon run out of space! If they want start off, pick one student and ask him (or her) for one thing they use oil for. Then go to the next one.

Next, segue into a discussion of how oil is used for everything, and how prices will ripple through the economy....

Give them an assignment - perhaps to find how far their breakfast traveled to get to them. Or how far their shirt traveled to get to them.

Anyway, once you have a semester outlined on a weekly basis, with a topic for each week, the curriculum should practically write itself.

Don't worry about not having enough material; instead, present some interesting facts and encourage discussion.

Hope that helps!

[PhebaAndThePilgrim]

Hi: I do not know what the title will be. I am carefully considering the are that I am in. I do not want the title to be alarmist. I do want the title to grab the attention of people.
Any ideals?
Pheba

[PhebaAndThePilgrim]

Hi: Thanks Jack: I have copied your post. You have some great ideals. I never had a problem whenI substitute taught. I always preferred high school so I should do okay with adults.
I am just a bit overwhelmed right now.
Pheba

[Pops]

Here is the little bit I wrote for the PO.com introduction here:

http://www.peakoil.com/sample/index.html

It is as non-doomerish as I could make it LOL.

There is also a pretty long thread somewhere here regarding a presentation I think Aaron was going to make, maybe someone has the link.

[Aaron]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Phebagirl', 'H')i: I do not know what the title will be. I am carefully considering the are that I am in. I do not want the title to be alarmist. I do want the title to grab the attention of people.
Any ideals?
Pheba

[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Aaron', '
')
Secrets of the Kama Sutra?

[The_Virginian]

"Pump or Dump, Future Gas Prices"

" The Comming Inflation"

"OIL SECRETS"

[PhebaAndThePilgrim]

Good day from Pheba From the Farm:
Sorry I haven't been logged on. I have been ill. I have lupus. Dr. experimented with a very low dose prednisone shot. Never again. I would die first! That stuff is just to nasty. Took the pain away, but made me just sooo sick.
Anyway, enough whining.
I have named my class:

"Oil and Issues: An introduction to Petroleum".
I wanted the words oil and petroleum in the class so people would positively understand what it is about. I discussed the class with the director, and he is posting a disclaimer with the class title to explain that the class is not political in nature. Politics will not be discussed. The war in Iraq will not be discussed. President Bush will not be discussed.

My goal is going to be to educate people about petroleum. Most people in our midwest town are complaining that those nasty Saudis have jacked up oil prices again just to cause Americans grief. Such myths must be dispelled if the issue of peak oil is to be addressed.

Let me know what you think of my class schedule:

Energy, what it is, how it is measured. How it is used. Where we get it. Man's history with energy, etc. etc.
Oil, where it comes from. How it is mined, processed, etc.
A history of oil exploration, discovery, etc.
Rise of US world oil dominance. Creation of "railroad commission". etc.
Rise of OPEC and the oil shocks of the 70's.
And so on from there.
I am going to have to tread very carefully when I get into discussing peak oil itself.
I am in a very very conservative area. My goal is to get people to start thinking in a broader manner about our oil situation.
Hope I am feeling better soon. I am going to be so busy doing research.
First class is second week of October.
Pheba

[NEOPO]

Conservative republicans?

Tell them everything is going to be just fine

[dunewalker]

Pheba, I would suggest that you print out copies of Roscoe Bartlett's presentation to congress ( http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/Bar ... h2005.html ) and hand them out to your students during the first session, to read at home. Then they will be aware...

[dunewalker]

BTW, Roscoe Bartlett is one of the most conservative members of congress--I believe it was he who coined "freedom fries"

[dinopello]

For the history of oil part there are several great old videos, many produced by the American Petroleum Institute that are available free from various sources (probably can google the titles)

Oil for Aladdin's Lamp (1933)
This video shows how pretty much *everything* is made from oil.

and another which is on the End of Suburbia DVD and also on the net is

Destination Earth (animated 1956)
This is short and entertaining and touches on the fact that oil replaced slavery as an energy source for a higher standard of living and also that competition makes the oil industry work so great. It might be interesting to contrast how many oil companies there were in 1956 compared to now - are all the mergers a sign of a contracting industry ?

I googled tthese and they are at

http://www.open-video.org/

although I think I originally found them at

http://www.archive.org/details/prelinger

[spudbuddy]

Hi Pheba,

Important work that you're doing. This should be happening all over the place.
As Jim Kunstler has written, there has to be a public will to make necessary changes. (and this ultimately will become a political will.)

I don't envy your challenge...you keep saying how conservative your class will be...
You must consider that any reasonably intelligent adult individual studying this topic with any degree of in-depth circumspection, will ultimately come to some very disturbing conclusions:
That traditional conservative policy in America within the past 6 decades has much to do with this issue.
I don't know that there is really any way around this. You can't invite people to educate themselves about what peak oil is, where it came from and why, and hide the underlying contributing causes, or just sweep them under the carpet.

For example: I first clued in to peak oil when I viewed the documentary "The End of Suburbia" back in the month of May...
I found it deeply disturbing, but I didn't stop there. I began to read everything I could lay my hands on, related to the topic.
Because I work in a very large university library, I was able to find a wealth of material.
Much of this material is not exactly about peak oil at all, but about ecomomics, sububan sprawl, the North American love affair with the autombile and its history, economically and culturally, also political history, the nature of a debt-driven economy, the development of Globalization, Franchising, big-box discounting, and basically the corporatization of America.
Let me tell you....it all ties in together. It is a huge jigsaw puzzle, and the more pieces that are fit into place, the clearer the whole picture becomes.

If most of your students require a basic starting point, and will comfortably go from there to whatever level they can handle, you will be fine.
Keep in mind, that for many people this will be an extremely volatile subject, especially if they are caught off guard by the information uncovered.
I found it comforting to start with an exploration of the history of energy exploitation throughout history (you are right to start with that) and proceed along to the history of oil itself, beginning with the Pennsylvania strike of 1859.
Your class should know what a hydrocarbon is, and why it does what it does.
Oil has played a huge role in modern history, through both world wars, and especially in modern times since the advent of OPEC.
Your class should know all this stuff.
From there...there's no way around an examination of how America built an oil-based economy, completely.
This is why its scarcity has such enormous repercussions for us.

I repeat...once you begin this process of instruction, unless your class is extremely docile, there is no way of keeping a lid on the volatility of the subject.
Keep in mind...this topic is relatively brand-new (although some authors were writing about it in the '70's) and though there are many good books on the subject now, many more will be written as time goes by.
Good minds out there are weighing out the problem, and much discussion will ensue as to viable and realisic solutions.
Explore as much of this with your class as you realistically can.
Once you get by the initial stages of denial, you may be pleasantly surprised at the amount of insight that exists in people.

Good luck!

jp
just let me laugh when it's funny
and when it's sad, let me cry

[Olaf]

I don't envy you the task of trying to discuss oil issues without eventually getting to Bush, Iraq, etc. I am not quite sure I could do it.

Obviously Bush is not fully responsible for the mess the world is in, this has been building for a couple of decades, but he certainly hasn't done anything to HELP the situation.

By the way Pheba, I think what you are doing is a great idea and wish you lots of luck with it. If you only reach one person, that is something. At the very least, you are likely to come out of it with some new knowledge.

Good luck to you.

Olaf