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Kenneth A. Gould and Tammy L Lewis, Editors Twenty Lessons in Environmental Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press. 2009. 320 pp. $42.95.
Editors Kenneth Gould and Tammy Lewis decided that the texts available to those who teach undergraduate environmental sociology had a common problem.
For us, the problem with the traditional reader is that the chapters are usually drawn from professional journal articles, written by sociologists for sociologists. . . . The result is that the authence for whom the initial materials were written is poorly matched to the authence for the collected reader, (p. 1)
They decided to create their own text and to do so in a novel way: They asked college teachers of environmental sociology to choose topics matched with their most enjoyable and effective "lectures," then write them much as they teach them. I commend Gould and Lewis for this approach, and I am glad to say that they have largely succeeded with it. I also want to make clear that this is not a collection of class lectures; the chapters (lessons) are readings and meant to be so. Each averages about 1 5 pages (at least 6,000 words) and provides commensurate breadth and depth.
Given that the text has 20 lessons written by 1 8 authors, the lessons are remarkably consistent in style and accessibility, and the authors and editors deserve considerable credit for that. The reading level is most suitable for undergraduate students, particularly upper-level undergraduates. The book is of course appropriate for courses in environmental sociology and may be appropriate as well...