IDST 114
A
Abolition: The act of ending a system, practice, or institution, specifically referring to the movement to end slavery.
Adaptation: Adjustments in natural or human systems to respond to climatic, environmental, or social changes.
African Futurism: A subgenre of speculative fiction focused on African perspectives, culture, and futures without the colonial lens.
Afrofuturism: A cultural movement combining science fiction, history, and African diaspora culture to imagine black futures.
Albedo: The measure of how much sunlight a surface reflects; ice has high albedo, while water has low albedo.
Biological Carbon Pump: The process by which marine organisms transfer carbon from the surface ocean to the deep ocean.
Bridgetown Initiative 3.0: A proposal to reform global financial systems to address climate change and inequality.
C
Carbon Cycle: The movement of carbon among the atmosphere, oceans, soil, and living organisms.
Chattel Slavery: A form of slavery where people are treated as personal property to be bought and sold.
Colonial Hyphens: Hyphenated identities imposed during colonialism (e.g., African-American) to reflect divided or subjugated identities.
Colonialism: The practice of acquiring control over another country, exploiting it economically and culturally.
Conference of Parties (COP): Annual international climate meetings under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Commons: Shared resources (e.g., air, water) used collectively, often requiring governance to prevent overuse.
Consumerism: A social and economic order encouraging the acquisition of goods and services.
Coverture: A legal doctrine where a woman's rights were subsumed under her husband's after marriage.
Crawford Lake: A site with sedimentary records that help define the Anthropocene epoch.
Cuba’s Disaster Preparedness Model: Known for emphasizing education, early warning systems, community mobilization, and healthcare.
Cyberpunk: A science fiction genre characterized by dystopian futures, advanced technology, and social breakdown.
Cycle: A sequence of events or processes that repeat regularly.
D
Daisyworld: A hypothetical model demonstrating feedback loops between organisms and their environment.
Disciplinary: Focused on a specific academic field of study.
Dominant US Gender Ideology: Prevailing societal beliefs about masculinity and femininity.
Dynamic Equilibrium: A state of balance within a system where ongoing processes occur but cancel each other out.
E
Earth’s Global Magnetic Field: Created by the movement of molten iron in Earth’s outer core, protecting the planet from solar winds.
Earth’s Long-Term Thermostat: Processes (e.g., silicate weathering) that regulate Earth's climate over millions of years.
Emergent Properties: New characteristics that arise at a system level that are not present in its individual components.
Eugenics and Sterilization: The practice of controlling reproduction to "improve" genetic traits, often through coercive sterilization.
Feedback (Positive and Negative):
Positive Feedback: Amplifies changes (e.g., melting ice reduces albedo, causing more warming).
Negative Feedback: Stabilizes a system (e.g., increased plant growth absorbing CO₂).
F
Film Grammar:
Close-Up: A shot focusing on a subject's details.
Establishing Shot: A wide shot setting the scene.
Forced Assimilation: Coercing individuals or groups to adopt the culture or practices of a dominant group.
Forcing and Response: External factors (forcing) like greenhouse gases that cause climate change, and the resulting system responses.
Gaia Hypothesis: The theory that Earth’s biosphere and physical components interact to form a self-regulating system.
Gender: Socially constructed roles, behaviors, and identities associated with being male, female, or nonbinary.
G
Geologic Time: The vast timescale used to understand Earth's history.
Geologic Time Scale: New Divisions: Requires significant global markers and stratigraphic evidence.
Golden Spike: A physical reference point in the geologic record defining a boundary in time.
Hadley Cells: Large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns near the equator.
Hegemony: Dominance of one group or ideology over others.
Hazard: A potential source of harm or adverse effects.
Hidden Figures: The contributions of underrepresented individuals, particularly black women in STEM.
H
Holism: The idea that systems and their properties should be viewed as wholes, not just as parts.
Homeostasis: The tendency of a system to maintain internal stability.
Hurricane: A large tropical storm with strong winds and heavy rain.
Hurricanes and Climate Change: Warmer seas increase intensity, frequency, and rainfall.
Hurricane Factors of Formation: Warm water, low wind shear, humidity, Coriolis effect.
Hurricane Hazards: Include winds, storm surge, heavy rainfall, and landslides.
I
Hyper-Intensification: Increased strength of hurricanes due to warmer oceans.
Hysteresis: A system's resistance to returning to its original state after a disturbance.
Ideology: A system of ideas and ideals shaping beliefs and behaviors.
Interdisciplinary: Integrating knowledge from multiple academic disciplines.
Intersectionality: Examining how overlapping social identities shape experiences of privilege or oppression.
I (continued)
Insolation: The amount of solar radiation received by a given area of Earth's surface.
Iron Fertilization: A geoengineering technique to enhance phytoplankton growth by adding iron to the ocean, potentially increasing carbon sequestration.
Landscapes:
Official Landscapes: Defined and maintained by authorities or governments (e.g., parks, monuments).
Vernacular Landscapes: Informal, lived-in spaces reflecting local culture and community.
L
Law 116: Legislation that enforced sterilization in Puerto Rico, often targeting marginalized communities under the guise of population control.
Lebensborn: A Nazi program aimed at increasing the Aryan population by supporting the reproduction of racially "pure" individuals.
Magical Realism: A literary style combining realistic narrative with fantastical elements, often used to explore complex social or political issues.
M
Man 1 and Man 2: Frameworks for understanding human-environment interactions:
Man 1: Humans as part of nature.
Man 2: Humans dominating or exploiting nature.
Miscegenation: The mixing of different racial groups through marriage or procreation, historically stigmatized in racist ideologies.
Multidisciplinary: Combining insights from multiple fields of study without fully integrating them.
Natural Disaster: A catastrophic event caused by natural processes (e.g., earthquakes, hurricanes).
Natural Hazard Mitigation: Strategies to reduce risks and impacts of natural hazards, such as flood barriers or building codes.
Paternalism: A system where authorities restrict freedoms or make decisions "for the good" of individuals, often undermining autonomy.
P
Phytoplankton: Microscopic marine organisms that photosynthesize. They require:
Sunlight,
Nutrients (e.g., nitrogen, phosphorus),
Carbon dioxide.
Plastics: Synthetic polymers widely used but contributing significantly to environmental pollution.
Plate Tectonics:
Divergent Boundaries: Plates move apart, forming new crust (e.g., mid-ocean ridges).
Transform Boundaries: Plates slide past each other (e.g., San Andreas Fault).
Convergent Boundaries: Plates collide, forming mountains or subduction zones.
P (continued)
Posthumanism: Philosophical perspective questioning traditional human-centered views, often exploring relationships with technology, animals, and the environment.
Power:
Weber: Power as the ability to enforce one’s will despite resistance.
Fox-Piven: Power as embedded in institutions and social norms.
Property: Ownership rights over tangible or intangible assets, including land, objects, or intellectual property.
R
Risk: The likelihood of harm or loss from a hazard.
Risk Perception: How individuals or groups assess and respond to risks based on values, experiences, and knowledge.
Rotarian Model: A model of humanitarian aid emphasizing charity but criticized for maintaining power imbalances.
S
Scale (Temporal and Spatial): The dimensions of time and space in which events or processes occur.
Science Fiction: A genre exploring speculative futures, advanced technology, and societal impacts.
Sex: The biological categorization of organisms based on reproductive anatomy and genetic makeup.
Slow Violence: Gradual, often invisible harm caused by environmental or social injustices (e.g., pollution, climate change).
Social Location: The social and cultural context influencing an individual's experiences and perspectives.
S (continued)
Systems Theory:
Closed Systems: Exchange energy but not matter with surroundings.
Open Systems: Exchange both energy and matter with surroundings.
Isolated Systems: Do not exchange energy or matter.
T
The Anthropocene: A proposed geologic epoch marked by significant human impact on Earth’s systems.
The Bermuda High: A high-pressure system over the Atlantic that influences hurricane paths and weather in the eastern U.S.
The Coriolis Effect: The deflection of moving objects due to Earth's rotation, affecting wind and ocean currents.
The Faint Young Sun Paradox: The paradox of early Earth being warm enough for life despite the Sun being less luminous.
Thermal Escape Velocity (Gas): The speed at which gas molecules must move to escape a planet's gravity.
Tragedy of the Commons: The overuse and depletion of shared resources due to individual self-interest.
Transdisciplinary: Integrating academic fields with non-academic knowledge to address complex issues.
Tropical Cyclone: A rotating storm system formed over warm oceans, including hurricanes and typhoons.
Types of Science Fiction: Categories like hard SF (technology-focused), soft SF (socially-focused), cyberpunk, space opera, and dystopian.
V–Z
Vulnerability: The susceptibility of a system or population to harm from hazards.
Wind Shear: The variation in wind speed or direction with altitude, which can inhibit hurricane formation.
Women as Property: Historical and cultural practices where women’s rights and autonomy were treated as subordinate to men.
Xenogenesis: The creation of offspring that are fundamentally different from their parents, explored in science fiction (e.g., Octavia Butler’s Xenogenesis series)