View XML QR Code

Eugene A. Rosa papers, 1936-2013

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Rosa, Eugene A.
Title
Eugene A. Rosa papers
Dates
1936-2013 (inclusive)
Quantity
70.0 linear feet, (140 boxes and 4 oversized folders)
Collection Number
Cage 806 (collection)
Summary
The Eugene A. Rosa Papers consist largely of Rosa's research files for his work on risk and environmental sociology while a professor of sociology at Washington State University.
Repository
Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Terrell Library Suite 12
Pullman, WA
99164-5610
Telephone: 509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu
Access Restrictions

This collection is open and available for research use, with the exception of one file labeled as restricted. This file will be restricted until 2058.

Languages
English, Japanese
Return to Top

Biographical Note

Eugene Anthony Rosa was born in Canandaigua, New York on September 20, 1941 to Louis and Flora Rosa. Eugene graduated from East Rochester High School before completing his Bachelor of Science at Rochester Institute of Technology and his PhD from the Maxwell Graduate School at Syracuse University in 1976. Rosa worked at Stanford University as an Instructor and Teaching Assistant from 1976-1978 before earning a permanent position at Washington State University’s Department of Sociology in 1978.

Rosa’s research focused on perceptions of risk concerning the impact of human society on the environment. In particular, Rosa produced several works on risk relating to energy technologies, such as nuclear power and energy sources that produce greenhouse gases. One of Rosa’s main contributions to sociology and environmental science is his work in the field of human ecology that bridges the social and ecological sciences to examine the human produced drivers of environmental change.

In the 1980s, much of Rosa’s work dealt with the relationship between societal trends and energy policies. This included research about energy consumption and economic growth, as well as risk related to nuclear technology and perceptions of risk surrounding nuclear waste facilities. From 1983 to 1984, Rosa was a visiting scientist for the Brookhaven National Laboratory, where he reported on human reliability in nuclear power plants. In addition, Rosa completed a study comparing risk perceptions between the United States and Japan and their impact on national policies. He first published this research with Randall Kleinhesselink in Energy Review in 1989.

In the 1990s, Rosa continued studying risk in relation to energy technologies with more emphasis placed on studying human drivers of climate change. In 1994, Rosa and Thomas Dietz published articles about the environmental impacts associated with affluent societies. These articles employed a method aligned with the STIRPAT Program, which relates broad demographic measures, such as population and economic output, to ecological outcomes. Through his involvement in the STIRPAT Program Rosa, along with fellow program co-founders Dietz and Richard York, developed Structural Human Ecology Theory that intersects social scientific and ecological perspectives. In the field of risk, Rosa published an article titled “Metatheoretical Foundations for Post-Normal Risk,” which provided a theoretical framework to ameliorate seemingly intractable differences between realist and social constructivist camps, as well as other positions with opposing ontological and epistemological stances. Rosa also co-authored a chapter with Ortwin Renn and others on applying rational actor paradigm, a concept formulated by Renn, to risk theory. In addition to Rosa’s contributions to the fields of risk and environmental studies, Rosa was named Edward R. Meyer Distinguished Professor of Natural Resource and Environmental Policy in 1996 and served as visiting professor at the University of Klagenfurt in Austria in 1996 and at the London School of Economics in 1998. During the 1990s, Rosa began making significant contributions to the international literature on the sociology of risk and environmental sociology. Rosa also served as the Chair of WSU’s Department of Sociology from 1996-2001.

From 2000 to 2013, Rosa expanded on his previous work concerning risk, climate change, and nuclear energy policy. Notably, Rosa co-authored a work on risk with Carlo Jaeger, Ortwin Renn, and Thomas Webler titled Risk, Uncertainty, and Rational Action and an edited compilation titled Human Footprints on the Global Environment: Threats to Sustainability with Andreas Diekmann, Thomas Dietz, and Carlo Jaeger. In addition to the many articles and book chapters Rosa published during this period, Rosa also served on several national and international committees and organizations. He was appointed by the U.S. National Research Council to study topics related to climate change and nuclear waste policies. In 2003, he was elected as a fellow for the American Association for the Advancement of Science and from 2010-2013, he was a part of the Scientific Committee for DIVERSITAS, an international organization started by the United Nations and other partner organizations to promote biodiversity. In 2009, Rosa was a core member of the Millennium Alliance for Humanity and the Biosphere, an organization based at Stanford University with social inequality and humanity’s global footprint. In 2011, WSU awarded Rosa the College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Career Achievement in Scholarship Award and Rosa was also named the Boeing Professor of Environmental Sociology.

In addition to his academic career, Rosa also dedicated his life to the arts, both as an artist and a sponsor for arts education. As an artist, Rosa created assemblages, many of which he categorized under the term “Ecolage.” As a supporter of the arts, Rosa established an endowment supporting the Buy-a-Busload-of-Kids program, which helped provides K-12 students within a 100-mile radius access to the WSU Art Museum.

Eugene Rosa passed away in 2013 while still active in both his art and academic pursuits.

Return to Top

Content Description

The Eugene A. Rosa Papers consists of Rosa's research files on risk and environmental sociology, most of which date from research performed while Rosa was at Washington State University (1978-2013). This includes administrative files for his publications and conference presentations. These files largely contain research materials, drafts of Rosa's publications, notes, and presentation slides. Amongst the primary topics covered are human ecology, risk in relation to environmental threats, and risks and public opinion related to nuclear power. The collection primarily consists of printouts, notes, and correspondence, but also contains photographic materials, computer files.

Return to Top

Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Copyright restrictions apply.

Preferred Citation

[Item description]. Eugene A. Rosa, 1936-2013. Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

Return to Top

Administrative Information

Arrangement

The documents in this collection are arranged in 12 series. Most series are arranged in semi-alphabetical order according to aggregations of folders created by Rosa. Within these aggregations, Rosa's original order has been largely maintained. The primary series are Series 2: Human ecology, Series 3: Risk, Series 4: Nuclear power and waste, Series 5: Opinion data, and Series 6: Science and technology.

Series 1: General publications, 1992-2012, 1.0 linear foot. This series contains files aggregated by Rosa on his conference presentations and his publications. Series 10-12 contain materials removed from folders in other series. Separation sheets have been placed in the original files to mark the original location of the separated materials.

Series 2: Human ecology, 1960-2013, 24.0 linear feet. This series contains research files on human ecology, which is the study of the relationship between humans and their environment. This series consists of 8 subseries, including a series on general works on the topic, and series of particular topics on which Rosa collected several files.

Subseries 1: General files and publications, 1970-2012, 8.0 linear feet. This subseries contains materials that on the general topic of human ecology, such as files for an edited book by Rosa titled Human Footprints on the Global Environment, and miscellaneous files on more specific topics, including environmental sustainability indicators, power conservation, and urbanization.

Subseries 2: Climate change, 1974-2012, 5.4 linear feet. This subseries contains research files Rosa collected on climate change. Including several files collected for Rosa’s article “Choking on Modernity.” While this subseries contains the bulk of Rosa’s materials on climate change, this series contains a related subseries of materials collected for an article Rosa published titled “Human Drivers of National Greenhouse Gas Emissions.”

Subseries 3: STIRPAT, 1960-2012, 2.3 linear feet. This subseries consists of files pertaining to a method for analyzing the environmental impact of human activity and the program founded by Thomas Dietz, Eugene Rosa, and Richard York dedicated to studies using this model. STIRPAT stands for Stoichiometric Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology. The STIRPAT program was designed to produce contributions to the field of Structural Human Ecology. Materials in this series contain articles using STIRPAT, background files for developing methodological tools such as the Kuznets curve, and files on topics that lend themselves to analysis using STIRPAT.

Subseries 4: Millennium Alliance for Humanity and Biosphere, 1994-2013, 1.5 linear feet. This subseries consists of materials gathered for a center based at Stanford University called the Millennium Alliance for Humanity and Biosphere (MAHB). The subseries contains subject files for topics of interest to the center, administrative files on the center’s mission and activities, and some publications by the center.

Subseries 5: Well-being, 1984-2013, 2.8 linear feet. Over his career, Eugene Rosa published a handful of articles measuring the relationship between a society’s well-being and its environmental impact. This subseries contains works drafted by Rosa and others on the topic, as well as subject files on affluence, working hours, happiness, and ecological modernization theory.

Subseries 6: IFF – Vienna, 1992-2009, 1.0 linear foot. The Institute of Social Ecology is a subdivision of the IFF (Interdisziplinäre Forschung und Fortbildung) at Klagenfurt University in Vienna, Austria. This subseries consists largely of materials gathered from conferences and other events run by the Institute, as well as publications spawned by these events.

Subseries 7: Human drivers of greenhouse gas emissions, 2003-2013, 1.5 linear feet. This subseries consists largely of files for a handful of presentations and publications studying the human causes of greenhouse gas emissions, including “The Human Drivers of National Greenhouse Gas Emissions.”

Subseries 8: Carbon dioxide and welfare, 1964-2010, 1.5 linear feet. This subseries consists of works and presentations by Rosa on the relationship between the well-being of a society and its production of carbon dioxide.

Series 3: Risk, 1947-2013, 20.7 linear feet. This series contains research files, manuscripts, presentations, and data that Rosa created for his work on risk. The exception being materials on risk and decision making specific to nuclear energy and waste. These materials can be found in Series 4. This includes files for books and articles created by Rosa, including his edited works on risk society and his survey comparing Japanese perceptions of risk versus perceptions in the United States. Research files on risk range from general theoretical topics, such as rational actor paradigm, to risk related to real world phenomena, such as environmental risk. Specific topics on which Rosa gathered and created particularly large bodies of materials have been separated into 5 subseries.

Subseries 1: General risk, 1947-2013, 9.7 linear feet. This subseries consists of files gathered around several topics related to risk. This includes files for The Risk Society and The Risk Society Revisited, articles published in Science and Journal of Risk Research, subject files on environmental risk and the social amplification of risk, and a paper presentation for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Subseries 2: Decision making and civil society, 1959-2012 4.8 linear feet. This subseries contains files on how perceptions of risk impacts decision making within a civil society. This includes materials on democracy, materials gathered for a book chapter in Governance and the Commons, a paper presented to the International Risk Governance Council (IRGC), and materials for the 2008 Foley Symposium on governance Also included in this series are a number of files on long-term stewardship policies, much of which deal with nuclear waste.

Subseries 3: Rational actor paradigm, 1968-2011, 2.1 linear feet. This subseries consists of materials for Rosa’s works on rational actor paradigm, a theory formulated by Ortwin Renn. This subseries is largely composed of background research and files for lectures and presentations on the theory, particularly within the context of corporations, government, and other bureaucratic organizations.

Subseries 4: Theory, 1956-2011, 1.6 linear feet. This subseries consists of files on general theories related to risk. Of particular note are background research and drafts of Rosa’s article “Metatheoretical Foundations of Risk.”

Subseries 5: Cognitive Representations of Risk Perception: A Comparison of Japan and the United States, 1975-2008, 2.5 linear feet. This subseries consists of data, presentations, background articles, and drafts of articles for Rosa’s comparative research of perceptions of risk in Japan and the United States. This includes survey data and materials on the statistical methods Rosa employed.

Series 4: Nuclear power and waste, 1960-2012, 12.1 linear feet. This series consists of materials research files, articles, presentations, and reports for Rosa’s extensive works on public policies on nuclear energy. This includes research on public attitudes and policies for nuclear waste facilities at Yucca Mountain and Hanford, his work on the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future, and a report on the legacy of nuclear testing near the Marshall Islands. This series contains files on risk and decision making that deals specifically with nuclear energy and waste.

Series 5: Opinion data, 1977-2011, 1.5 linear feet. This series consists of a large body of opinion data gathered by Rosa on a number of environmental issues, notably nuclear energy. Other topics include global warming and energy.

Series 6: Science and technology, 1949-2012, 6.5 linear feet. This series consists of research files and conference papers on a variety of topics including biotechnology, the philosophy of science, human evolution, and energy. Original work by Rosa in this series deal primarily with emerging technology.

Series 7: Honors and awards, 1985-2012, 0.5 linear feet. This series consists of materials for honors and awards bestowed upon Rosa and a dedication of a library, at which Rosa spoke.

Series 8: Miscellaneous, 1963-2012, 0.75 linear feet. This series consists of files on theories not specifically related to risk and environmental sociology and files related to Rosa’s roles as an artist and Washington State University teaching faculty.

Series 9: Published materials, 1.5 linear feet. This series consists of annotated books from Rosa’s library, most of which are about the environmental impact of human societies.

Series 10: Compact and computer disks, .5 linear feet. This series consists of digital media that has been separated from the other series. The original locations of these disks are marked by separation sheets in the files that originally housed the disks.

Series 11: Oversized materials, 3 oversized folders. This series consists of oversized clippings and posters that have been separated from the other series. The original locations of these materials are marked by separation sheets in the oversized folders and the files that originally housed the disks.

Series 12: Audio and video cassettes, .5 linear feet. This series consists of Audio and video cassettes that have been removed from other files.

Location of Collection

(MASC Staff Use) Oversize folders are located in the map case.

Acquisition Information

The Eugene A. Rosa Papers were donated to Washington State University in 2013 (MS 2013-12).

Processing Note

This collection was processed by Steven Bingo and Sophia Handel in 2014.

Related Materials

Return to Top

Detailed Description of the Collection

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Corporate Names

  • Washington State University--Faculty--Archives

Finding aid prepared by Steven Bingo
2014

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

About Creative Commons Licenses in Archives West

Loading...
Loading...