A lower-level introduction to the fundamentals of American environmental thought.
This introductory course in Environmental Studies explains key environmental concepts and surveys the changing relationships between people and their environments through key texts in American literature, sociology and history. It particularly emphasizes the way that social differences including race, class, and gender have changed the way both individuals and groups relate to their environment.
In this class, society and its environment – its physical surroundings – exist on a continuum rather than having a well-defined separation. Each shapes the other, in a mutually reinforcing relationship. In the United States, the landscape is a critical element of national story-telling and myth-making as well, with an intimate connection to culture. Throughout this course, we will investigate and interrogate these relationships to develop our understanding of how we as citizens are participants in the landscape we inhabit.
View the syllabus for the most recent version of this class: Syllabus American Culture Env Fall 2017