Introduction to Environmental Humanities

Catalog description

COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course introduces students to key concepts and texts in environmental humanities, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary studies of race, gender, sexuality, capital, nation, and globalization. The course examines the conceptual foundations that support humanistic analyses of environmental issues, climate crisis, and the ethics of justice and care. We will also focus on how the generalized contemporary environmental crisis plays out on the specific terrain of New York City. LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Students will learn what difference humanistic studies make to understanding environmental issues and climate crisis. The course will prepare students to: • Identify humanistic methods and how they contribute to understanding the world; • Demonstrate critical approaches to reading and representing environments; • Apply concepts from the course to synthesize the student’s use of humanistic approaches to address urgent environmental questions; • Develop a strong understanding of how generalized elements of the environmental crisis play out in and are resisted in New York City