Latinx and Environment (=LAS 284)

Catalog description

In this course, students will examine a broad range of Latinx environmental experiences across time and place in the United States. Taking the environment as a key category of analysis, students will explore the ways that the natural and built environments shape, and are shaped by, Latinx culture. Looking to important rural, urban, suburban, and wilderness sites across the United States, students will construct a nuanced “picture” of how Latinx environments have changes over time. With our methodology placed squarely in historical and visual analysis, we will frequently engage interdisciplinary approaches to enhance our understanding of key issues including: labor, migration, public health, community and neighborhood building, transportation networks, natural resource development, education, and tourism. Students will be exposed to a wide range of human expressions of place, such as art, literature, and activism, to gain a better understanding of how Latinxs have represented their environmental experiences. Satisfies the Humanities track of the Environmental Studies major and minor. Satisfies a requirement in the Latin American Studies major. Fulfills the Justice, Equality, and Community requirement.