COMM 3500Environmental Communication

Catalog

Prerequisite(s): ENG 1020 or ENG 1021 with a grade "C-" or above What is "the environment" and how do we as humans relate to it? How should we relate to it? This course introduces students to the interdisciplinary study of environmental communication, with special attention to effective and ethical persuasion. The class is structured around historic benchmarks of environmental advocacy and activism that represent major discourses in environmentalism, as well as current case studies from around the world that demonstrate the discourses in action. We will “toggle” between history and contemporary contexts, as well as contexts within and outside of the US, to see how environmental communication takes root and fails to take root; grows and fails to effect change; as it spreads globally. Toggling between the local and non-local contexts around the world allows us to see interconnections, and the implications that such interconnections have for the environment and our relationship to it. It also permits us to explore the connections and divergences of worldviews, experiences, and power structures, with potential to transform business as usual to more just ways of life.