Environmental/Justice Films

Catalog description

This course introduces students to a variety of environmental sustainability and social justice issues through cinema. The emphasis in the course will be fictional feature films supplemented with documentaries. Students will meet to watch films together and reflect on the messages they carry about environmental and social justice issues and how those messages are disseminated to the viewers. Six major themes are explored: climate change, water scarcity and access, nuclear energy, poisoned communities, cinematic portrayals of race in America and the petrochemical industry. For each theme, the films we will watch highlight the complexities of the inherent issues, especially when it comes to balancing social, economic and ecological goals.. Cross-listed with FST 127 .