g4:Civilizational Collapse and its Prevention

Catalog description

Pre-requisite: ENGL 1120. The goal of this course is to critically examine the resilience and frailties of human civilization. How have previous societies failed or succeeded to organize themselves within socio-ecological limits? What positive lessons can be drawn from earlier human settlements regarding the political, cultural, economic, and technological factors generative of social instability? In addition to researching potential answers to these questions, students will explore and evaluate contemporary perspectives and proposals regarding how to make human societies more socially, politically, and ecologically resilient.