i4:Biodiversity, Nature, and Society

Catalog description

Pre-requisite: ENGL 1120. Despite the tendency of media portrayals to present environmental problems as scientifically unquestionable and as already resolved by “the facts,” global environmental crises like biodiversity change are incredibly complex, uncertain, and inevitably political. That is what makes them so difficult to resolve. This research-based course challenges students to explore the science and culture of the “biodiversity crisis”, honestly engaging with questions about the limits of scientific research, the line between data and scientific storytelling, the proper role of people in nature and science in a democracy, and the potential to better reconcile human societies with the needs of non-human species.