History of Water

Catalog description

No prerequisites are required for this course. While global citizens have long been concerned about conserving and rationing our use of fossil fuels, the same cannot be said for an even more precious resource–water. Only in the last few years have government agencies, NGOs, and the market begun to tackle the problem of dwindling water resources. The current statistics and projections are dire. If we do not come up with new technologies to conserve water and use it more efficiently, more people will be without clean water or enough food. The United Nations estimates that by 2030 as many as 4 billion people will not have access to enough water for their basic needs. During the course of this semester we will read about both contemporary issues that affect us as well as look at the historical context in which these problems developed. We will focus on the United States, in particular the American West and New York City. We will use these case studies as a launching point for looking comparatively at issues that touch on problems in the Middle East, China, and Africa.