Climate Change and Mental Health

Catalog description

The impact of climate change is far-reaching, extending beyond immediate and imminent ecological effects and into a range of human experiences, including physical and mental disease. This course uses an interdisciplinary approach to consider the interaction of climate change and mental health. Beginning with historical associations of nature and human well-being, we will use a variety of texts - some historic, some literary, some scientific - to explore the effects of nature on the human mind. Similarly, we will look at how human psychology influences our reactions to climate change, from grief, to climate change denialism, to action. The seminar has a significant out-of-doors component, including local ecosystem exploration, an applied study of 'nature therapy,' and field trips to sites where clinical work on the interaction of nature and mental health can be observed first-hand. This year we are fortunate to have received a Global Studies Course Innovation Award to support our field-trips, as well as the visit of several guests nationally known for their work in the areas of climate change and mental health.