Global Enviro History

Catalog description

This course explores the historical relationship between human communities and their environmental settings. Spanning early societies to the present, the course will examine case studies around the globe to illustrate how the natural environment has conditioned historical change, and how important historical transitions have shaped the natural world. Topics may include the environmental contexts of early development of thought and religion, demographic change, the Industrial Revolution, modern science and technology, and conservation movements. Because global environmental history is a relatively new domain of historical inquiry, an important goal of the course is to encourage students to appreciate the existence and potential value of multiple points of view in historical discourse. Prerequisites: Non-majors may enroll with permission of the department.