ENVS 085. Urban Environmental Community Actions

This course explores the theories and methods of social action and community engagement focusing on social and environmental change. Drawing on the work of scholars and activists from a wide variety of disciplines in the social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities, we critically examine the conceptual divisions between “nature and society,” “knowledge and action,” the “local and the global,” and the “community and the planet.” We will analyze the history and diffusion of the widely used concept of “sustainability” focusing on the diverse ways it has been embraced, transformed, and implemented in different social and cultural contexts. Exploring the relationship between theory and practice, the course includes a community-based learning component working in collaboration with a local organization or action research project.
1 credit.
Eligible for ESCH
Catalog chapter: Environmental Studies
Department website: http://www.swarthmore.edu/environmental-studies

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