ENVS 029. Environmental Justice: Ethnography, Politics, and Action

(Cross-listed as ANTH 033E)
This course offers students an introduction to the interdisciplinary field of environmental justice. It will draw on a range of research approaches and scholarship from the disciplines of environmental anthropology, political ecology, environmental science, history, geography, the environmental humanities, and social movement theory. Taking advantage of the special format of the J-term, the course will focus on a series of texts each week, offering deep engagement to analyze diverse environmental justice struggles and community activism in contemporary environmental issues. Moreover, given the immediacy of the current global situation, we will explore the intersections and linkages between environmental justice and other socio-ecological crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to focusing on the course’s core texts, the class will also explore the interlocking themes of social and environmental justice through other formats including podcasts, documentary films, and other digital media to provide a sense of what environmental injustice looks like in everyday life and how different people are rising up to bring about change. Students in this course will learn to analyze the social and political dimensions of environmental problems, how these entwine with scientific and technical dimensions, and to think creatively about possible solutions.
Social Sciences
1 credit.
Eligible for ENVS, GLBL-core, INTP, PEAC
Catalog chapter: Environmental Studies
Department website: https://www.swarthmore.edu/environmental-studies

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