The University of Alabama 3 credits NEW
Popular conceptions of nature hold extraordinary power in shaping our responses and policies toward both the geophysical world and built environments. This interdisciplinary course examines key concepts and controversies in American thought about nature since before colonization. Using accounts from various regions, the course explores evolving conceptions of nature and justice, competing claims about race and class, and changing institutional responses and remedies to environmental degradation in the context of global change. The course is highly interactive, inviting critical thinking about the human place in the physical world. We read and discuss ecological views as presented in colonial writings, slave narratives, Transcendentalist thought, Gilded Age preservationist and conservationist debates, and the work of Progressive Era occupational health specialists and ecologists. We give specific attention to twentieth century social movements for environmental public health, examining contemporary approaches, including eco-feminism, environmental justice, and sustainability. We identify different disciplinary approaches, among them environmental history, ecological anthropology, sociology, and geography, and explore conceptual links between disciplines. A brief introduction to research methods, utilizing qualitative techniques, case studies, and specialized data sources, will be included. Journal articles, law review essays, regulatory documents, court decisions, and films supplement classic texts as we examine race, ethnicity, gender, poverty, and other factors shaping environmental health. Writing proficiency is required for a passing grade in this course. A student who does not write with the skill normally required of an upper-division student will not earn a passing grade, no matter how well the student performs in other areas of the course.
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