How do we imagine the world of the future? What kinds of landscapes, which people, whose voices, what types of powers and opportunities – and for whom – are included? How do we plan to start living it now? This FIG will explore different socio-ecological visions of the future that are now emerging from our uneven planetary conditions. We’ll focus especially on how legacies of inequality, exclusion, and degradation are making possible alternate ways of understanding the world and humanity, and inspiring diverse movements for social and environmental justice – conceiving and building more just futures. We’ll develop the insights we learn together into pathways for action and invite others to join us.
Students explore the intersection of topics by taking the following course package:
UGST 109 First-Year Experience Seminar - 1-credit
ENVS 203 Introduction to Environmental Studies: Humanities - CoreEd or major satisfying course, 4-credits
In this course we will learn about what the Humanities are, as an interdisciplinary field, and how Humanities methods and research contribute to environmental thought and action. The class involves reading and research but also creativity and innovation. It is a lab in which we will think together about the possible futures of our stressed planet and how to harness imagination in the service of sustainability.
SOC 204 Introduction to Sociology - CoreEd or major satisfying course, 4-credits
Over the next ten weeks we will discover what exactly the discipline of sociology is, the prevailing theories invoked by sociologists to understand the world in which we live, the particular methods used by sociologists to study society, as well as examine some of the topics that sociologists have explored in depth. The class begins by exploring the premises and history of sociology, and its main concepts and methods. It then moves to focus on social inequalities, especially in terms of class, gender, and race. The course concludes by examining the possibility of social change and how sociological tools can help us understand this type of change.