UCSC Students who still need to satisfy ENVS 100/100L use this form to petition for enrollment: https://goo.gl/forms/BEeHTig3SOO13lx12.
Visiting Students - email your proof of prerequisite material to the department at
envsadvi@ucsc.edu for permission to enroll.
From the instructor: A driving question in the 21st century pertains to how societies do, and potentially should, exist within, alongside, and in relation to the natural world. A fundamental part of this is how environmental issues interact with questions of political economy, including international and domestic policy, global markets and economies, and power structures. In this course, we will examine some of the dominant perspectives and interpretive tools applied to society-environment relations. Emphasis is placed on the roles of both environment (e.g. the processes, creatures, areas, and relationships that comprise the non-human world) and social relations (e.g. the politics, institutions, economic exchanges, and cultures that shape our actions and choices). We will explore the underpinnings of our political economic systems, discuss the construction of ?nature? as a commodity and ethos, and consider the assumptions behind various schemes to protect, exploit, and make sustainable human interactions with the environment. We will apply these ideas to current environmental challenges including terrestrial, aquatic, and atmospheric environmental issues, paying attention to different scales of action, ranging from global to local.