Geography 642 - Envir Geograph & Sustainbty

This course offers an exploration of the fundamental interrelations among human systems and the natural environment. Our foundation will be an examination of topics such as the social construction of ?the environment? and ?wilderness,? human relationships with nature across cultures and across time, environmental ethics, and the concept of the Anthropocene. This will lead us into the present-day focus on sustainability and the remainder of the course will focus on using a handful of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to examine the complex interplay between humans and nature in specific issue areas, including hunger and food systems, gender equality, urbanization, inequality, climate change, and global development. The course enables students to consider major challenges related to the environment and sustainability at multiple scales, from the local and regional to the global. Broad themes of justice and equity are woven throughout the course and we will utilize sources that represent a diversity of perspectives, life experiences, and knowledge systems.