Catalogue 2021-2022 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Environmental Studies Program
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Director: Mary Ann Cunningham;
Steering Committee: Pinar Batur (Sociology), Stuart L. Belli (Chemistry), Lynn Christenson (Biology), Zachary Cofrana (Anthropology), Mary Ann Cunningham (Geography), Yvonne Elet (Art), Myra Hughey (Biology), Kirsten Menking (Earth Science), Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebertab (Hispanic Studies), Thomas Parker (French and Francophone Studies), Paul Ruud (Economics), Alison Spodek (Chemistry), Jeffrey R. Walker (Earth Science);
Participating Faculty: Pinar Batur (Sociology), April Beisaw (Anthropology), Stuart L. Belli (Chemistry), Christopher Bjork (Education), Mario Cesareo (Hispanic Studies), Jonathan Chenette (Music), Lynn Christenson (Biology), Zachary Cofrana (Anthropology), Randolph R. Cornelius (Psychology), Mary Ann Cunningham (Geography), Andrew Davison (Political Science), Rebecca Edwards (History), Yvonne Elet (Art), David Estebana (Biology), Ashley Fent (Geography), Kathleen Gemmill (English), Brian Godfrey (Geography), Kathleen R. Harta (French and Francophone Studies), Katherine Hiteb (Political Science), Benjamin Hoa (Economics), Myra Hughey (Biology), E H Rick Jarow (Religion), Paul Kaneb (English), Martha Kaplanb (Anthropology), Jamie T. Kelly (Philosophy), Judith Linn (Art), John H. Long, Jr.ab (Biology), Jenny Magnes (Physics and Astronomy), Erin McCloskey (Education), Molly McGlennen (English), Kirsten Menking (Earth Science), Himadeep Muppidi (Political Science), Osman Nemlia (Philosophy), Leonard Nevarez (Sociology), Joseph Nevins (Geography), Samson Okoth Opondo (Political Science), Carolyn Palmer (Psychology), Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebertab (Hispanic Studies), Thomas Parker (French and Francophone Studies), Margaret Ronsheim (Biology), Paul Ruud (Economics), Claire Sagana (Political Science), Mark A. Schlessman (Biology), Jill Schneidermana (Earth Science), Jodi Schwarzb (Biology), Jeffrey Seidman (Philosophy), Alison Spodek (Chemistry), Kathleen Susman (Biology), Adedoyin Teribaa (Art), Justin Touchon (Biology), Jeffrey R. Walker (Earth Science), Yu Zhou (Geography).
a On leave 2021/22, first semester
b On leave 2021/22, second semester
ab On leave 2021/22
Environmental Studies is a multidisciplinary program that involves the natural and social sciences as well as the arts and humanities. It explores the relationships between people and the totality of their environments-natural, built, and social. As part of that exploration, environmental studies concerns itself with the description and analysis of natural systems; with interspecies and species-environment relationships and the institutions, policies and laws that affect those relationships; with aesthetic portrayals of nature and how these portrayals affect human perceptions and behavior toward it; and with ethical issues raised by the human presence in the environment. A component of the program is the Environmental Research Institute (ERI), whose mission is to broaden and enrich the Environmental Studies program by emphasizing and supporting fieldwork, research, and engagement in the community.
Students majoring in Environmental Studies are required to take courses offered by the program, a set of courses within a particular department, and other courses from across the curriculum of the college. Therefore, a student interested in the major should contact the program office to connect with a member of the faculty subcommittee during their first or sophomore year to plan a course of study. They will recommend ENST participating faculty with expertise in your area of interest to help structure a sequence of specific courses for your major. The steering committee approves each major’s program, and is concerned not only with the formal requirements but also with the inclusion of relevant environmental courses in the student’s chosen areas of study, interconnections among groups of courses, and adequate concentration in the methods of a discipline. Students are admitted to the program subject to the approval of their program of study by the steering committee. For additional information please consult the program website.
Research studies by Environmental Studies majors are supported by the Environmental Research Institute.
Environmental Studies is a major in which students concentrate in two disciplines or areas of focus (one in the natural sciences). Potential majors are encouraged to take additional introductory courses in the disciplines or areas where their focus may be.
Major
Correlate Sequences in Environmental Studies
Environmental Studies: I. Introductory
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ENST 107 - Global Change and Sustainability Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
This class offers an interdisciplinary introduction to the climate, ecosystem and sustainability principles needed to understand human impact on the natural environment. We discuss the issue of global change prediction and the scientific basis for global change assessments and policy measures. Key topics are the physical climate system and its variability, the carbon cycle and related ecosystem processes, land use issues, nutrient cycles, and the impact of global change on society. Common threads in all of these topics include the use of observations and models, the consideration of multiple scales (temporal and spatial), the interaction of human behaviors and choices with natural systems, and the linkages among aspects of the global change issue. Alison Keimowitz.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS -
ENST 124 - Essentials of Environmental Science Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
1 unit(s)
A lecture/laboratory course in which basic topics in environmental biology, geology, and chemistry are covered with examples from current environmental issues used to illustrate the application and interdisciplinary nature of these fields. This course treats the following topics: energy sources and waste products, atmospheric patterns and climate, biogeochemical cycles, properties of soils and water, and ecological processes. Using these topics as a platform, this course examines the impact humanity has on the environment and discusses strategies to diminish those effects. The laboratory component includes field trips, field investigations, and laboratory exercises. Kirsten Menking.
Two 75-minute periods; one 4-hour laboratory.
Course Format: CLS -
ENST 125 - Environmentalisms in Perspective Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
This multidisciplinary course examines significant approaches to the theory and practice of environmentalisms past and present. Students explore possible connections between the ethical, aesthetic, social, economic, historical, and scientific concerns that comprise environmental studies. The methods of inquiry we follow and the environmentalisms we consider vary among sections. Jeffrey Seidman.
Required of students concentrating in the program.
Course Format: CLS -
ENST 162 - Finding Your Place in the Climate Fight Semester Offered: Fall
0.5 unit(s)
This is an all-hands-on-deck moment in human history. Everyone is needed right now in the fight against climate change and for environmental justice – whatever their talents, skills, or interests. This intensive is designed to help students find their roles in the climate fight in their lives after Vassar. We have two central texts. All We Can Save is a collection of 41 essays and 17 poems, all by women. The essayists include journalists, farmers, lawyers, designers, activists, architects, scientists, policy-makers, entrepreneurs, ocean farmers, and more, each writing about a different way of contributing to the climate fight. Drawdown is a comprehensive and rigorous study of the potential impacts of one hundred climate solutions, from urban design to regenerative agriculture to alternative cement manufacturing to girls’ education in the developing world. Each student in the Intensive undertakes a research project centering on a climate career or climate solution of their choice. Jeffrey Seidman.
One 2-hour period.
Course Format: INT -
ENST 164 - Environmental History of Latin America Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as HIST 164 and LALS 164 ) This course explores the history of Latin America by centering the environment. Beginning with examples in the ancient Americas and continuing through the colonial and national periods, this course explores how human ideas about the environment, along with tangible regimes for exploiting “natural” resources, have shaped the history of Latin America. Class materials draw from a range of academic, literary, and primary sources, and class discussions cover topics such as: the flora and fauna of the ancient Americas; organisms and landscapes of the “Spanish Conquest”; ranching, farming, and export agriculture; mining, drilling, and extractivist industries; hurricanes, volcanoes, and “natural” disasters; urbanization, pollution, and climate change; and debates over environmental protections and human rights. Accordingly, this course addresses the questions: what discourses, representations, and ideas have shaped the meaning of the environment in Latin America? How has the environment shaped broader meanings of Latin America itself? And what is at stake today for the people of Latin America today as governments, corporations, and NGOs take different approaches to environmental issues?
Two 2-hour periods.
Course Format: CLS -
ENST 175 - Women’s Nature Writing
1 unit(s)
This course focuses on women writers who look to nature for stories, images and archetypes to help them make sense of their lived experience in a patriarchal world. Together we look at poetry, fiction, memoir, travel writing and film, and chart the different ways in which nature has inspired women in their creative explorations of positionality and place. We see nature’s wild fluidity reflected in the many roles it plays in these writers’ creative imaginations: some of them figure nature as teacher, a source of ancient wisdom aligned with the divine feminine; others see nature as mother and mirror, a female figure exploited for her resources by capitalist interests just as women are exploited for their various forms of labor; and still others see nature as a space of radical freedom from sexism, racism and other forms of systemic social oppression. Our goal is to chart the diverse ways in which women writers have used the natural world as an anchor and an ally to help name their struggles and joys, claim their space, and imagine more just futures for themselves and the planet. Our syllabus may include works by Annie Dillard, Gloria Anzaldúa, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Mary Oliver, Susan Griffin, Zora Neale Hurston, Chrystos, Adrienne Rich, Donna Haraway and others. This class fulfills the first-year writing requirement. In addition to critical essays, there are opportunities to write creatively about nature and keep a nature journal. This course is particularly suited to students interested in pursuing courses in English, creative writing, and environmental studies. Katie Gemmill.
Open only to first-year students; satisfies the college requirement for a First-Year Writing Seminar.
Two 75-minute periods.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: CLS -
ENST 177 - A Prehistoric Perspective on Climate Change Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
This course situates current climate change in the context of that which shaped the human species, from evolutionary and social perspectives. The course opens by reviewing how the Earth’s climate has changed over the past century, and the ecological consequences of this. We then review the history of climate change since our species’ origin, and how such instances have impacted the environments in which we evolved. We transition from this evolutionary perspective to a social one, asking, ‘at what point did human intelligence and technology mitigate the evolutionary consequences of climate change? At what points was climate change more than civilizations could handle?’ The latter half of the class examines archaeological and historical evidence of how human societies have handled environmental hardships resulting from climate change. We end by examining the parallels between past and present and asking what environmental, ecological and biological consequences might await our still short-lived species in the present climatic conundrum. Zachary Cofran.
Open only to first-year students; satisfies the college requirement for a First-Year Writing Seminar.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS
Environmental Studies: II. Intermediate
Environmental Studies: III. Advanced
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ENST 300 - Senior Project/Thesis Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
1 unit(s)
Recognizing the diverse interests and course programs of students in Environmental Studies, the program entertains many models for a senior project/thesis. Depending on their disciplinary concentration and interests, students may conduct laboratory or field studies, literary and historical analyses, or policy studies. Senior project/thesis proposals must be approved by the steering committee. The Department.
Prerequisite(s): Senior Environmental Studies Major
Course Format: INT -
ENST 301 - Thesis Preparation: Sources, Theories, and Methods Semester Offered: Fall
0.5 unit(s)
Scheduled for the fall semester of the senior year, this seminar provides the opportunity for students to confront questions related to choosing a thesis topic, locating the work within the existing scholarship, and selecting sources. Through readings and workshops, students develop clear research ideas and questions, locate necessary sources, become acquainted with multidisciplinary methods, and discuss strategies for different stages of the process. The seminar also provides a community in which students share their experiences, approaches, and ideas about researching and writing their theses. Pinar Batur.
Senior majors.
Required of students concentrating in the program.
Open to other students by permission of the director and as space permits.
First six-week course.
One 2-hour period.
Course Format: CLS -
ENST 302 - The Blegen Seminar Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as GRST 302 ) Topic for 2021/22b: ‘As if Nature spoke:’ Thoreau, Ancient Greek Literature, and American Nature Writing. When Henry David Thoreau went to Walden Pond to ‘live deliberately,’ he took just one book with him: Homer’s Iliad. Why was this ancient war epic his literary companion in the experiment and experience that is now, through Thoreau’s own writings, a cornerstone of American thought on our relationship to the natural world? In addressing this question our seminar will range well beyond Homer and Walden, examining how Greek poetry informed Romantic emphasis on the value of ‘Nature’ in the early 19th century, also shaping Thoreau’s early writings and in particular his first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. Ideas found in both Romanticism and Thoreau – that human beings in modernity are out of step with the natural world, and that we could live better if we were closer to it – continue to hold sway in our own cultural imagination. This makes it perfectly appropriate to ask whether and how Greek literature shapes our thinking about current ecological crises, as well as what else these ancient texts might contribute to imagining a future that values humanity and ecology together. Luke Parker.
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS -
ENST 303 - Thesis Semester Offered: Fall
0.5 unit(s)
Recognizing the diverse interests and course programs of students in Environmental Studies, the program entertains many models for a senior project/thesis. Depending on their disciplinary concentration and interests, students may conduct laboratory or field studies, literary and historical analyses, or policy studies. Senior project/thesis proposals must be approved by the steering committee. The Department.
Prerequisite(s): Senior Environmental Studies Major
Yearlong course 303-ENST 304 .
Course Format: INT -
ENST 304 - Thesis Semester Offered: Spring
0.5 unit(s)
Recognizing the diverse interests and course programs of students in Environmental Studies, the program entertains many models for a senior project/thesis. Depending on their disciplinary concentration and interests, students may conduct laboratory or field studies, literary and historical analyses, or policy studies. Senior project/thesis proposals must be approved by the steering committee. The Department.
Prerequisite(s): Senior Environmental Studies Major
Yearlong course ENST 303 -304.
Course Format: INT -
ENST 306 - Building Thoreau’s Cabin
1 unit(s)
An experiential investigation into carpentry, construction and environmental thinking. Paul Kane.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: INT -
ENST 310 - Entering the Labyrinth: Literature, Art & Eco-Contemplation Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as ENGL 310 ) Labyrinths have been a feature of the human landscape since ancient times, used for decoration, contemplation and ceremonies. Like gardens, they are an interface between the environment and human culture. This course studies the heritage, literature, and use of labyrinths, from its mythic origins to the present, and constructs a traditional labyrinth on the Vassar campus. In doing so, we learn much about labyrinths and the world in which we live. Paul Kane.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor.
One 2-hour period and individual conferences with the instructor.
Course Format: CLS -
ENST 321 - Advanced Topics in Environmental Geology Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
This course investigates fundamental geologic controls on environmental issues such as resource distribution and use, ground and surface water pollution, and atmospheric pollution. A specific topic is selected each year, and work in the class includes a survey of relevant literature, field visits to local sites, and development of a group project.
Topic for 2021/22b: Eocene Paleoceanography. (Same as ESCI 321 ) 56 million years ago, our planet was in a hothouse climate state with very high atmospheric CO2: crocodiles swam at the poles and Antarctica was covered in palm forests. Fossil fuel emission projections suggest that we may reach a similar CO2 concentration in the coming centuries. We use samples from a deep-sea sediment core, located close to Antarctica, to investigate the climate and ocean history of this warm period. Specifically, we use the fossils of tiny creatures called foraminifera to help us reconstruct ecosystem and ocean chemistry changes through time. Participants learn methods in sediment processing and preparation, microfossil identification, and geochemical method development and analysis. Along the way we learn about large scientific collaborations and what it’s like to work within the International Ocean Discovery Program. Laura Haynes.
Prerequisite(s): ESCI 221 .
One 4-hour period.
Course Format: INT -
ENST 333 - The Art of the Garden in Early Modern Italy
1 unit(s)
(Same as ART 333 ) Changing attitudes toward the relationship between art and nature were played out in the design of Italian villas and gardens, c. 1450- c. 1650. These large-scale estates generated by renowned architects and patrons established models for the Western landscape tradition. Their designs for buildings, hardscaping, plantings, waterworks, and decorations blurred distinctions among art, architecture and landscape, as well as between indoors and outdoors; city and country; and nature and artifice. We examine sites from Tuscany, Rome, the Veneto, and Naples, considering the inheritance of ancient Roman, medieval, and Islamic landscape traditions, and the later reception of Italian planning in France and England. We also explore the impact of new flora and fauna brought to Europe in the age of overseas exploration, trade, and conquest, as well as changing patterns of collecting and display. Readings explore villa ideology, the relation between city and country life, the garden as utopia, and human dominion over nature. During excursions to local landscapes, we experience the agency of the ambulatory spectator in constructing place and narrative, and consider the reception of the Italian garden in America. Yvonne Elet.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor.
One 3-hour period.
Not offered in 2021/22.
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ENST 335 - Paleoclimatology: Earth’s History of Climate Change
1 unit(s)
(Same as ESCI 335 ) In recent decades, record high temperatures and extreme weather events have led scientists and policy makers to grapple with the fact that human activities are affecting the climate system. At the same time, scientists have come to realize that climate is capable of dramatic shifts in the absence of human intervention. The science of paleoclimatology seeks to understand the extent and causes of natural climatic variability in order to establish the baseline on top of which anthropogenic changes are occurring. In this course we examine the structure and properties of the oceans and atmosphere and how the general circulation of these systems redistributes heat throughout the globe; study how cycles in Earth’s orbital parameters, plate tectonics, changes in ocean circulation, and the evolution of plants have affected climate; and explore the different lines of evidence used to reconstruct climate history. Weekly laboratory projects introduce students to paleoclimatic methods and to records of climatic change from the Paleozoic through the Little Ice Age. Kirsten Menking.
Prerequisite(s): 200-level work in Earth Science or permission of the instructor.
One 4-hour classroom/laboratory/field period.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: INT -
ENST 340 - Advanced Urban and Regional Studies Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as ESCI 340 and GEOG 340 ) Topic for 2021/22a: Renewable Energy and Climate Action. Climate action is a central issue of our time, and within this, plans for progress (including the Green New Deal) depend on reforming our energy systems. This course seeks to understand the shape of our rapidly changing landscapes of energy production, with a focus on New York City, New York State, and Vassar’s carbon neutrality goals. We use a variety of methods, including mapping, case studies, and readings, as we try to understand regions of production, leading technologies, the challenges and opportunities for developing them, and the environmental and social implications of these emerging systems. Can renewable energy produce a more equitable, and less exploitive energy regime? How are these shifting landscapes pushing us to rethink geographies of energy? What does it take to embrace these energy systems in a way that is more just—across communities, places, and generations—than we have seen historically? Mary Cunningham.
One 3-hour period.
Course Format: CLS -
ENST 352 - Conservation Biology Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as BIOL 352 Conservation Biology uses a multidisciplinary approach to study how to best maintain the earth’s biodiversity and functioning ecosystems. We examine human impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem function and discuss how to develop practical approaches for mitigating those impacts. We start the semester by assessing the current human footprint on global resources, asking questions about what we are trying to preserve, why we are trying to preserve it, and how we can accomplish our goals. We critically examine the assumptions made by conservation biologists throughout, using case studies from around the world to explore a range of perspectives. Discussion topics include conservation in an agricultural context, the efficacy of marine protected areas, the impact of climate change on individual species and preserve design, restoration ecology, the consequences of small population sizes, conservation genetics, the impacts of habitat fragmentation and invasive species, and urban ecology. Margaret Ronsheim. Margaret Ronsheim.
Prerequisite(s): Two units of 200-level biology or one unit of 200-level biology and one of the following: ESCI 221, ESCI 361, GEOG 224, GEOG 260, or GEOG 356, or permission of the instructor.
Recommended: BIOL 241 , BIOL 208 , or BIOL 226 , GEOG 260 , GEOG 224 , or GEOG 356 ; or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: CLS -
ENST 356 - Environment and Land-Use Planning Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
This seminar focuses on land-use issues such as open-space planning, urban design, transportation planning, and the social and environmental effects of planning and land use policies. The focus of the course this year is impacts of planning policies (such as transportation, zoning, or growth boundaries) on environmental quality, including open space preservation, farmland conservation, and environmental services. We begin with global and regional examples and then apply ideas in the context of Dutchess County’s trajectory of land use change and planning policies.
Topic 2021/22a: Re-Envisioning The North Side: From Automobility to Place. (Same as GEOG 356 and URBS 356 ) This seminar focuses on planning issues such as sustainable land use planning, urban design, transportation planning, and social/economic effects of urban planning policies. Using the City of Poughkeepsie as a laboratory, this seminar focuses on how transportation and land use planning decisions affect the social, economic, cultural, and environmental resources of neighborhoods and communities through an in-depth look at the City’s northern neighborhoods. We specifically examine the socio-economic, demographic, mobility and access issues, as well as environmental, and planning concerns surrounding the history of the downtown and the City’s transportation decision making historically and new revitalization initiatives underway. Through fieldwork, readings and exercises, we identify and explore key policy and planning challenges and opportunities and gain an understanding of the potential and limitations of various planning and regulatory frameworks. Susan Blickstein.
Prerequisite(s): One 200-level course in Geography, Urban Studies or Environmental Studies.
One 3-hour period.
Course Format: CLS -
ENST 361 - Modeling the Earth Semester Offered: Fall
1 unit(s)
(Same as ESCI 361 ) Computer models are powerful tools in the Earth and Environmental Sciences for generating and testing hypotheses about how the Earth system functions and for allowing simulation of processes in places inaccessible to humans (e.g., Earth’s deep interior), too slow to permit observation (e.g., orbitally controlled ice sheet growth and decay), or too large to facilitate construction of physical models (e.g., circulation of the world ocean). Taking readings from the scientific literature, we create and then perform experiments with simple computer models, using the STELLA iconographic box-modeling software package. The course emphasizes Earth’s climate system; topics include our planet’s radiative balance with the sun and resulting temperature, the flow of ice in glaciers, the role of life in moderating Earth’s climate, how temperature profiles in permafrost record the last two centuries of global warming, and the impacts of fossil fuel combustion on ocean acidification. Toward the end of the semester, students apply the skills they have acquired to a modeling project of their own devising. Kirsten Menking.
Prerequisite(s): One 200-level course in the natural sciences.
Satisfies the college requirement for quantitative reasoning.
One 4-hour period.
Course Format: INT -
ENST 368 - Toxic Futures: From Social Theory to Environmental Theory Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as INTL 368 and SOCI 368 ) The central aim of this class is to examine the foundations of the discourse on society and nature in social theory and environmental theory to explore two questions. The first question is how does social theory approach the construction of the future, and the second question is how has this construction informed the present debates on the impact of industrialization, urbanization, state-building and collective movements on the environment? In this context, the class focuses on how social theory informs different articulations of Environmental Thought and its political and epistemological fragmentation and the limits of praxis, as well as its contemporary construction of alternative futures. Pinar Batur
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ENST 370 - Feminist Perspectives on Environmentalism
1 unit(s)
(Same as ESSC 370 and WMST 370 ) In this seminar we explore some basic concepts and approaches within feminist environmental analysis paying particular attention to feminist theory and its relevance to environmental issues. We examine a range of feminist research and analysis in ‘environmental studies’ that is connected by the recognition that gender subordination and environmental destruction are related phenomena. That is, they are the linked outcomes of forms of interactions with nature that are shaped by hierarchy and dominance, and they have global relevance. The course helps students discover the expansive contributions of feminist analysis and action to environmental research and advocacy; it provides the chance for students to apply the contributions of a feminist perspective to their own specific environmental interests.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor; WMST 130 recommended.
One 2-hour period.
Not offered in 2021/22.
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ENST 375 - Aquatic Chemistry
1 unit(s)
(Same as CHEM 375 ) This course is a qualitative and quantitative treatment of chemical processes in aqueous environments. Geochemical cycles of major and trace elements are explored including the magnitude of anthropogenic perturbations. General topics include thermodynamics and kinetics, acid-base chemistry, oxidation reduction reactions, the chemistry of continental waters, and marine chemistry. Alison Keimowitz.
Prerequisite(s): CHEM 125 , CHEM 244 ; PHYS 113 , PHYS 114 ; MATH 121 , MATH 126 , and MATH 127 or the equivalent; or permission of the instructor.
Two 75-minute periods.
Not offered in 2021/22.
Course Format: CLS -
ENST 376 - Ecological Catastrophe and Nietzsche’s Eternal Return Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as POLI 376 and STS 376 ) This course explores several sorts of texts together, for thought experiments pertaining to our times of ecological catastrophe. We critically engage: 1) theories concerned with ecological collapse, extinction, catastrophism, and the oft-cited and ill-named Anthropocene 2) literature on Nietzsche within environmental political thought 3) literature on Nietzsche and gender 4) selected primary texts by Nietzsche. Examining the latter in close readings and in the context of our compromised ecological futures, we ask ourselves to what extent the Nietzschean concepts of “eternal return” and “will to power” may help us think in these troubled times: what would a feminist Nietzschean ecology look like? Claire Sagan.
One 2-hour period.
Course Format: CLS -
ENST 381 - Topics in Ecosystem Ecology - Ecosystem Structure and Function Semester Offered: Spring
1 unit(s)
(Same as BIOL 381 ) Topic for 2021/22b: Structure and Function of Ecosystem. Ecosystems are complex systems, where biotic and abiotic factors interact to create the world we see around us. Understanding the nature of ecosystems is fundamental to understanding how disturbance and change in a dynamic world will influence ecosystem stability. This is especially critical as we enter the Anthropocene; a time in our planets history where one species, modern humans, dominate. Major changes brought about by increased human activity include changing climate regimes, invasive species spread and biodiversity loss. This course explores how ecosystems, both aquatic and terrestrial, are assembled (structured) and how different ecosystems process energy and matter (function). We use our understanding of structure and function to explore how different ecosystems respond to changes in the environment (including climate change, invasive species introductions, loss of biodiversity and pollution). A class project explores an ecosystem scale problem, and students develop a plan for effectively communicating the scientific understanding of the problem to multiple stakeholders. Lynn Christenson.
Prerequisite(s): One course in Ecology, e.g., BIOL 241 or BIOL 356 .
Two 75-minute periods.
Course Format: CLS -
ENST 386 - Global Environmental Activism: Political Ecology, Liberation and Citizenship
1 unit(s)
(Same as GEOG 386 ) Environments are political and politicized in varied ways. Some environmental movements adopt militant tactics or use environmental grievances as part of broader political resistance, while in other cases, environmentalism serves as a powerful way of practicing citizenship or demanding rights and recognition from the state. In this seminar, we apply a political ecology framework to interrogate the complex relationships between local and global socio-ecologies, activists in the Global North and South, international environmental NGOs, and nation-states. Focusing on case studies from around the world—such as the Zapatistas, the Brazilian MST (Landless Workers Movement), Earth Liberation Front, the Chipko Movement, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, and the Green Belt Movement in Kenya—we seek to understand how, when, and why environmentalism intersects with political movements and demands. In examining these cases, we also consider ideas of “nature” and distinctive approaches to the environment. Overall, we interrogate processes through which radical ideas about ecological, social, and political life may be co-opted, formalized, or undermined.
One 3-hour period.
Course Format: CLS -
ENST 399 - Senior Independent Research Semester Offered: Fall or Spring
0.5 to 1 unit(s)
Individual or group project or study. Prior approval of advisor and instructor supervising the work are required. May be taken during the academic year or during the summer. Participating faculty.
Course Format: OTH
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