L.POL 251 - The Politics of Global Sustainability-AC, EI

Credits: 3

This course interrogates our collective relationship to the natural environment and examines the urgent environmental problems facing us at a global level. This topic is necessarily political in that it leads us to questions of collective decision-making: how should we regulate activities that affect the environment? What are the standards of environmental sustainability that can be brought to bear to answer this question? What cultural, economic, and political obstacles stand in the way of sustainability? Toward the end of addressing such questions, this course engages students in an applied statistical social science research project, a simulation of a United Nations Climate Summit, and a local conference on sustainable community governance. Since this is an Identity, Culture, and Society (EI) Explorations course, we will also explore the role of culture and myth in shaping our relationship to the ecosystems around us.
Prerequisite: None
Co-requisite: None
General Education Classification: Identity, Culture, & Society-EI