GER 3651/5610 (Environmental Thinking), with Charlotte Melin
HSCI 3244/5244 (Nature's History: Science, Humans and the Environment), with Sally Gregory Kohlstedt
PA 5290 Topics in Planning: Environmental Equity (section 3), with Dan Milz
This graduate-level Environmental Equity course will address theory, methods, cases, and engagement. Advanced undergraduates will be admitted to the course with permission from the instructor.
What do Flint and Standing Rock have in common? While different in many ways, they ultimately represent the most recent examples of how social, cultural, and economic inequalities collide with environmental issues. In such cases, it is often the marginalized and disempowered who bear the greatest environmental costs. The public outcry about Flint and Standing Rock have reinvigorated the global conversation on environmental equity, and this course will be a deep dive into this conversation. Why are patterns of environmental inequity so stubborn? How are environmental costs and benefits distributed across different places and peoples? What can be done to correct current imbalances and to prevent the next Flint, the next Standing Rock? Students will walk away from this course prepared to thoughtfully answer these and other questions about environmental equity.
